Dynaflash8 Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I need one Buick steel wheel, size 15x6 in good condition. I would like to have hubcap clips, but that isn't necessary. It must be from a 1941-1959 (according to the 1960 Buick Master Parts Book). I need it to fit a 1941 Buick Roadmaster, Series 70. I would like it not to be so rusty as to need sandblasting. Some say the 1941-42 wheels had only three clips, but my car wheels use five clips. Again 15 inch wheels, measured six inches wide, not six and a half. The 15-inch wheel is the easy part, it's the six inches wide part that is hard to find. My mechanic says edge to edge, but I wonder about his memory and if he rounded off. Now the tires are on the car. Earl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Looks like nobody in the Buick world has ever salvaged a 1946-1948 15x6 wheel. I will take any 15x6 Buick wheel up to 1960, but I prefer one with clips on it. How about a little sympathy. Auburn, send me a picture of your best one. Maybe we can work out a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburncoupe Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I posted to someone on this site 3-4 weeks ago pictures of one I had but I have sold that one. Give me a week or so and I will see if I can round up another one. They are not easy to locate I can assure you of that. Any year of 15x6 is a battle. The book shows Century/Super and Roadmaster had them but I found that this is not always the case. I had a perfect clean MATCHED set with factory paint the same as the body from a '54 Super and 1952 Roadmaster.....All eight rims were 15x5.5. No consistency in my part of the world. I ramble but I will look at more of the cars here for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-morten- Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 (edited) Hi, i have two 15x6 rims and two 15x5.5 messured inside rimedge, all are different types. But they are in Norway in Europe. Take care. -morten- Edited February 24, 2018 by -morten- (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Norway, would cost me an arm and a leg, but thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 9:26 PM, Auburncoupe said: I posted to someone on this site 3-4 weeks ago pictures of one I had but I have sold that one. Give me a week or so and I will see if I can round up another one. They are not easy to locate I can assure you of that. Any year of 15x6 is a battle. The book shows Century/Super and Roadmaster had them but I found that this is not always the case. I had a perfect clean MATCHED set with factory paint the same as the body from a '54 Super and 1952 Roadmaster.....All eight rims were 15x5.5. No consistency in my part of the world. I ramble but I will look at more of the cars here for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 9:26 PM, Auburncoupe said: I posted to someone on this site 3-4 weeks ago pictures of one I had but I have sold that one. Give me a week or so and I will see if I can round up another one. They are not easy to locate I can assure you of that. Any year of 15x6 is a battle. The book shows Century/Super and Roadmaster had them but I found that this is not always the case. I had a perfect clean MATCHED set with factory paint the same as the body from a '54 Super and 1952 Roadmaster.....All eight rims were 15x5.5. No consistency in my part of the world. I ramble but I will look at more of the cars here for you. You posted the picture to me, but it was so rusty I passed. I'm getting less picky . 15x5.5 was 1941-42 Century and Roadmaster. 1946-forward were 15x6, except for '49 when they had a "wide rim wheel" on the Roadmaster. By the later years all of those were gone, and the parts book said all 1941-60-plus big cars used 15x6 rims. After 1947 or 1948 they all did. 1947 or 1948 and earlier Special and Super used 16-inch rims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-morten- Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 59 minutes ago, Dynaflash8 said: Norway, would cost me an arm and a leg, but thanks for looking Not sure how much you value your lims, but a 10kg parcel is around $100. Take care. -morten- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buickborn Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Dynaflash8, here's the day's dumbest question: how do you measure the width of a wheel? Bead to bead? If so, then I have an available, reasonably rust-free 15x6 wheel off a '54 Roadmaster. Bad news: it's a bit bent, apparently from striking a curb. My tire guy says it can be straightened. If you wish, you can have it gratis + shipping from zip 89049. If that doesn't float your boat, my sometime partner-in-crime Buickmansam has a few clean '56 Buick wheels, but I'm not sure whether senior or junior series. Will check with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 