They are not clearanced for disc brakes, I know what you mean about that though. These are 16x5 front 16x5.5 rears.
Lets talk old Ford wheels, 15" wheels to be specific. 16" Ford wheels are another breed and some of this information will crossover, but I will focus on the 15" Ford steel rim found on 46-48 Ford passenger cars and pickups. The passenger car has a 5" wide rim, this makes a great front wheel. The pickup has a 5.5" wide rim and makes a great rear wheel. **"Fun Fact"** When trying to identify the wheels quickly, the truck wheels have a raised rib around the lug nut seat and is the same on 16" Ford wheels. When it comes to reversing wheels I prefer using the Ford hoop because I think it looks best. There is nice taper on the back side of the rim leading to the drop center. On the 5.5" wide rim this feature is even more pronounced and that is where the extra half inch is added to the rim width. This feature is not in the Ford 16" wheel. There are many no called "chrome reverse" out there, but not many like this. Once your eye gets trained to see the real stuff you will see the difference right away. For example, the Bill Woodard Roadster restored by the Seiver's has real chrome reverse wheels. If I plan on chroming the wheel I fit the wheel center to the hoop and label it for position prior to chroming and assemble them after chroming. The chrome plating looks the best doing it this way. In the photos attached I do not have the reversed wheels on the front, but I plan on doing so. I have to run the Mercury hubcap in order to clear the front 39 Lincoln hubs. This set will probably get painted with trim rings and hubcaps. I will run 8.20-15 rear and 5.50-15 fronts. I am not sure about the white walls, but this rim package will be for road trips only because of easy maintenance.
Hmm, learn something new every day. I didn’t know that Ford made 15” wheels in 46-48. I always thought those style steel wheels in 15” were originally on 49-56 pickups. Maybe later as well.
LOL You could be right, I may have misspoke. I obtained my wheels off a 48 Ford pickup and somebody could have swapped them out. So I wouldn't hold this information as gospel because all these parts interchange. I am mainly pointing out that there are truck wheels and passenger car wheels. Thanks
I am still working on the springs for Lil Runaway. I would hate to see the time ticket on this if I were a paying customer. Both front and rear are custom length and arch. My last step is hammering out the ends of the leaves to draw the metal out thin and then polish them all aka Hollywood spring. My favorite hammer got dinged up, total bummer, but I can fix it later. I shared a few pics of how I keep the hammer warm and the anvil warm. I keep those hammer heads hot and place them on the anvil while I heat the spring in the forge. I also place the hammer face on the stove to keep it warm in between sessions.
Now i understand why you say that you need to polish them all the time haha Good work on the leaf springs.
The Jalopy Journal
