Demountable rims need latch repair

[signsup]

Picked up some demountable wheels and rims and finding out the latch system on the rims needs repairing or replacing and would like to know the forums thoughts. Three are Firestone and two are Canadian. One Canadian is in pieces and I have them with the wheels. At least two of the Firestone type have the swivel dougleg latch with the head broken off so it swivels, but does not latch into the female receiver. I cannot find replacement doglegss.
Langs sells 26/27 rivet tabs that bolt onto a tapped hole in one side of the rim.
It appears that the PO just took care to inflate these and then ran with them on his car. I'm not sure I want to do that.

So...I might be able to weld on some sort of tab to the swivel dog leg and get them to latch.
There might be replacement dog legs latches out there that I am not aware of.
Can I remove all the Firestone set up and install the 26/27 tabs and bolt?
Is there another fix I am missing?

I'll hang up and listen. Not going to be a touring car, but mostly static display, but we all want to be safe.

[Humblej]

Not a difficult repair. Either make new locking lever and use a rivet or braze stud in place, or weld an arm on the broken cam. I do not recommend changing the type of latch and lock mechanism.

[signsup]

We will try the fix the lever method on the Firestones. It has the tab that fits into a slot underneath the rim tops, so it has a built in "safety" tab and then we can get something that will work on the latch to lock it in place.
What I am calling Canadian rims have two riveted sections, one with two tubes on it and one with one tube on it that fit together like a hinge and a pin gets driven into the barrels to hold it all together. Both of one rim's sections are barrel less. I don't see them available as a reproduction either and it looks like a lot of precision welding and a safety issue. Two rivets hold each barrel section to the rim and no safety tab like on the firestones, so I'm leaning towards removing these sections and riveting on and tapping the screw hole for the 26/27 type latch which is available.

[DickC]

Not to belabor the issue but it may be a good thing you bought the rims with matching wheels. The Canadian wheels my be Kelsey and the rims are not interchangeable with other makers. Just my limited experience!!

[signsup]

I haven't mixed and matched the different rims and wheels, but I will go down to the shop now and play with them. I did notice that the "yokes" that the rims bolt up to on the two canadian wheels are square shouldered while the Firestone ones are rounded over. So I can always tell which are the canadian wheels and rims. But I need to check which fit what as I need one rim for a demountable spare and it looks like it will now be a Firestone.
Thanks for pointing this out. I'll report back if they do or do not fit each other.

[jiminbartow]

About halfway down in the following thread, I devised a method for repairing several split rim latches that broke while I was mounting new tire on my rims. The bolts holding the latches had rusted in place and when I tried to unlock the latch the rusted bolts broke off. It was and is very a successful and safe method of repair and the bolt heads are hidden inside the wheel felloe once the split rim is mounted to the wheel. Www.mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27375

[Allan]

Robert, Canadian rims will have two holes drilled either side of the split, in the outside faces of the rim. These are utilised when a special tool is used to collapse the rim when fitting the tyre. Their latching mechanism can be satisfactorily replicated using a T model door hinge piece. If you go down this track, be aware that the pin does not sit in the middle of the split. It must be offset to one side, or you cannot line up the split/pin when trying to close it with a tyre in place. A friend found this out the hard way, after he had fitted the latch halves and had the rims replated.

Allan from down under.

[gla448]

thats a good tip a door hinge a bit wider but ok

[signsup]

I did notice the holes in the bead edge of the canadian rims and presumed it was for a tool. Will the Model T turnbuckle and hook type tool also work on these. I have one coming to work on the Firestone rims and presumed they would work on the canadian rims.
Both halves of the barrels are bad, one has both barrels gone and the other has one gone, so I may try the door hinge r fix and can weld them to the base of the old latches that are riveted to the rim.
Thanks for the tip.

[Allan]

Because the correct tool pulls on both sides of the rim, I presume the split remains well aligned when being drawn open and closed. The turnbuckle tool must work to, but I suspect if the going gets tough, the pull being off centre on the lugs, there will e a tendency for the split to be pulled somewhat out of line, but maybe not enough to be of concern.

I have only ever seen one of the original Canadian split rim tools. I forwarded it to a friend interstate for his 26 pickup. It was made of really heavy spring steel wire about 5/16" thick. If i remember correctly, there were just two pieces of wire. They were coiled so they were joined at a pivot point in the centre. As the two sections were pulled together they cammed at the pivot to close towards each other, and bent sections on the ends engaged in the holes in the side of the rims. further drawing of the two handles together drew the ends of the split rim together so the pin could be fitted. The hinge like closure needed the two halves to be accurately aligned to enable the pin to be fitted.

I should at least have taken some photos of the tool.

Allan from down under.