OT? Two piece rims.

I am restoring a 1955 Chevy truck and the thing has two piece rims on it. Is it possible to weld them up to keep the apperance of original rims, but have the safety of the singal piece rims? Or does someone know if they make a safe repro?

Newt

Are you talking about steel rims? The old syle steel rims with an aluminum ceter, definatly not, they shouldn't be run in the first place. But if they are both steel and you trust your welding it shouldn't be an issue.

Toad

no.you wount be able to pry a tire over the rim.If you ever mounted tires you will understand.

Well it leads with less than enough information again. Yes if you are talking about two piece bolt together rims for semi-trailer style rims, no they can't be welded together.

Toad

If you want to keep your original hub caps that attach with clips you have several choices for 1-piece rims that will work fine in either 15 inch or 16 inch.

You can stay with split rims also, but depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to find a tire store properly equipped to deal with them.

I sand blasted my split rims from a '52 1/2-ton, had them powder coated and the local Les Schwab tire store had no difficulty putting new tires on them.

I recently did a '50 GMC 1/2 ton and scrounged up a set of 16" 1-piece rims and had them powder coated and mounted radials on them. These same rims would work for your 55 and the improvement with ride and handling with the radials is worth the expense. Total blasting, and color matching for the rims was about $300 for 5 rims, tires were BF Goodrich Commercial T/A's at $105 each at the local Costco mounted and balanced.

Either way you go, there are lots of options once you realize that rims from the 1930's to 1968 will fit your truck and hubcaps.

no.you wount be able to pry a tire over the rim.If you ever mounted tires you will understand.

J-King That is sort of what I was thinking. They are steel rims and I do trust my welding, the City of Memphis TN does to, but anyhow I am thinking that I would not be able to mount tires if I did it. What is the difference between todays rims and two piece rims that would be welded? Let me rephrase that, how can they stretch the tires over the solid piece rims? I have never mounted car rims with tires but I have mounted eighteen wheeler rims and I do know how hard it is.


Are you talking about steel rims? The old syle steel rims with an aluminum ceter, definatly not, they shouldn't be run in the first place. But if they are both steel and you trust your welding it shouldn't be an issue.

Toad jammer. Yea they are fully steel. Don't forget this is 1955 and a truck. The thing is one solid block of steel. No alumnium no plastic and no other fluffy ****.
They are the two piece rims that do not bolt together. It has got a solid center that comes up to the inside, still solid, than the outside has got the extra piece. I do not know what the style is called, other than knowing it is a two piece rim.
Newt

I am sorry, at first I did not realize what you were refering to as two piece steel rims, because essentially all rim are two piece welded together (center to outer). I was refering to not welding or repairing the older American racing style wheels that cam with a steel outer rim and an aluminum inner that came out to creat the face of the rim also they were also fastened together with a weld of some kind but could come apart if the outside was heated quickly. Again sorry about my confusion.
Toad

Motion Guru. Nice work! I am wanting to keep the thing totally true to 1955. I am thinking that I do not want to change anything other than if some "kid" had the thing back than and made his own little changes. It is a 55 first series Chevy 3/4 ton truck. I love her and want to make her the best that I can.

Newt

Newt;
What you have is commonly called a 'split rim'. The outer bead or ring is removable for mounting purposes. The single piece wheels have a depressed center that the bead of the tire drops into for mounting so that the bead of the tire is not stretched. You will find that there is interference between the tierod and wheel if you try to mount wheels that are to wide. I've run the split rim on a 49 for years without a problem, what are you worried about? If assembled correctly they are up to the job.
lg
no neat sig line

"edit - looks like Larry beat me to the clearance issue"

3/4 ton is a different story - especially a '55 first series due to tie rod clearance issues with later 8 lug rims. Modern Dodge rims will work from a 3/4 ton truck, but you have to install your own clips and the hubcaps look dumb. I have a picture of what this looks like here.

GM did make a 17.5" 1 piece rim that you can still get 8.00-17.5 tires for in both bias ply and radial versions, but they are pretty rare. I have a full set of 5 that I bought from Jim Carter Truck parts and paid $65 each for them in good condition.

Depending on what you want to spend, I know folks who have taken their 8 lug rims and sent them to Stockton Wheel to have the centers cut out and then modern 1-piece rims welded on and powder coated. This is the best solution in that you can run modern tires, have correct tie-rod end clearance (backset) and run with your stock hub caps.

If your existing rims are in good shape - again, you can get them blasted and painted or powder coated. But if there is any pitting or cracking of the outer rings, most tire places will torch them and throw them in the scrap pile.

There is a forum www.oldgmctrucks.com that has a discussion board with good data on 3/4 ton rims for your truck. Use the search function and read all you can - the more you know, the better decisions you will make.