16x4 spare tire wheels...safe to run?

i use em and i live off 20k of gravel logging roads with washboard and potholes....1000s of kms and not a problem other than the odd offset

 

Yea, I keep hearing that old tires are unsafe, it's my guess mostly by tire salesmen. I have some bias ply I'm running that are about 15 years old. I'll keep a watch out when they get (really) old. My question for those that say they're unsafe is this; I had a flat this spring, nail, then the nail tore a big hole in the tube. It went down real quick, but as I noticed the pull to the side I reacted. Steered to a stop, no problem.

My question; If the tire fails for some other reason, what's the diff? With a tire failure, what caused it don't change the result. Control the vehicle, pull over. Inconvenience, yes. Unsafe?, that's relative.

BAck on topic, those donut wheels are obviously stronger that oem wheels from the30s, 40s. Can't see a downside.
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I have seen old BFG TA Radials, blow completely apart just sitting there. Pieces of tread flew across the shop!

It came apart the way 18 wheeler tires do, but it was not going down the interstate.

 

I posted on this subject about a year ago. I have observed that when using a Rim Crusher to take the tire off the rim, the bolt holes Crack while regular wheels Stretch.
So my friendly advise THEN is the same as it is NOW, if you use them: KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE BOLT HOLES FOR CRACKING.

 

So what was the junk car that these came off of?

 

They came off of modern Mopar products. They all have the Mopar star logo thing on them. I just took a measuring tape to the bone yard to check the diameter & bolt spacing, started opening trunks of larger Mopars & before you know it, I had a set. The 16" are harder to find than the 15," however. I think they charged me $15 apiece, but you do have to have the tires removed, etc. (obviously).

 

I currently run s-10 spares on the front of my bucket. 16x4. The offset was perfect. One came out of my blazer, the other from the junk yard. Look new. Tire shops dont like them too much but they will mount stuff to them. I dont know about caps but i know Flatheadpete put trim rings on his. He was running s-10 16x4 fronts and astro van 18x4 in the back of his bucket. Mounted to bias.

 

This roadster has 16x4 space savers on the rear (came off an S-10) and 15x4 space savers on the front (came off a late 70's-early 80's Monte Carlo). Just the wheels, the tires were brand new, I would not recommend using the spare donut tires that are on these. Just use the rims like any others. Nice thing is if you do run disc brakes they'll fit right over them. They will take trim rings too.

 

This is my friends car.
Nissan Murano 18x4 on the rear, 17x4 Ford Cobra on the front. The disks were special ordered from Moon.

 

4.5" bolt circle equeals 114MM metric bolt circle

 

114.3 to be exact.

 

Yes.

 

I'm running Hyundai 15x4 emergency wheel hoops welded onto 5 on 5 1/2 Ford truck centers and they look great. Someone that I trust alot more than a Korean auto worker welded them up as well so I'm not worried. They look great with my dirt track Firestone tires.

 

My dad is gonna run them .steel is steel Tires aren't speed rated . He's using 15's Knocked them apart and He welded in centers from the frontwheel hubs he's using.

 

So what year car did the wheels come off?

 

I had 2, yes two, donut spares blow up in the trunk of our car. The frist was the OEM spare after about 4 years (never been used but once), and the second the replacement I bought, like a dumb***, at the dealership (no tire company would order one) after another 3 years and never being used. I gave up the trunk space to a full size spare after that.

 

I've bought several spares that came out of 90's jeep cheroke's,16x4 on a 4 1/2'' bolt pattern.The tires are 125/90/16,i believe that's what's on the truck posted earlier.I wait til it's half price day at pick a part and get them for 4 bucks apiece,on a side note, off topic, half price day is a good day to get t-5 transmissions for 85 bucks apiece plus 10 dollar core.