20 inch Wire Wheel Info

[Guest oldodgeboys]

I have a set of 20 inch wire wheels that fit perfectly on my 1925 DB (early 126 series). They look very similar to photos I have seen of slightly later DB's.

My literature states nothing about wire wheels being available on '25 or '26 models, but does show wire wheels being available in 1927.

The same literature also states that the '24 to '26 DB uses 20 inch wheels. After 1926, the 20 inch wheels are no longer used.

Yet, here I am with a 20 inch wheel set that appears correct for a DB. Can someone unravel this for me?

Thanks for the help.

Gus

[nearchoclatetown]

Gus, from what I see in The Dodge Story '24 have had either 32X4 tires or 20 inch tires. 1925 had 20's and 1926 had 21's. ut I don't think they were DB, probably an accessory. They would look great, IMO. Are they complete? Most I've seen are beige/light yellow colored.

[Bob Scafani]

they may be Studebaker. the lug pattern is the same. there were two different hubcap sizes, so victory six hubcaps fit the small opening and senior six fit the large opening.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

Here is a picture of one of the wire wheels.

This is the best wheel of a group of 8, all the others have the spokes cut off, and a couple are just junk. They are missing the snap rings and hub caps. They all have rust pitting at the rim where the tire keeps the moisture in.

Due to the missing spokes and uncertainty of authenticity, I have not looked at all the wheels in fine detail to verify they are exactly the same, but on the initial inspection, they do appear to be the same as the pictured wheel. The 20 inch measurement came from a different wheel.

I think all the wheel problems can be overcome, but I only want to use these wheels if they are authentic/correct for a 25 DB.

The car uses 20 inch steel disk wheels now and the car exhibits 'Special' model features; I think the steel disks are original. I would love to put wire wheels (or wood wheels for that matter) on the car, but I want to keep the disks with the car.

Many thanks

Gus

[keiser31]

That looks an awful lot like a 1927 DB rim in a book I have.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

OK, this weekend I'm going to measure all the wheels and verify they are all the same type.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

I inspected the wheels and this is how that came out.

8 hubs, good condition.

5 rims, good condition.

4 rims, fair condition.

2 rims, poor condition.

1 rim, no holes for spokes, looks unused. What is this for??

All hubs are the same. All rims are the same and measure 20 inches.

Hub cap center hole diameter is 4 5/16 inch. The hubs are identified with "16468" and two more pat numbers.

Can anyone identify the wheels? 1927 makes sense, but I can't find confirmation that 20 inch was used in 1927. Can these wheels be an authentic accessory for 1924-1926?

I'll put them on my car if I can find verification that these wheels are authentic for 1925.

Thanks for the help.

Gus

[Guest oldodgeboys]

There are 3 patent numbers on the hubs. I checked them out and two are for disk wheels and one for wire wheels. I guess they printed all the patent numbers on every type of wheel just to cover their bases. Not sure about wood wheels though.

The wire wheel patent was done by Budd Wheels. It was applied for on Jan 29, 1925 and patented on May 3, 1927. It seems that, if the wheels were made between the <span style="font-style: italic">patent filing date </span>and the actual <span style="font-style: italic">patent date</span>, the wheels would be stamped with 'Patd Pend', not 'Patent No.' as shown on my wheels. So my wheels must be made after May 3, 1927.

Stop me if my assumptions are messed up.

Literature states that 20 inch wheels were no longer used after early 1926, or there about. My wheels are 20 inch and they were made after mid-1927.

It is my thought that around 1927 DB supplied 20 inch wire wheels to be sold through dealers to the existing customer base. There were still thousands of cars on the road that could use the 20 inch wire wheels.

I don’t see any '24 to '26 DB's with factory-looking wire wheels. Were they too pricy to put on a used car so people chose disks instead? Or maybe the cars were still too new to worry about replacing the wood wheels? After the depression and WW2 the cars were too old to worry about.

OK, so that's a lot of conjecture. What do you guys think?

Gus

[nearchoclatetown]

I think you should pick out the best 5 and put them on the car. Tell them your car belonged to Horace and he liked whiskey, women, and wires!

[dwollam]

Bob is pretty skookum on wire wheels. I agree, I think they are for some other make of car. But, if it was me, I would run em any way! It's just wheels and they can be changed back at any time if you feel it needs to be 100% correct. Question is, will they actually fit on the rear drums? Some wire wheels won't fit over the disc wheel drums and require running wood wheel drums with an adapter to the 5 bolt wheel pattern. Such adapters were made by Budd to convert wood wheel cars to disc.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

I got all the wire wheels when I purchased the car. It actually came with the correct adapters, but I need 2 wood wheel drums.

Gus

[Bob Scafani]

a couple of photos dated January 1926, with 20" wheels and a 1927 fast four rumble seat roadster with 21" wheels. these are all Budd wheels with the distinction of having the lock ring on the inside of the rim. John Bittence and I traded one of these wheels back and forth many years ago.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

Bob-

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. This is what I was looking for!

This would confirm that the wheels I have were made for the DB 20 inch applications, and dates that manufacture to at least Jan 1926. My car was made September 1925 so I'll dig some more to see when Budd started production of this wheel for DB.

Were these pictures scanned from a book?

Thanks again

Gus