guess what! dumb question time...

I need some cheap roll-around wheels for my T project, and I plan on adapting some model A wires onto the rear hubs. My rear axle is from a 1937 ford pickup. I have a mechanical brake A axle with wire wheels that I'm Hoping to use up front, but I still need rear wheels. My question is, do any of those cheap 80$ trailer wheels from fleet farm or a similar store have the 5x 5 1/2 bolt pattern used by the A wheels? I don't have two extra A wheels with tires yet to use, so I'm looking for a cheap alternative. Also, for a low speed gow job would the 80$ wheels and tires be a safe thing to use? Because, I'd rather use four of those until I get a set of A wires and decent runnable tires.

I also kind of want to know how much tinkering it would take to put the A axle under the T spring and frame. I've seen a modification where after you split the bones, you mount the spring perches onto the bones and run it like you stole it. Would that work? Or am I making a mountain look like a molehill?

Next question is, if I were to be a lazy person and use the 37truck banjo rear end under my T to use the mechanical brakes, Would the 37 leaf springs fit up into th T crossmember? Or if that is a no go, would the T spring go onto the 37 axle? I know putting the leaf springs under tension to put them on is a major pain in the ***. This leads to my next question!

What is the safer way to put on a leaf spring? On my T, I put the left side spring shackle in and put a 2x4 under the right side spring eye as a slider, and I proceeded to wrap a few ratchet straps around the pumpkin and I smoked it down till the other shackle went in. This was really really dangerous, cause I actually ripped one of my dad's new ratchet straps. I had a chunk of chain wrapped around it as a "sh*t stuff is flying apart!!!" Prevention method, and I'm thankful for that because when the one strap ripped, the chain saved that portion of built up tension from toasting the other strap.

Thanks for answering the questions of a new kid,

Ccd

 

F-150 pickup trucks used the 5.5" pattern up through the 80's on the 2wd trucks, a trip to the junkyard for some rollers would be way cheaper than buying new trailer wheels, which you would not want to run on your car anyway.

 

Wow, they used that pattern up till that late? Thanks squablow! When this accursed snow goes away I'll make a trip to the parts yard.

 

vans also...I had a 1988 1/2 ton ford van that had that bolt pattern.

 

Get one of those cheap plastic lug diameter checkers and a reasonablely thick piece of plywood, some string, a nail, a pencil, and a sabre saw. Make your own "wheel". Any diameter and great for mock up and shop movement......road mileage may varie .

 

Hah! That's actually a dam good idea

 

I've got an 81 f100 not 5 on5.5 its 5 on 5

 

I have an '89 f150 with the same 5x5.5 pattern. Ford used that until 90 then switched to the metric bolt pattern. I have the wheels and tires from my 79 pu under my T now, and they are bolted to a 34 rear axle. Tha '37 rear spring is wider than the stock T crosmember if I remember correctly. I know my '37 spring won't fit my frame. Hope this helps.

 

This helped a lot!! Thank you very much. And I'm very surprised at how long Ford used the 5x5.5 pattern. That should make finding wheels vastly simpler. I do have the stock wheels off of a 37 pickup, but they might be too rusty to use. Also, tires might be a problem. Also, speaking of tires, I've seen people run motorcycle tires on some of these A and some truck wheels. I understand sidewall strength is questionable, but hey as if a ***le-less gow job T will be used to severely to worry about tire sidewall strength. Mostly this will be a parade buggy or something to buzz down to the lake in style with.

Ccd

 

Time for another question. We've got a 37 ford pickup that my dad is planning on doing something with, and he's junking out the drive train to use something with a fair amount more horsepower than the stock v8-60. The stock motor is 100%shot but the clutch and transmission are okay. Will the bellhousing fit any other motors? Or if the housing won't swap, how much does a non running v8-60 usually sell for?

 

Dodge and jeep both used 5 on 5 1/2 bolt patterns as well, my brain cant retain what years but they were common


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Ford 1/2 ton used 5 on 5.5 through 96

 

Charlie,

Remember all 5 on 5 1/2 wheels were not created equal. There was a raised area on the Model A drums (actually through 1935) and if you run later solid wheels on the Model A drums you will probably have a dangerous situation. See http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8330045&highlight=stephens#post8330045

THIS SITUATION NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED!!!

Charlie Stephens

 

the 37 leaf is thicker and won't go into your crossmember. use the T spring, make some shackles then trim the spring mount on the 37 to match. there's not that much tension to load those springs. attach the main leaf by itself, once it's mounted add the other leaves and compress with a big clamp.

 

I thought it was the other way around. But he was only talking about rolling it around.

 

Thanks for the warning Charlie, I'll read up on that post momentarily.

Bgaro, thanks for answering that! I'll most likely do that now, building new shackles should be simple enough. And it never occurred to me to load the main leaf first then add in the other leafs after I got the first shackled in, that will make it so much simpler.

 

I agree with Sunbeam......I believe the problem arises when using wire spoke wheels on hubs of later models .....'40 up.....that do not have the 'support lugs' on the hubs that are needed for the wire wheel. Later disc wheels, '40 up, can be used on the '28 thru '35 hubs without issues.

