VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 18" Wire Wheels. Pros and Cons

I found a set of 18" wire wheels in driving distance and was wondering about anyone experience with something like this. Never had wire wheels , or wheels this old period. So I understand that a tube is needed, no big deal. It also my understanding that if they are riveted or spot welded in so they can't really go loose or un true the wheel.

Main question boils down to the tires. I know there's 17" 18" 19" wheels but is it the bigger the rim the harder and more expensive. Keeping it cheap would be bias ply tires but geeze starting out their like $200 for black walls and jump way up from there once the white walls come out.

Is it really worth the price of having a disgustingly good looking wheel and tire setup and driving on such old rims. It's for a 37 truck and I don't think it could get any classier than that. All Patina.

Someone please convince me why this is not a good idea lol.


If anyone has a picture of their 5.25/5.50 - 18 setup and don't mind sharing that would be great. There's not many pictures online of someone's actual car its just tires and rim pictures so it's hard to image how they would look. Rant over. Thanks again everyone

You need to have a tire that closely matches the dimensions of the original. The 525/550 is totally inadequate in my opinion . Check out this article in Hemmings though it does not mention the tire size it is interesting. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/the-mileage-master-1937-chevrolet-1-2-ton-pickup

That's a good read. Just under 21mpg with 1000lb load. And that had truck rear gear ratio.

Wonder what I'll get with my 3.73 gears and 5 speed lol

Not all spokes are spot welded or riveted into the hub, and or rim. Some are adjustable, many are not. For your application you will also need a "flap" to cover the ends of the spokes so the tube does not ride directly on them. And if you think they cannot become untrue someone has given incorrect information. A curb, or a large hole in the road can make any rim unusable, whether it is a wire or a standard steel rim. If that happens are you going to be able to match what you have? There are several people on here looking for one last '29 wire wheel to finish a set. For certain rims, if they are not included hub caps may be a BIG issue. The '29 wire rim, and the '33 to '36 standard rims come to mind. Not being reproduced.

IMHO one pro is that they ride a little better than standard rims. One con is that they are dust traps and take quite a bit more time to keep clean.

I have an 87 Monte Carlo LS with the original wire rim hub caps that I will not use. I have Craigars instead on the car. I have never used them for two reasons. 1. I did not want to go with 14 inch wheels 2. They are impossible to fully clean. I thought about using them when I had to replace my tires. Then I attempted to clean them up. Getting into all of those little spots was nearly impossible. They do look great but I have enough treble keeping everything else clean.

For looks thought the wire rims cannot be beat.