Cast Aluminum 12 Spoke 19" Wheels with Steel Hubs, help me id, please?

[Guest Randy_P]

I have a set of 5 of these Cast Aluminum 12 Spoke Wheels with steel hubs riveted in with 8 rivets.  The bead seat is 19 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches wide.  Anyone recognize them?  Thanks!

Edited August 16, 2017 by Randy_P (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

I have no idea what they are from but they are fascinating. Can you tell if spokes and rim was cast in one piece or was the rim shrunk on to an aluminum felloe. I've seen photos of other, early cast aluminum wheels but never outright copies of wood wheels before. What is especially nice is that all those coats of paint tell us they really are old.

 

Thanks,

 

JVP

[Curti]

You would do well to post this in the  What Is It forum below. It will stay on top a lot longer.  

[trimacar]

Another interesting thing, if I'm looking at picture correctly, is that these aren't made for clincher tires.  The rim bead appears to run straight up and down.  In addition, 1.5 inches across is a really small and odd size,  and the 19 inch rim size is small for a wood-style spoke wheel.

 

I agree, fascinating!  My first thought is that they're European, as they are so contrary to what is usually seen, size and construction wise, in the US....

 

 

[Terry Bond]

European was my initial impression as well.  A lot of cars there made even into the late twenties there had cast spoked wheels. They were commonly known as artillary style wheels.  Austin, Morris and many other companies used them, including manufacturers of trucks.  I believe Austins had a seven bolt hub.  The small size and non-clincher rims also make be lean towards British manufacture.  It would be interesting to clean them off to see if there are any manufacturers markings anywhere on them.

Terry

[1912Staver]

The ones that seem to be most common are "Sankey" wheels and are thin pressed steel rather than Aluminum castings.  I would think Aluminum is a bit brittle for a road wheel , at least wood will flex quite a bit before it splits.

 

Greg in Canada

[trimacar]

As a side note, some early cars had steel spoke wheels which looked like wood spoke....in one of the sad events of my life, I saw a burned up 1906 Autocar that I tried to buy, it was stored in a doctor's clinic and the clinic burned to the ground....yet the spoke wheels were intake, with ashes all around...so that particular 1906 Autocar had steel spoke "wood style" wheels....and yes, they were the thin pressed steel kind, they may even have had a seam on the backside of each spoke...

[Guest]

The steel spoke wheels were used on many single cylinder cars.  The wood spokes often loosened with the power impulses.

[Guest Randy_P]

18 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

I have no idea what they are from but they are fascinating. Can you tell if spokes and rim was cast in one piece or was the rim shrunk on to an aluminum felloe. I've seen photos of other, early cast aluminum wheels but never outright copies of wood wheels before. What is especially nice is that all those coats of paint tell us they really are old.

 

Thanks,

 

JVP

Spokes and rim appear cast as one piece as shown in this photo...

[Guest Randy_P]

8 hours ago, trimacar said:

Another interesting thing, if I'm looking at picture correctly, is that these aren't made for clincher tires.  The rim bead appears to run straight up and down.  In addition, 1.5 inches across is a really small and odd size,  and the 19 inch rim size is small for a wood-style spoke wheel.

 

I agree, fascinating!  My first thought is that they're European, as they are so contrary to what is usually seen, size and construction wise, in the US....

 

 

Yes, correct rim bead is vertical.  New pics attached show hole for valve stem...

[Guest Randy_P]

7 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

European was my initial impression as well.  A lot of cars there made even into the late twenties there had cast spoked wheels. They were commonly known as artillary style wheels.  Austin, Morris and many other companies used them, including manufacturers of trucks.  I believe Austins had a seven bolt hub.  The small size and non-clincher rims also make be lean towards British manufacture.  It would be interesting to clean them off to see if there are any manufacturers markings anywhere on them.

Terry

Good idea, I may try that...

[Guest Randy_P]

5 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

The ones that seem to be most common are "Sankey" wheels and are thin pressed steel rather than Aluminum castings.  I would think Aluminum is a bit brittle for a road wheel , at least wood will flex quite a bit before it splits.

 

Greg in Canada

These are definitely one piece cast solid spoke aluminum with a riveted in steel hub...pics attached.

[zipdang]

Gets a bit confusing having this thread appear in two places. Which does one follow??

[Guest Randy_P]

22 minutes ago, zipdang said:

Gets a bit confusing having this thread appear in two places. Which does one follow??

Yes, I hear you, sorry.  I started this one first but was then advised to put it in the other topic, which I did, but not before this one took off...

[carlisle1926]

Those wheels are off of amusement park ride cars. I have worked on many of them at Six Flags Amusement parks.  They used a motorcycle tire. The ride was called "Antique Taxis" I most Six Flags parks. The 3/4 scale cars had a single cylinder Kohler engine and used the rear axle from a Cushman. 

[1937hd45]