How much power can stock model A wheels handle?

I've seen a couple of Model A's that have had them with bigger motors,maybe shouldn't even be on them .... Does anyone know what a round about horse power/torque they could handle? Thinking about running some with a 200 hp flatty...Thanks in advance

21's front 19's back




21's

 

bump for the day crew...

 

I don't think hp is the issue, I think it is side loads with modern tires and paved roads.
The original tire compounds were like wood...no stickiness at all. And that was a dirt road car back then.
So the tire screaming cornering on slick asphalt that hod rodders are famous for...
Anyone ever seen a collapsed A wheel?
Same thing with motorcycle sidecars- once in a while a wheel will collapse, having been designed for the radial loads on a solo bike, not the extreme side loads of a sidecar outfit.

 

Guys at the dry lakes were killing the V8 wire wheels in the 40‘s.


Them wheel’s kill that 29

 

Really like the looks of that chassis! That is one of the aftermarket front clips with the upsweep right? I'd be real careful driving that car on A wheels, cornering is the problem IMO.

 

If you want to know how strong a model A wheel is, put one in the press and see when she moves.

 

what?

 

First of all, Model A 21" wheels have a tubular bead rim which is notorious for being rusted out from the inside, as in you can't tell sometimes that it is paper thin wntil it really matters! I would use them on anything other than a nice trailer OR a restored Model A.

Secondly, if you really look at those beautiful cars without prejudice...they are not well served by those skinny little wheels and tires no matter how wide the whitewalls are. The term cartoonish springs to mind.

Sorry.

 

There are brake drum/wheel issues to think about. Back in the day there were adapter spacers made so an A wheel fit flush with that outer rim of the wheel center, otherwise the wheel can wobble and crack around the lugs.

 

...so how much horse power?

 

How much power could Stuart Hilborn have been making just after ww2? 200 maybe. If you don’t know this car was nearly destroyed after breaking one of its ford wide wheels and that’s just the first one to come to mind.
Those cars above are death traps

 

Pretty sure Model A 21s will spin before they break.

 

Old wheels get weak, and 200bhp could easy pull the spokes out of a wheel in poor condition.
However when new laced wheels are one of the strongest designs of wheel,
and no reason why they should not take the power and the side loading of cornering forces, Jaguars offered wire wheels as an option for many years, the cars were big heavy and fast with more power than we are talking here.
If you are real keen on the laced wheel thing I would go for some new rims, spokes and probably some stronger spoke flanges and lace up some new wheels with rims wide enough to take the tyres, but the old ford ones I would forget.

 

Why do you think the first thing that was done was to put steel wheels on them. A couple of guys back home thought that the wires would make a sleeper out of their cars. What they got was a sitter.(on the drums.) Those cars were less than 300 hp.

 

Coker offers new 29-31 Model A wire wheels which wouldn't have any of the wear and corrosion problems of originals. I figure they would be at least as strong as new originals and maybe a bit stronger. They're pricey but if one is trying to put a couple hundred pound feet of torque through the driveline then they might be a significantly safer alternative. Also if the wheels turned out to not be true then Mr. Corky should be willing to work with you. Unless you're going to use a tire way larger than stock your traction will be limited which should provide a kind of safety valve for the wheels however hammering genny wires in the corners is not a particularly good idea for any vintage style units whether they are new or not.

 

You are correct, Crease.

You other guys that are telling about the wheels failing got any pictures?.

Don't use junk parts for performance, inspect wheels that you plan on using. Pick good one.

With the small footprint of the tire and the limits of bias tire, the tire will blow out before a good, sound, servicable wheel fails.

Speaking from experience, on the farm in the 1940’s, early 50’s we had a ‘29 pickup (standard car wheels, not truck wheels) that was used to haul grain, etc, loaded down to the point the springs were bottomed out. The heaviest loads were of coal, we used a couple or three loads a year, drove over 6 miles over rough rutted dirt roads before we got to pavement. On occasion we would twist an axle, or blow out a tire, but never broke a wheel.

 

LOL, sometimes we must do a little destructive testing to answer perplexing questions. I'm still doing destructive testing on early hemi blocks and cranks. I'm up to number...uh.........anyway. they aren't as strong as we thought.