12 hours ago, Buickborn said: Dynaflash8, here's the day's dumbest question: how do you measure the width of a wheel? Bead to bead? If so, then I have an available, reasonably rust-free 15x6 wheel off a '54 Roadmaster. Bad news: it's a bit bent, apparently from striking a curb. My tire guy says it can be straightened. If you wish, you can have it gratis + shipping from zip 89049. If that doesn't float your boat, my sometime partner-in-crime Buickmansam has a few clean '56 Buick wheels, but I'm not sure whether senior or junior series. Will check with him. That's a good question Buickborn. My tire guy said my four wheels on the ground measured six inches. That was using that plastic thing they put over the wheel and tire when they are balancing it. Some people say you don't measure edge to edge, but to the bead. All of my wheels, including the much wider spare had clips. They used various "dog-dish" hubcap designs from 1941 to the end, but they would all interchange on 1941-1960 something wheel that had clips. The 1960 Master Chassis parts book says they were all the same, even though I'm told original 1941-42 15-inch wheels had only three clips. I've got a set of bolt-on clips in case I find one of them. I appreciate the bent wheel offer, but I have nobody in this area to straight it so that won't work. I think if the 1956 wheels were either 6 or 6.5 inches edge to edge one would work. I'd rather have have the clips rivited in, but the bolt-in clips should work okay. It worries me that since they are after-market they may not have as much tension. The tire guy said the spare wheel that came with the car was 8-inches and that makes no sense. I don't think there was ever a Buick wheel that was 8-inches; allthough I wonder about 1949 Roadmaster wheels. They made a big deal in advertising about their new "wid-rim" wheels. However, in 1946 they advertised "new Broadrim wheels" for the Roadmaster. I have no idea if those two had different widths. I never thought this would be a problem. I gave away a set of 15-inch wheels that came on my green '39 Buick convertible and had no problem finding 5 16-inch wheels that were authentic for the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 I just had a brainstorm. In years past I had very good service from CTC Auto Wreckers in Denton, TX. I went to their site today, and although they don't have a 1946-48 Buick, they have a number of 1950 Buicks, and also have 1951, 1952 and 1953 Buicks with wheels still on them. I think any of those 1950 Buick's will have wheels like mine. I'll call them next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buickborn Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 6 or 6'5 inches edge to edge? That sounds awfully narrow to me. The (original) wheels currently on my '54 Roadmaster measure 7" inches edge-to-edge, and the spare wheel (I have no idea what it came from) measures 7 1/4". Not only does there appear to be quite a variety in Buick wheels, but I think we have to be careful about variations in offset. For example, when I replaced the stock wheels on my '41 Cadillac with repro 48-spoke wire wheels (El Dorado style), I thought the 1/4" difference I'd measured in the backset was insignificant. In fact, that minor difference radically affected the car's steering characteristics, causing considerable road wander that I corrected with time-consuming trial-and-error adjustments to the toe-in. I shudder to think of what the effects would have been had I been running mis-matched wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgreen Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 The appropriate dimension for classifying a wheel for its' width is inside to inside at the bead. You may actualy be looking for a 5-1/2x15 inch wheel. '38 Roadmasters took a 5-1/2 x 15, the '39 and '40 Roadmasters took a 5 x 15 inch wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaflash8 Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) I think that thing they use when balancing your wheels on a spin balancer measures the outside of the wheel at the bead. You have to add the width of the steel x 2, right? So, a 5.5 inch wide wheel would then measure perhaps 6" on the outside? That would mean perhaps my road wheels are 5.5x15 correct? I also know that they used a different rim in 1946 called a "Broadrim wheel" but it still used 7.00x15 tires. In 1947 the wheel didn't change but the tire size changed to 8.20x15. The fact that the parts book calls for the same wheel straight on through tells me also, that whatever the difference in width might have been, year to year, Buick disn't consider it significant. So, my one wheel measued 8" the same way. I guess it is 7.5x15? Edited February 25, 2018 by Dynaflash8 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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