BAKER WHEELS question

[bobs1916]

My   1918  GMC   3/4 ton  truck   has  Baker   wheels.   They  were  in   an   unrestorable   state   when   found   but  I  have   secured   rims and   enough   parts  to  have  the   wheels   remade.  My   question   is    when   the  tire   has  been   mounted on  the rim   is  there  a   piece  that   locks   the  rim   together   .   I   did   find  a   pretty   rusted  out      rectangular   piece of   steel   that   had  the   4  holes  in   it.  I  have   recreated   it    and  I  believe  that  this is  how  the   rim  is   stabilized  as  it  is placed   upon   the   wheel.   Well  am   I correct  in   this   theory?   Ignore   the    valve  stem  It  is   simply  holding  it   all   securely   so   as  not  to   come  apart

[Mark Shaw]

Yup, you are correct.  But IMO,  that rim is really too corroded to use.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

I don't belive Baker used a plate like that. I have a rim parts catalog that shows many rim small parts, drive plates, latches , lots and lots of things other than the actual rims. But no plate like you have made.  But the one brand that isn't covered all that well in the catalog is Baker.  I have a few Baker wheels and rims and those 4 pins just seem to engage into holes in the metal felloe band. I think a plate like you have made would make it difficult to center the rim on the wheel. Not by a lot , just the thickness of the plate. My guess is that it is important for the pins to have as much depth of insertion into the wheel as possible. Once mounted on the wheel it is impossible for the rim to seperate at the split anyway. the felloe band does just as good a job of keeping the ends together as your plate will.

 But Mark has a lot more experence with Baker rims { early teens Buicks } than I do so I would expect if he says there should be a plate there most likely should be one. 

 Do they show up in Buick parts books ?  I don't have any old enough to show Baker stuff. Just cage valve 6's  and newer.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

I had a closer look at the Baker rims and wheels I have. There are " bumps ' pressed into the rim and felloe band to space the rim away from the felloe and ensure the rim mounts concentric with the wheel. Easily enough room for the plate as you have made up.

[bobs1916]

11 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

I had a closer look at the Baker rims and wheels I have. There are " bumps ' pressed into the rim and felloe band to space the rim away from the felloe and ensure the rim mounts concentric with the wheel. Easily enough room for the plate as you have made up.

That  is  correct   and   exactly  why   I   thought  that the  plate   is  indicated.  Thank  you

[bobs1916]

Here  FYI   was  the   rusty   broken  plate   that   I  found   when   disassembling   the   wheel.  This  is   what    led  me   down  the  plate  path

 

[bobs1916]

I   could  use   ONE   34x 4 1/2 rim   if  any  has   a  spare  they   would  like  to   sell  me

 

[1912Staver]

Nothing that wide , mine are all 1912 / 13 era larger model Buick car.

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Layden B]

First picture kind of says it all for rim parts. Second pic is of early Baker felloe face plate and third pic is of late style.

Baker is very unusual in that the valve stem is a functional part of the rim assembly. You have it correct in that a large diameter metal tube stem but with simple hexnut ( same as holds the bridge washer in place) holds the 5 hole plate in place. The 5 hole plate has 2 elongated holes to allow it to be installed. 

1912 and 1913 Baker rims have 5 or more ( depending on rim size) rivets that are used as spacers along with the plate between the rim and felloe band. For 1914 this was changed to eliminate the rivets and "bumps" were pressed into the felloe band ( outwards toward the rim) to support and center the rim. Last 2 pics are of rivets in 1912 Cadillac 28" Baker rims.

25"  34 x 4 1/2 Baker rims were used on very few applications so are hard to find. Jaxon No-19 rims will and were made to directly interchange with Baker. Fourth pic shows application, Buick would be your most likely source.

 

 

[1912Staver]

Great information Layden ! I have to gather up some more catalogs. Neither my 1923  or 1930 catalogs show any of this. 

[Mark Shaw]

Baker angle split rims on my 1913 Model 31 Buick are as shown on the first drawing (symbol 70-99).

[1912Staver]

Was Baker eventually taken over by Jaxon ? 

[bobs1916]

Thank  you  Layden. This  information  really   clears  it  up  for  me  .  I  do  have   3   really   good  Baker   rims,  Another  not  so   good   ,  and  several  Jaxon   rims  so   I   am  OK   with  the   rims.  I   did   find  1   very   rusty  anchor  plate  (shown  in   my   earlier  post)      which  I  am   duplicating .  Now  I  have  the  verification   of  their   usage   with  Baker  rims.

[bobs1916]

Finally   got  the  baker   wheel project   completed   for  my   1918  GMC  US Army   ambulance.   The  chassis   came   with   2   rotted  out     Bakers  in  the  rear   and in  the  front    was  a  smaller   different   brand  of   wheel   with   metal felloes.   I   removed  the   hubs  from  the    4   wheels     and  then  sand  blasted  and  primed  them.   I  removed  all  the  hardware  that   was  still  on  the   rear   wheels   including  the   metal  felloe   bands.   I  then   secured   2  more  felloe  band   and   redrilled  them   in  the  Baker  pattern.   A  member on  the  forum  was  able  to  secure  me   some  additional   wheel  hardware   but  still  not   enough   so  I  had   the  "BAKER"   wedges   cast  as  well  as  the   inside   wheel  threaded  hardware.  Missing   wheel   bolts    were   made  from  Grade   5  bolts   which   were  machined  to   accept   the   shroud which  retains  the   bolt  to  the   wedge .  All  the  hardware  and  hubs  was  shipped  to  Noah  Stutzman   who  did   a  perfect   job   on   building  a  new  set  of   wheels .  The   rear  rims   were   two   good   Bakers   and  the   front   were  Jaxon  type   which  drop  in   perfectly.  You  can  see  the   plate locking   the  rim      visible  on  the   rear  where  I  am  using   Baker  rims

Edited January 11, 2023 by bobs1916 (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

On 7/7/2022 at 7:18 PM, 1912Staver said:

I don't belive Baker used a plate like that. I have a rim parts catalog that shows many rim small parts, drive plates, latches , lots and lots of things other than the actual rims. But no plate like you have made.  But the one brand that isn't covered all that well in the catalog is Baker.  I have a few Baker wheels and rims and those 4 pins just seem to engage into holes in the metal felloe band. I think a plate like you have made would make it difficult to center the rim on the wheel. Not by a lot , just the thickness of the plate. My guess is that it is important for the pins to have as much depth of insertion into the wheel as possible. Once mounted on the wheel it is impossible for the rim to seperate at the split anyway. the felloe band does just as good a job of keeping the ends together as your plate will.

 But Mark has a lot more experence with Baker rims { early teens Buicks } than I do so I would expect if he says there should be a plate there most likely should be one. 

 Do they show up in Buick parts books ?  I don't have any old enough to show Baker stuff. Just cage valve 6's  and newer.

 

 

My 1915 Buick has the Baker wheels with the plates. The did make them that way.