What is a "Felloe Plate"?

[Willy]

I am sending parts to have new wheels made, but I don't know what the felloe plates are. A photo would sure help. And where do I get the necessary bolts for the hubs and felloe (metal) rim?  My DB bolts are in bad shape. I purchased the tires - they are bound up for shipping - should I leave them like that until I get the wheels (early next year), or unwrap them? I am restoring a 1918 DB Touring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by Willy (see edit history)

[motoringicons]

Willy- A felloe plate is the small metal piece that joins the wood felloe "bands" together. Typically, a rivet goes through this plate, through the felloe and through the rim and keeps the rim and felloe in alignment. If your wood felloe is the typical two piece type, you will have two felloe plates per wheel. These are simple plates that can be made and I am sure your wheelwright will be able to make these if your wheels do not have them. They reproduce them for Model T Fords (see picture below) but these will be too small and not match the felloe  contour of your Dodge Brothers. 

[Layden B]

Some wheels have a special T shaped rivet to hold the ends of the 2 sections of the wood felloe in place. Pictured in lower left.

These are usually not reusable. You wheelwright should be able to supply these if your wheels use this type and it looks like they do. 10 O'clock position on the wheel standing at left in your picture.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Layden B (see edit history)

[Willy]

Thank you all! I'll start looking for new bolts tomorrow!

[franklinman]

As to your hub bolts, we most often end up making new ones.  There are so many different styles, shapes, sizes and few are commercially available today.  Also, many of these bolts require that once the nuts have been tightened (read that to mean that you install them and then torque them multiple times) the bolt is then ground off flush, or very close to it, and then staked. This sometimes leaves the bolts falling a bit short for reuse. Finally we sometimes find the threads can be a bit loose.  For an application as critical as hub bolts I just have always felt safer with properly fitted new bolts.  They aren't really that difficult to make, just a little time consuming and repetitive (read boring) lathe work.

[Spinneyhill]

Tires: keep them in a cool, dark place and keep the oxygen off them (oxidation is what kills tires).

[Willy]

franklinman, where do I start to make new bolts? The size I need is 7/16 X 20 X2 15/16. Should I buy some 1/2 X 14 X 3, shave the threads off, then re - tap? And what grade should I use? This is all new to me, but I'm in it for the long run - just didn't realize the run would be soooooo long!

[C Carl]

Hi Willy , I just took the lazy way out and had my wheelwright's brother make up a batch for me. I really wanted my wheels to be as close to original looking as possible. Since I had a spare set of wheels , (rotten spokes) , with hubs and drums , I kept the original wheels to preserve them for the next owner. For a change of appearance I had the new wheels done in urethane spar varnish , ("natural" finish was optional) , rather than in paint as the originals. It is the dome on the hub bolts that would be next to impossible to find. Shoot Tom Dessert an email if you would like to explore the possibility of having his brother make a set for you. For me , it was worth it , and the wheels have endured 2700 road miles , and unusually high braking forces so far. Tom's email is   dessertt@hotmail.com  You are welcome to say Cadillac Carl sent you.   - Cadillac Carl 

 

P.S. By the way , who did you find to do your wheels ? Tom is just North of Vancouver , WA. Tom does not do any painting of his wheels , but for me , with the car having been just across the creek in Portland , that was easy to deal with. The pinstriping is as per the original wheels.   - CC

 

 

[Bloo]

16 hours ago, C Carl said:

Shoot Tom Dessert an email if you would like to explore the possibility of having his brother make a set for you. For me , it was worth it , and the wheels have endured 2700 road miles , and unusually high braking forces so far. Tom's email is   dessertt@hotmail.com  You are welcome to say Cadillac Carl sent you.   - Cadillac Carl 

 

P.S. By the way , who did you find to do your wheels ? Tom is just North of Vancouver , WA. Tom does not do any painting of his wheels , but for me , with the car having been just across the creek in Portland , that was easy to deal with. The pinstriping is as per the original wheels.   - CC

 

Theres a wheelwright in Vancouver??!!  Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for posting that.

 

[PFitz]

There's also an excellent wheelwright in Regina, Saskatchewan,. His name is John Kurtarna, and his company name is "Wheels Of Wood". 

 

John doesn't hand carve the curving tapered spokes, so the wheels balance easily. He has the lathe to make the curving taper, oval hickory spokes, just like they were originally  turned on a special "Madison" lathe.  Such as the spokes of Motor Wheels used on some  big cars such as Packard and Franklin. As such all the spokes are exactly the same, which makes balancing the wheels much easier.  

 

He's made a couple of sets for me for cars that are driven alot. And he can do the finish work, too.

 

Wheels Of Wood
3235 Hill Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4S OW5 Canada
306-586-8658

 

Paul

[Willy]

I am sending my parts to Calimer's Wheel Shop, in Waynesborough, PA.. There's sure a lot, just to get the parts ready - I have more questions - The two clips keeping the two half - feloes in place appear to be welded into the rim. Is that true? Do they need to be punched out, or heated with a torch? Is it some kind of rivet? I don't want to mess them up. I am assuming the parts just need to be cleaned, but not painted. Am I on track? I'm adding a photo of what I have as "felloe plates". They look something like the "blank Tee Bolts" Layden showed on his photo.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Willy (see edit history)