Suicide Rims

[OSM 70 C20]

My truck came with 2-piece wheels when I bought it & I replaced them with some new white spokes. I hate to get rid of them if there is some sort of value to them. Do people do full restorations with split wheels. Or are they only worth their weight in scrap?

[elf w/capital T]

I would scrap them...

[LockDoc]

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I would think that anyone doing a 100 point resto would have to have them. I just put mine up in the barn.... I guess it depends on how much storage room you have. I would give mine to anyone that was close enough to pick them up but mine don't have tires on them.

LockDoc

[lowrollin70gmc]

What diameter are they? I'm also in Fargo and would be willing to take them off your hands for you. (They aren't dangerous if you assembly them with a cage and cautiously).

[OSM 70 C20]

low rollin' they are 16", still have tires on them. They are yours. PM me

[skorpioskorpio]

Originally Posted by lowrollin70gmc

(They aren't dangerous if you assembly them with a cage and cautiously).

Isn't this kind of like saying sharks aren't dangerous if you view them from the boat and cautiously?

[OSM 70 C20]

Handle with care, contents may blow your face off.
They are safe if they are in good shape and you know how to handle them. Older technology, so kids these days aren't used to them. But common up here in the Flatlands...

[mr48chev]

When I put the mags on my 71 I ended up giving the split rims to some 80 something year old guy who still liked them old bias tires and all. When the tire store put my mags on they never let the split rims set, they were pulled off the truck and rolled right around and put in the back of the truck as they were removed.

On tire chain in the west has a standing policy that if an employe takes in a split rim and starts working on it he is fired on the spot. They had a few close calls and if you look around a lot of old tire stores you will see a cage with the bars bowed out from a ring coming off when they aired up a tire.

[LockDoc]

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Ron, that works at the salvage yard two miles west of me works on them every once in a while. They don't have a cage.... I'll have to ask him if he has ever had one come apart on him.

LockDoc

[chiefcfd]

I changed many of these from age 15 to after 40.There are numerous 2 piece and 3 piece rims like this. Most failures are from people who don't know how to take these apart. They will spring the lock ring and it won't seat properly. The only tire I ever had blow up was not a split rim it was a new tire that the bead broke on. Nearly lost my nose with that one.

[factorystock]

These are not " split rims " they are "lock ring wheels". Split rims refers to some medium duty truck 2 piece wheels that connected in the middle ( which was a very bad design). The 2 piece "lock ring" wheel is still being used today on heavy duty construction equipment and is the standard set up on container trailer chassis. Under shock loading or traveling over rocks and uneven surfaces, there is no air pressure loss that tubeless tires experience when the bead is broken for a split second. This design is an over kill for pickups, but back in the day, this was the recommended wheel for pickups hauling heavy loads. If they were so dangerous, GM engineers would not have used them up until the early 70's. No more dangerous than jumping a battery, you need to pay attention to what your doing. Most car tire shops will stay clear off them, but truck tire dealers still work on them everyday. These wheels are more expensive to deal with because of the tubes and liners which tubless tires don't have. For a 100% concourse restoration, which very few 3/4 tons receive, it is the only correct 16" wheel for '69 thru '72 C -20's.

[OSM 70 C20]

Yup. All true.
I was just sort of generalizing for the sake of brevity. I worked for a wheel and rim distributor for about 10 years, learned more than my fair share about wheels. To this day I can't stand it when people call wheels "rims"...
I just didn't want to dump something that may be of value to our hobby (hobby?)

[DeadheadNM]

I like stock wheels on a 3/4 ton but not all 3/4 ton had 16" splits - mine was outfitted with 16.5 x 8.25 steelies:

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

I like stock wheels on a 3/4 ton but not all 3/4 ton had 16" splits - mine was outfitted with 16.5 x 8.25 steelies:

My '68 CST/Custom Camper has the 16.5 x 8.25 wheels on it too. The only one listed on the SPID is the spare tire, which I thought was strange. I am the second owner of this truck.

