Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I am going to have to use radial tires on my 1952 oldsmobile i know i will need to use innertubes but cant find the flaps to go with them. Does anyone know a place that sells both?? The tire size will be 225-75-15 on a 15 x 5 wheel. Any help will be appreciated. And No, I cant run the radial tires tubeless since the original wheels are riveted together and the valve stem hole is 3/4" and would have to be welded up and redrilled for stems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chequenman Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 If you want the correct info for your install go to www.cokertire.com and you should get all your answers and maybe some other solutions to your application!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 You could probably use some type of truck valve stem for the 3/4" hole. Seems I remember a 1972 F100 I owned a while back had those.The riveted wheels throws another curve into it. To avoid all the hassle of tubes and flaps, is there another type of wheel with correct bolt pattern, width and offset, and compatible with tubeless tires, that you could use? Maybe 1955-56 Oldsmobile or other GM since those are still 15" and designed for tubeless tires? I'd go that route if I could because I hear a lot of negative about current production tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) I actually didnt know they made a 3/4" valve stem, got to check into that. If there is such a valve stem that will make things easier just have to figure out a way to avoid the leak problem associated with riveted wheels. Seems the tend to leak around the rivets from heat cycling and general wheel stresses. I read somewhere that i could weld around the rivets on the inside of the wheels, that i can do without any problems and shouldnt change the wheel balance much.The problem with modern gm wheels is the width and offset put the tires and wheels within 1/4" of my fenders and the skirts wont go on at all. Edited September 3, 2012 by slyhog022056 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I have a 1965 edition chassis parts book that shows 1941-56 use the same wheel- p/n 567705 15x5.5. There's a note about ordering hub cap retaining clips for cars using small hubcaps, but no note about compatibility with tubeless tires. My Standard Catalog of Oldsmobile indicates all series 1955 cars came with tubeless tires, and the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-75 also indicates that all 1955 GM cars from Chevrolet to Cadillac used tubeless tires.So- apparently Olds successfully used the riveted-together wheels with tubeless tires starting 1955. A seal weld couldn't hurt though, as long as it doesn't whack up the balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 well i took 1 into work today and welded all the rivets and ground them down a little bit so avoid anything sharp. media blasted them and Will powdercoat them tonight then go to get a tire mounted in the morning and see how it goes. We spun the bare rim and had an imbalance of about 1/2 oz before and after creative grinding on my welds it is balanced to 0 now. I have the wheels with the center cap clips already on it, i wish i could find a center cap that would fit. Next to try my hand at grinding white letter tires into whitewalls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 1949-53 dogbowl caps with the Olds shield shouldn't be too hard to find. Seems someone up in AACA General was trying to ID some a couple weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldsfan Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I put radial tires on stock rims on a '52 98 20 years ago, with no modifications, and didn't have any problems (except they did flex and the full wheel discs used to fly off...).If you want to be really fancy, why don't you find a set of Mimetic wire wheel discs. They technically only used them from '53 to '55, but I had a set on my '52. They had some kind of special mounting plate, but I just snapped mine on over the dog dish clips and they were fine. I think the mounting plate was more of an anti-theft device.That solved my flying wheel disc problem...Mimetic wire wheel disc appear pretty regularly on eBay.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 i have bought 4 different sets of dog dish hubcaps that were supposedly a fit, no way 2 sets clipped on the outside of the center like baby moons, 1 set was too small in diameter and the last set were too large UGHHH!!! thinking now about just going with bolt on wheel discs, never had any luck with the snap on kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldsfan Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Your 98 should take a hubcap like this. They have it listed for the wrong years.RF958 1953 1954 53 54 Oldsmobile Hubcap Dog Dish | eBayHere is the Mimetic wire wheel cover. It was optional from '53 through '55, but I had them on my '52 and I've seen them on '50s and '51s. I bought a whole set for what this place wants for one...1 USED 53 OLDS WIRE SPOKE WHEEL COVER 15" HUB CAP OLDSMOBILE | eBay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Those dont look anything like the 4 sets i have, might be why they dont fit....lol Saved it to my list so i can look around and compare it with. according to a olds guy here i have ones that fit late 40's models and 54 to 55 and he actually will give me $350 for all 4 sets. They sure are proud of that wire cover arent they??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I put radial tires on stock rims on a '52 98 20 years ago, with no modifications, and didn't have any problems (except they did flex and the full wheel discs used to fly off...).If you want to be really fancy, why don't you find a set of Mimetic wire wheel discs. They technically only used them from '53 to '55, but I had a set on my '52. They had some kind of special mounting plate, but I just snapped mine on over the dog dish clips and they were fine. I think the mounting plate was more of an anti-theft device.That solved my flying wheel disc problem...Mimetic wire wheel disc appear pretty regularly on eBay.Paulhow right you are paul, i have bought a set of six mimetic olds wire wheelcovers for my 1953 pontiac custom catalina, i modified the center cap to have the pontiac indian emblem, i also bought six 1953 oldsmobile stock wheels with riveted clips. here are pictures. i love the results. best looking wire wheelcovers to ever be put on a pontiac. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 there is currently on ebay, a set of four mimetic olds wire wheelcovers with the original retainer plates. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 hi slyhog, there's no reason you can't use 53 to 56 olds stock steel 15" wheels on your car, they'll bolt right on just the same. you can run tubeless tires and forget the tubes n flaps. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slyhog022056 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 hi slyhog, there's no reason you can't use 53 to 56 olds stock steel 15" wheels on your car, they'll bolt right on just the same. you can run tubeless tires and forget the tubes n flaps. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor.The problem i am having is leaking around the rivets where the centers are riveted to the outer rim, i have tried 6 different wheels from different years and all seem to leak around the rivets. Getting very frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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