Jack:
Thanks for sharing notice of the failure and good luck on finding a proper wire-spoke wheel. We look forward to more details on the failure. Glad you and the car survived the failure.
Some observations on Motor Wheel brand and other wire-spoke wheels:
The Motor Wheel rims on the '55-'56 300's had only 48 spokes—other old and current wire spoke wheels have more than that—perhaps to reduce stress in each spoke?
Restoration includes disassembly, removal of old chrome, possible straightening and then chrome plating.
I purchased a used set of restored Motor Wheel wire-spoke rims for our '55 C-300 and had only one problem in 10K miles—a broken SS spoke. The plating had some minor deterioration around the spoke holes indicating a possible less than perfect cleaning and/or polishing of the bare steel wheel in the spoke-hole area during the process. The area around the spoke hole is also an area of high stress.
I ran L78-15 Remington bias-ply tires with new tubes. The wide WSW's and wire spoke wheels added a lot to the appearance of the car.
The wheels had a layer of rubber-like material on the inside and laid up over the spoke-hole area—ostensibly to prevent leakage of a tubeless tire and to protect the tube if used. There was evidence of surface corrosion under the rubber layer. The '55 service manual indicates that Chryslers with the wire-spoke wheels were equipped with tubes—even the Blue Streaks on the C-300's. Wondering whether the original Motor Wheel rims came with the rubberized inner coating or whether they relied on the more-common removable rubber "flap" to protect the tube from damage by spoke-ends.
The jury is out on whether or not radial ply tires over stress an old wheel. It would be most interesting to know what kind of tire was on the wheel that failed and what the cold inflation pressure was. I recently read that radial tires should be inflated to 90% of maximum which was 40 psi on the 44 psi maximum pressure radial tires on our 300K. I would imagine the original rated pressure on the 8.50 X 14 bias-ply tires in 1964 was more like 28-30 psi. My recollection of airing up tires on the island at the Phillips 66 station in the '50's is that 30 psi was the high end for the bias-ply passenger car tires.
I priced re-chroming the wheels on our '55 and was told the per-wheel labor cost would be greater than purchasing a new wheel.
Chrome plating can involve up to three different metals with chrome being the last.
All plating involves electrolysis which also generates hydrogen.
Hydrogen can migrate into ever-present micro-cracks in the steel and lead to failure due to "hydrogen stress embrittlement". This is a significant problem with steel pipelines, bridges and other steel structures where hydrogen may be introduced in fabrication or operation.
Controlled heating after application of the final chrome layer can be used to drive out most of the hydrogen. Not an issue on non-structural trim but a serious problem with wheels. Wondering whether chrome shops doing the restoration of wheels are cognizant of the need for a stint in the oven after the final plating process.
I recall hearing noise from the rims as they flexed down the road. There being 192 spokes and 384 spoke-ends in varying tension this was not surprising.
Proper balancing of a wheel and tire assembly requires placing some of the weights on the inside and some on the outside of the rim. For appearance sake, I requested placing all weights on the inside, resulting in a less-than-optimum wheel balance. Taking extra time to match the heavy side of the tire with the light side of the wheel before balancing would be worthwhile but requires strict direction to the tire tech.
Finally, the reproduction center cover "hubcaps" on our wire wheels did not fit well and noticeably rattled as we went down the road. Adding a ring of ¼" weather strip solved that problem. Popping these caps off without damaging cap or wheel was also challenging and required just the right sort of lever arm to apply the necessary force.
All in all, I like the vintage look of the wire spoke wheels but understand why the industry standard is stamped steel design. The wire-spoke wheel covers on our '86 Chrysler T&C convertible do offer the look and the safety, albeit rather chintzy.
300K'ly,
Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA
From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 'Jack Boyle' jackcboyle@xxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 7:38 AM
To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Group 27 Batteries
After almost two years attempting to get four safe and presentable wire wheels on my C300 I am still one wheel away. On the way home from the Bentonville 300 meet we had a near catastrophic wheel failure. One on my recently restored wheels split in two locations as it tried to pull itself apart.
I will document the trials and tribulations of this long and troubled road in a future post but in the meantime, I need one rust free wire wheel or just the rim for my C300. Any leads would be appreciated.
Thanks to all. ...Jack
Jack Boyle
(913) 544 4650
Enjoying the same C-300 since 1967
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