LockDoc

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

My '68 CST/Custom Camper has the 16.5 x 8.25 wheels on it too. The only one listed on the SPID is the spare tire, which I thought was strange. I am the second owner of this truck.

LockDoc

Interesting Leon...the SPID on my K20 lists tire size for front, rear, and the spare (all 10" I believe) but not rim size. Here's a take off OEM spare wheel I have from a 72 K20 Suburban that's 16.5 with a 6" width IIRC. Sorry to hijack the thread - did 4wd 3/4 ton truck come from GM with split rims?

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

- did 4wd 3/4 ton truck come from GM with split rims?

At least some of them did. My '72 K20 came with 16" split rims.... er, I mean lock ring wheels. Still have one of the originals as a spare.

[lowrollin70gmc]

Originally Posted by skorpioskorpio

Isn't this kind of like saying sharks aren't dangerous if you view them from the boat and cautiously?

I'm saying it's safer to swim in a shark cage than trying to ride a Great White.



I've built many split (or lock) wheels for heavy equipment, both here in the US and while deployed overseas. When we didn't have a cage, we set a loader bucket or grader blade on top of the horizontal wheel/tire and stood behind a vehicle (up-armored MTVR) while airing up the tires with a clip-on lead and regulator at the air source.

Regular tubeless tires can explode while setting a bead on one piece wheels as well.

--PM sent--

[Daner]

I just saw a set a couple weeks ago when I was getting a tire on my air seeder fixed. They had already taken the grinder to them so there was nothing to salvage.

I've got one more year at NDSU. Do you guys ever meet up?

[Katrina/10]

Originally Posted by factorystock

These are not " split rims " they are "lock ring wheels". Split rims refers to some medium duty truck 2 piece wheels that connected in the middle ( which was a very bad design). The 2 piece "lock ring" wheel is still being used today on heavy duty construction equipment and is the standard set up on container trailer chassis. Under shock loading or traveling over rocks and uneven surfaces, there is no air pressure loss that tubeless tires experience when the bead is broken for a split second. This design is an over kill for pickups, but back in the day, this was the recommended wheel for pickups hauling heavy loads. If they were so dangerous, GM engineers would not have used them up until the early 70's. No more dangerous than jumping a battery, you need to pay attention to what your doing. Most car tire shops will stay clear off them, but truck tire dealers still work on them everyday. These wheels are more expensive to deal with because of the tubes and liners which tubless tires don't have. For a 100% concourse restoration, which very few 3/4 tons receive, it is the only correct 16" wheel for '69 thru '72 C -20's.

I'm glad you cleared that up.

[lowrollin70gmc]

Originally Posted by Daner

I just saw a set a couple weeks ago when I was getting a tire on my air seeder fixed. They had already taken the grinder to them so there was nothing to salvage.

I've got one more year at NDSU. Do you guys ever meet up?

I moved back to Fargo last year and will be starting NDSU (again) this fall. If any of ya'll need parts or a hand let me know. I haven't met up with guys from this board but I run to cruise nights in Fergus Falls, West Fargo, and Broadway in Fargo (a few blocks from me).

[WIDESIDE72]

On a related note, someone posted a thread about the danger of inflating an almost flat tire on a front ender loader (the lock had come undone and blew up killing the operator). I wonder if this would be the same with our truck wheels. Seems to me it would be.
Posted via Mobile Device

[OSM 70 C20]

As long as no one laughs at my handy work, I'd be more than happy to meet up!!!

[1972RedNeck]

The pickup "wheels" (what the difference between a rim and wheel?) don't have a lock on them. But yes, most anything can happen.

[Daner]

I googled this because I didn't know there was a difference...

The rim is the part where the tire is connected. The rim and wheel are typically connected by spokes.

There was a bigger distinction when hub wheel spoke rim were different materials.

I'll pm you guys or something this fall when I'm back.

[OSM 70 C20]

The distinction is even greater when you ship out a pallet of 24 truck rims instead of wheels...
I never thought this thread would evolve