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Some of these "cures" sound worse than the problem.
Securing the wheel covers with long straps that 'won't prevent
the wheel cover from coming off but will keep it from being lost' sounds
dismal. I'd rather lose the cover and have to beat the bushes for it than
have it tethered on to the rim and beating itself to death on the
pavement.
The idea of drilling a hole in the cover and rim, and then
disguising it as a second valve stem, is a funny one. Let's see, which one
do I use to inflate the tire? Plus what does that hole do to the balance
and the seating of the tire bead?
Sure you can scare people about "safety," and the
cover-flying-off-with-radial-tire phenomenon does happen, especially on really
narrow rims. But do we really need to be scared off our rims?
--Roger van Hoy, Washougal, WA, '55 DeSoto, '58 DeSoto, '56
Plymouth, '66 Plymouth, '41 Dodge
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 1:25
PM
Subject: [FWDLK] 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.
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