Has anyone ever seen steel spoke Model T wheels? Were any produced that weren't wood? If so, I am looking for (2) 21"
Thanks
George

George,

The ones I've seen for Model NRS Fords are usually too rusty to be of any use.

Steel spoke wheels were made in the teens and twenties for the T, Parker and Detroit Pressed steel were two brands.

Finding a pair today in non rusted non bent condition would be rather difficult than finding a pair of nice wood clincher wheels.

Now for 21" wheels, why not just use Ford 21" wire wheels on your T? They are stronger than anything you can build or put together.

George, I have one steel spoked wheel that looks like a wood one but haven't looked at it in so long I can't remember which size it is. I'll dig it out and let you know. Would eagerly trade for a 26/7 wire wheel or hub as I'm trying to switch over the Tudor and so far only have one rear hub and drum for the conversion.

Craig

Craig I have wire wheel hubs front and rears for sale. still have those early take off rear fenders for 26-7 too danuser88@socket.net

Craig Sutton, That steel wheel is of interest to me. I'm new to this forum so I'll leave my email so you or anyone else may contact me.
samggs57@hotmail.com
Thanks
George

I recently purchased an original 1924 Tudor, and in the back seat was a very unusual wheel. It is a 30 X 3 1/2", six spoke, cast steel wheel that uses a demountable Ford rim. The wheel uses a stock Ford hub. The six cast steel spokes are riveted to the inner rim, which is idential to the Ford rim but is not punched out for wood spokes. I have never seen a wheel like this, but feel it would be indestructable and very safe. I wish I had three more.

Russ Furstnow

John I keep forgetting to contact you. We're nearing completion of the chassis and will do the engine/trans next. We're only going to fix what we find wrong (thrust on rear main is one thing I know needs done) at this point (we'll do a complete engine/trans rebuild in the future) and then we'll be ready for body parts. I have to be careful money wise - need the fenders but don't *need* wire wheels. You know how it goes... I'll be in touch on those fenders though.

George I will send you some photos as soon as I can get the wheel out. This one is made very similar to the wood ones with hollow steel spokes that are flared out in the fellow where the round part of the wood normally goes through.

Craig

Here are two other options.....
Aluminum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruckzone/5460200078/in/set-72157625965429605

Spring steel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruckzone/5584263488/in/set-72157626416205066

It's not a T, but how cool are these?


:^ )

Caught this one at a SoCalif Centennial celebration:

Frank H posted this pic last year of Humble Howard's steel spoke wheel and Ed Archer's, after they hit the same bump in a parking lot.

Russ,
That wheel sounds interesting. Could you post a picture?
I've seen a couple sets of 12 spoke steel spoke wheels in 30X3.5 size. I've never seen anything like that in 21 inch, though.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

Wayne, I have had trouble posting photos, but I'll try it again, Russ

For those who have asked about the aluminum spokes, here is a link...

http://alumaspoke.com/

Ricks : WOW !! What did they hit , and how fast were they going ?? I see Ed and his wife standing behind #4 , so they were not hurt , but how is Humble Howard doing ?? I guess the fiberglass resin Humble Howard put inside his steel spoke wheels to fix the rust couldn`t take the hit , but at least his axle didn`t break like Ed`s did . Where did this happen , what tour , when ??

If memory serves me, they weren't going very fast as they were crossing a parking lot and were going over speed bumps.

Frank posted the pic originally. Gary has it right, IIRC. Looks more like a shakedown cruise than the end of the San Diego T club speedster run.

Nothing was hurt but pride.

Erich, thanks for posing the link to the aluminum spoke people, they are very nice looking. Thomas T

I know its sacrilege but has anybody replaced the wood spokes with steel tubing on a DIY basis?

I have a couple of old wheels with bad spokes and often thought of experimenting with this.

schuh

Thanks for the Alumaspoke info. They look great.
George Sime

Those spiral spring-spoke accessory Ford wheels of which Ralph posted the photo were made in Oakland, California by the Resilient Safewheel Co., Inc. They originally had a pressed sheet metal disc wheel cover over the spring spokes with a big can-shaped knob in the center for the Ford hub cap to wobble around in. A friend has an original metal sign for them showing the cover. If I remembered how to post photos I would. Who would guess after all the pictures I posted I would forget how to do it...

