Re: [Chrysler300] Danger of wheel failure unless the rims are replaced by stronger ones designed for use with radial tires

[Tony Rinaldi <awrdoc@xxxxxxxxx>]

Only for 14 inch. Could not have the 15 inch vents reproduced.


> From: <cotejohnr@xxxxxxx>
> Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:47:10 -0500
> To: <awrdoc@xxxxxxxxx>, <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Danger of wheel failure unless the rims are
> replaced by stronger ones designed for use with radial tires
> 
> Tony and all,
> 
> I had radials on my '61 Newport. They were on the car when I got it so
> I don't know how many miles were on the wheels/tires at that point.  I
> ran another 1000 miles on them and had no wheelcover losses.
> 
> I'm assuming that all the 14 inch wheels you recently had developed for
> members are radial certified?  Can't recall,  did  you have 15 inchers
> made as well for '55-'56?
> 
> John
> CT.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: awrdoc@xxxxxxxxx
> To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 4:25 PM
> Subject: [Chrysler300] Danger of wheel failure unless the rims are
> replaced by stronger ones designed for use with radial tires
> 
> 
>  Hi to all,
> 
>  If you are running radials on your old original 300 wheels:
> 
>   The following is reprinted from Old Cars Weekly from Sept 21, 2006 and
> warns
>   of the danger of wheel failure unless the rims are replaced by
> stronger ones
>  designed for use with radial tires.
>  __________________________________________________________
> 
>   Q. Recently, I purchased five new wide whitewall radials from a
> reputable
>   tire company (one of your advertisers). The car for their intended use
> is a
>  1956 Mercury that previously had bias‑ply tires. Although I had the new
>  radials professionally mounted and balanced, the front hubcaps come off
>   while driving, especially the left front on right turns. Can you
> advise me
>   if I need to replace the wheel rims with a heavier type? Robert W.
> Blume,
>  Sr., Calverton, N.Y.
> 
>   A. Back in 2003, we had a lively discussion of wheels intended for
> bias‑ply
>  tires "throwing" hubcaps when mounted with radials. Here are readers'
>   comments from that discussion. "The problem of cars 'throwing hubcaps'
> is
>   much more serious than rim flex and lost hubcaps. Try losing your life
> with
>   this problem! Rims for bias-ply tires, radial-ply tires, even disc
> brake
>   rims are made out of different alloys. Rims for bias-ply tires cannot
> use
>   radials, and bias and simple radial-ply rims cannot be used for disc
> brakes.
>  The forces exerted by bias-ply versus radial-ply tires (as well as disc
>   brakes) are different and need rims made specific to each application.
> When
>   using radial tires on bias-ply rims, the rims over‑flex as they are
> unable
>   to handle the forces of the radial tires. This over-flexing also means
> metal
>  fatigue, breakage (most commonly rim bead edge separation), and deadly
>  accidents. Many will disagree, touting their successful usage of radial
>  tires on bias-ply rims, but as a fatal accident investigator, the first
>   place I looked in any older car accident was at the rims. My advice
> when
>   replacing bias tires with radials is to immediately change the rims.
> One can
>   tell bias, radial, and disc brake rims by their markings," wrote Sam
> Egan,
>  general manager, Automotive Information Clearinghouse, La Mesa, Calif.
>   Another reader wrote, "When you install a radial tire on an old rim
> and the
>   footprint of the tire is wider or equal to the rim bead, the twisting
> of the
>   sidewall puts undue stress on the lighter and original rim. We put
> radial
>   tires on our 1956 Ford and had the same problem. We cured the problem
> when
>   we switched to 1966 Ford rims, which are one inch wider and eight to
> nine
>   pounds heavier, which makes them stronger than the old rims." Paul
> Haase of
>   Waterloo, Iowa, also advised replacing the rims. "Then if the wheel
> discs
>   still slip, they can be held in place a bead of silicone." Sanford
> Danziger
>   recommended locating a set of alloy rims, which would obviate the
> hubcap
>   problem. To hold the wheel covers in place, assuming movement is still
> a
>   problem with the correct rims, Dan Reed says he secured the wheel
> covers for
>   his 1956 Cadillac with a strap that was secured by one of the lugnuts.
> He
>   found this idea on a 1958 Oldsmobile. The strap has to be long enough
> to
>   allow access to the lug nuts. "It won't prevent the wheel cover from
> coming
>   off, but will keep it from being lost," he wrote. Marilyn Robinson
> ended the
>   problem of wheel covers flying off their Plymouth Valiant by switching
> to
>   hubcaps. Terry Wallace of Pensacola, Fla., brushed some of the grit
> coating
>  used on surf and skateboards onto the rim area that the wheel covers
>   contact. The covers still wanted to walk on the rim, so he added a
> bead of
>  silicone and has had no further trouble. Bob Brooks of Suffield, Conn.,
>   coated the wheel rim contact area on his 1952 Mercury with rubber
> cement and
>   hasn't thrown a wheel cover since. To hold the full disc, wheel covers
> on
>   his 1989 Thunderbird, Lou Frueh of Wickliffe, Ky., drilled a hole in
> the
>   wheel cover 180 degrees from the valve stem, then drilled and tapped a
> hole
>   in the wheel as near the rim as possible, and bolted on the wheel
> covers. He
>   disguised the bolt to look like another valve stem. Thomas Murray of
> San
>   Leandro, Calif., found that a strip of masking tape around the rim
> holds the
>   wheel covers on his two Kaisers in place. Bob Lewis of Susanville,
> Calif.,
>   uses silicone adhesive sealant to keep the full disc wheel covers on
> his
>   1950 Ford club coupe from moving. Gerald White of Altoona, Fla.,
> observed
>   that the brake drum will keep the center of the wheel from flexing,
> but not
>   the rim, leading us back to Mr. Egan's warning about the danger of
> wheel
>   failure unless the rims are replaced by stronger ones designed for use
> with
>  radial tires.
> 
>  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________
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