Vintage Ford Wire Wheel Support

Here’s a common type of wheel spacer that substitutes for the raised shoulders on the ‘28-35 drum. It’s problems, however are: 1) it has to be glued or tacked into place somehow so as to stay on the wheel during mounting. 2) it doesn’t center easily 3) it can be knocked off and lost during wheel removal process, especially by a tire changer.

Here’s a wheel support made by MT Car Products, Inc. It’s self-centering, stays in place and not easily lost. Because its purpose is written on the metal, even tire changers aren’t likely to throw it away accidentally. Note the precisely measured raised lip that provides the support. The wheel “kidneys” rest on the new steel plate in the usual position outside the lug . (PN #5000)

This ‘34 Ford mechanical brake drum has raised “shoulders” in the casting between the lug and hub that provides support for the wheel. Note the kidney shaped marks on the other side of the lug where the raised area ON THE WHEEL has rested.

This inside view of a ‘34 wire wheel shows the marks on the flat seating area where the shoulder of the drum has rested, and the marks on the raised kidney shaped stamping on the wheel where it has rested on the drum. Like buttresses on a bridge, they support the wheel under the pressure of the lug nut.

This ‘40-42 Ford hydraulic drum has kidney shaped marks on the outside of the lug left by the ‘28-35 wire wheel. There are no marks between the lugs and the hub because there was nothing to support the wheel there. Lacking support on the inside of the lug, the stamped steel center of that wire wheel was subjected to much stress.

There is a raised area between the lugs and hub on ‘28-35 Ford mechanical brake drums that, when combined with the raised area on ‘28-35 Ford or bent spoke Kelsey wheels, forms a straddle of support across each lug. ‘40-48 Ford hydraulic brake drums do not have the raised area, so without some method of replacing that missing support, ‘28-35 wire wheels are stressed to the point of sometimes cracking, bending, or “hogging out” of the lug holes.

$20/ea

A support device substituting for the raised area on the old mechanical drums is important!