I have a pair of steel demountable 30x3-1/2 12-spoke wheels that look exactly like original wood wheels. They have hollow stamped steel spokes with a seam on the back of the spoke. They were made by Kelsey if I remember correctly. I've never seen any others like it, but would like to make a full set if anyone knows of another pair.

Dan Haynes sent me this and asked me to post it for him. It looks a lot like the one in Ralph's pic above.

Finally got some pics of my wheel but forgot to measure it.





Now that I see it again, I notice it uses seperate clips which hold it to the rim.

Craig

I think that's a Dayton wheel, Craig.

Dayton



Atlas

Is there a seam on the back side of the spokes?

They look the same as mine. I need to get pictures of mine, they're NOS, never painted, and have some stampings on them that are pretty easy to read.

Thanks Dan H and Dan T.

Derek, I'll look at the back for a seam and also get a measurement for George. Let me know where your stampings are so I can look on mine. I forgot how neat this was - it has every appearance of being a standard wood wheel. Too bad they aren't more common.

Craig

Here is the adv detail, which describes 'the seam' on the rear of each spoke, distinctive feature of Dayton spokes.

A Model T'er who reads the Forum but doesn't post here sent me this email. He had inquired about the Aluma-Spoke wheels, and this is the reply he received:

From:

"John Suprock" <suprock@bizinmt.com> Add sender to Contacts

To:

"'C RAY CZESCHIN'" <cczeschin@sbcglobal.net>

Ray,


Thanks for the email. I sent this on to my partner Rick who does the assembly of the wheels for better answers but I can tell you this.


The current spokes we have in production are for the larger 30 inch wheels. See pictures and specs at our website www.alumaspoke.com Pass this along to the forum if you would.

The spokes for the 21 inch wheels are still in testing and we expect to have those in production about March of next year ( they need a little more fine tuning to be perfect).


After the spokes are in production they will be stocked and you can purchase any quantity at will and they will ship right away if you want natural finish. If you want them polished or powered coated it will take a week or so for that process then the spokes would ship.


They will be useable on your cars wheels.


Durability? They are solid Aircraft grade aluminum. They will last forever and should never need to be tightened or reworked.


They could be assembled by the DIY. Rick and I are both that type. However you may want to consider having us do the whole process as we can powder coat the rims, Fellows, Hub (and straighten the hub) to make it all work and look better.


They are pre drilled but if you wanted un drilled ones that would be possible.


As for pricing? We are still working on that as the process is getting smoother and faster so we don’t have a clear number on that yet. We want the price to be less than wire wheels and we know they have to be affordable if people are going to buy them.


Call Rick if you need more tech info on the wheel / car fitment. 406-240-9662


Thanks John Suprock www.Alumaspoke.com

As it says...
act now, some desirable territory's still open !

Does anyone have a picture of the Ex Bob Plegge speedster "Colorado Ugly"?

Its now owned by Terry Ryan in Missouri (can't find my pictures of it) From memory it has steel spokes that are solid 1/2" approx rods.

I remember the car Bob built in the 70's, it was later on the cover of the VF owned by a Mr. Hall from Castle Rock, co, wrapped up in a bow for the Nov-Dec issue of the VF. It was moved into Sam's living room and the photo was taken with the car beside a Christmas Tree like a under tree gift. It had a Rajo BB and Jumbo trans and of course the steel spoke wheels. Bob saved the wheels and in the photo it has 26/7 wires.

Jerome, That speedster is Sam Hall's car not Bob's.

The Colorado Ugly is a short wheel base, off center axle car, blue in color.

Last tour I saw it on was the 2nd New Hampshire Tour in 2004

Peter Terry Still has it, its normally on the Indiana Covered Bridge tour, but he became ill on the HillBilly tour and had just restored a 13-or 14 rdster, he had to be hauled in from Boonville Mo and had to go to the hospital in St Louis I think he is doing better now

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/128061.html

Peter, I should have been clearer, the wheels your talking about were on two different cars Bob P. Built. I was talking about the first car the wheels were on, later sold to Sam Hall.