 

Ford trucks used 5x5.5 wheels from 1948- 1996 same on E series, except in the early 80s they used 4x4.5 on a very light duty truck they sold as an F100. Dodge truck, Jeep, Scout and some others used the same bolt circle, but the center hole on some were bigger. You can use Jeep wheels on a Ford truck, But not Ford stock wheels on a Jeep.

 

All the way till 1996 on F-150's.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens View Post
Charlie,

Remember all 5 on 5 1/2 wheels were not created equal. There was a raised area on the Model A drums (actually through 1935) and if you run later solid wheels on the Model A drums you will probably have a dangerous situation. See http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ns#post8330045

THIS SITUATION NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED!!!

Charlie Stephens
I thought it was the other way around. But he was only talking about rolling it around.

It is actually both ways but running disc wheels on drums that were designed for the wire wheels is in my opinion the worst of the two scenarios. I agree that it would be OK if he really only used the wheels to roll it around but how many times have you had temporary solutions that remained for years? If he torques the rims down tight he might ruin them.

Charlie Stephens

 

Certainly wouldn't want to ruin my rims. I'll most likely use the stock disk wheels from the 37 on the rear for a while. I do not have tires for the rear wheels though. The tires on the front wheels are good enough for rollers.

 

Ok, if the center of the hub is the worry, find some old willy's/Jeep rims or chrome mods for ford/jeep/80's dodges & many more 4X4's with 5x5 1/2 bolt pattern which both have HUGE center opening & cheap on C/List
if they are just for rolling around trim the centers out of 'newer' rims

 

If you're looking for cheap roller tires to put on the stock '37 rims, a 16" space saver spare tire will fit on that rim really nicely. I wouldn't run it down the road, but I've put them on wheels meant for a 6.00-16" as rollers many times and it works really well. I got a few of them for free and they were real helpful for moving certain cars around the shop. Just figured I'd mention it.

 

If you want really cheap rollers grab a piece of cardboard put grease on your lugs and or the hub cut out the hub if it sticks out.
Measure the height and width of the tire you plan on running.
Now grab a 55 gallon barrel, a pair of electric shears, cut the ends off the barrel, then cut from the end to the width of your rubber.
Put duck tape on the edges of the barrel to avoid cutting up your hands.
Bend the barrel into the outside diameter of your tire with at least 1" overlap. Measure the inside of your barrel then go over to your plywood with your piece of string. Draw a circle and center your bolt pattern "template". Drill the holes through the cardboard into the wood and as long as it is centered it will be perfect every time.
Jack up the car and use jack stands. Bolt on your plywood "wheel centers".
Slide the barrel onto the plywood, this will give you an idea how much offset you can have instantly.
To check the inside rim diameter for caliper clearance use a piece of cardboard, bend the cardboard the height of the tire then the width of the rim in a L shape then tape it to the barrel where it is most likely to hit anything. You can easily slide the barel back and forth to check clearance of break calipers, steering components, other clearances such as turning and suspension.

This is an old method for checking wheel clearance from stuff you probably have laying around. For rolling it around use some self taping screws, screw then in from the outside, while pulling the overlap tight around plywood.
As long as you don't have a offset over 3" you can generally roll it back and forth. I have broke plywood wheels before rolling them more then 30 feet and don't recommend them for anything except mockup.
It is best to just use them to check for clearance then find a set of free/cheap rollers.
If you find a free set of rollers that have steel rims you can easily torch out the center section and weld in a wheel center that matches your bolt pattern at the offset you need.
Remove the valve stem and pull off the tire to avoid sending excessive heat through it.
Install the tire, inflate, and you have a great roller that may be very close to your final depending on what you find for free.

I would rather set the axle and/or A-arms on wheel dollies for moving it around the shop then spend money on any of those one time plastic wheel things.

 

thanks!

one more dumb question here. on a front axle drop for a T, your supposed to pop out the spring perches and put them in upside down (and other mods to the wishbones and etc) On my T's front axle, my perches are stuck in really good. I got to thinking, since I cant flip the perches, what if I flip the whole axle? Swap the spindles to oposite sides upsidedown, and ***emble? I ***ume theres no real stress dangers for the axle just being upside down, or am I wrong? Because if there are no extreme dangers to the axle with that method, I'll probably go with that.

 

If you have a completely stock 37 rear axle, then it should have the wide Five pattern which was used from 36-39.

 

Here's one for y'all to think about. Here's my flattie, and I cracked open the right side cylinder head...yikes..
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I'm certain it's shot. But I've seen stuff worse than this come back from the dead on here, think it could be shade-tree'd back into service? It'd need new pistons of corse, valve job and rebored over a few thousandths and honed.

 

Dude, that 1st pic made me wince. The second is ********. Good luck.

 

Lol, Thanks for the encouragement, slammed.

 

i was readin old hotrod mag from the 50s an they were advertising this rebuild in a tube stuff , maybe try an get hold some of that magic stuff