1930 buick steel wheels

[Smiledoc51]

Looking for set of 4  steel artillery wheels for my 30 buick series 40. It has the oak spokes now

[wayne sheldon]

Why? And just what is it you want? General Motors did use Jaxon steel disc wheels on several of their marques through most of the 1920s, and into the early 1930s. Chevrolet used a lot of them from about 1923, phasing them out about 1930 on most models. Oldsmobile used quite a few steel disk wheels during those same years. I have seen a few Oakland and Cadillac automobiles, and even a couple LaSalle cars with Jaxon wheels. Buick? As I recall? For as many cars as Buick built during those years, I have seen only a handful, probably less than five, Buicks with Jaxon steel disk wheels. Buick also offered wire wheels as an option for many years. By 1929, Buick began pushing the wire wheels. 

A Buick expert needs to weigh in here. But I don't think Buick offered pressed steel "artillery" type wheels until about 1933 or later?

 

Your wooden spokes are likely not "oak"? Oak was rarely used for automobile wheels back in the day, as it is too hard and brittle. Oak under severe stress tends to break, almost like glass! MOST automobile wheels used Hickory wood. It is hard, but not TOO hard. It is resilient, and rarely breaks except from a collision of some sort. Accidents often can break wooden spoke wheels. Breaking wooden spoke wheels RARELY ever cause an accident unless the wheel has been previously and badly damaged. 

 

Even pressed steel wheels aren't indestructible! I have seen dozens of them destroyed in accidents. And in my extensive driving past? I have had THREE modern steel wheels crack and break under normal use!

 

Wooden spoke wheels were NOT used because people then didn't know any better! Wheels were developed alongside automobiles, and engineered for strength, resiliency, and safety. Manufacturing technologies advanced, making pressed steel wheels cheaper than the labor intensive wooden spoke wheels. In addition, as speeds increased and roads improved, the stresses from higher speeds did marginalize the wooden spoke's practicality. Not likely your 1930 Buick can ever run fast enough for that to become a problem! Many automobile manufactures continued offering wooden spoke wheels as an option well into the 1930s because many people preferred them (mostly because they were used to them?).

 

Wooden spoke wheels can be rebuilt, if they have been damaged somehow, or otherwise aged badly. There are several good Wheelwrights around the country that do very nice work on antique automobile wheels. And if the original spokes are in good condition? There is no real reason not to restore them and use them. Over my years in the hobby, I have driven a few tens of thousands of miles on original wooden spoke wheels! They should be routinely inspected, to head of any aging or shrinkage issues. But otherwise, once used and proven to still be okay? They are generally almost trouble-free.

 

Welcome to the forum, and hopefully the hobby! Antique automobiles have an almost magical way of connecting their caretakers to history in general, and even an individual's own particular history. They can connect someone to so many parts of history and culture, and an understanding that nothing else seems to be able to match.

[edinmass]

FYI……Most cars used different brake drums, and spindles for wooden artillery wheels and wire and disk wheels will 95 percent of the time NOT bolt up to the existing power train. It’s a bunch of work and effort to swap over. Cars have been driven billions of miles on wood wheels. My 1933 Pierce Arrow tipped the scales at almost 7000 pounds and they are not an issue. On a small car like a Buick, you probably have five times the safety margin of a big car. The only reason too change wheels is for looks. 

[Mark Gregush]

As posted above, can't just swap over to disk from wood spokes if you don't have the other parts. Then too, you would need to know the proper size disk wheels for Buick and which rims and rim clamps are correct along with brake drums and hubs. Tire size might even be different. Disk wheels used a demountable rim in that era for the tire unlike later cars.