Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

My '49 Ford with the stock wheels and radial tires keeps throwing off wheel discs. Apparently the wheels are flexing too much. Is there a later and stronger Ford wheel that I can use and still keep the factory hubcaps?? They are 15" .

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

I thought all 1949 Fords came with 16 inch wheels. The Woodie was the exception.
But I believe that your indiction of why it is happening is correct.

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

Try dog dish/poverty caps instead of full wheel caps.

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

Had the same problem on the 52 Merc. Changed over to a set of "dog dish poverty caps" and that solved the problem. I actually like the look of them just as well as the full disks.

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

Bruce,

There are no wheels that will fix this problem. If you want to continue to run full wheelcovers and you are running tubless tires, there is a fix. Find some steel valve stems that are long enough to extend through the cap to replace the rubber ones. They will prevent the wheel cover from "walking" and should keep them on the wheel.

Ken

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

I had the same problem with heavy '56 Olds covers coming off my '51 with new radials. I simply re-bent the "teeth" on the covers and never lost them again.

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

I have a set of the factory accessory 15" "trim rings" that are similar to full wheel discs but have a 7" hole in the center and go on the wheel over the factory hub caps. These are a fairly rare accessory and really look great on the car. Unfortunately with radials tires on the stock wheels they don't stay on the wheel for more than a few miles, due to the wheel flexing. I don't want to use "dog-dish" caps, but want to replace the original wheels with a stronger wheel that will not flex with radial tires, but still need a wheel that will accept the original Ford factory caps.

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

Would a later ford pickup rim be any stronger ?

Re: Wheels for my '49 Ford
 

When radials were introduced in the mid 1960s wheel failures began to occur on trucks, and wheel cover issues like this became common on cars. Wheel manufacturers voided warranties if radials were mounted in some tubeless wheel applications. Riveted wheel flex was remedied when the manufacturers adopted fully welded center discs in the 1970s/80s. So to answer the question, later fully welded wheel discs, as found on later trucks that came OEM with radials, should remedy the problem. Stu