MTFCA Forum

My 25 pickup has loose spokes in its 21 inch removable wheels.
my guess is that it is due to our hot dry climate here in Tucson Arizona.
A couple of questions.
Did 25 T's come with 30 X 31/2 clincher wheels ?
If so and I buy a set of 30 X 31/2 rebuilt wheels how can I seal them to prevent loose spokes?

1925 had an option available for 21" wheels.

New spokes should be finish cut from dried wood as opposed to green wood & made to fit tight.
You should call Dave Seiler in Ca. He does excellent work & charges hobby sized pricing. He knows his stuff & being in dry Ca. is familiar with this problem.

JEC wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:24 pm

My 25 pickup has loose spokes in its 21 inch removable wheels.
my guess is that it is due to our hot dry climate here in Tucson Arizona.
A couple of questions.
Did 25 T's come with 30 X 31/2 clincher wheels ?
If so and I buy a set of 30 X 31/2 rebuilt wheels how can I seal them to prevent loose spokes?

There are many reasons for spokes to be loose besides climate conditions.
In any case I have sealed wood spokes (and coil box wood) with Minwax - its a polymer mixed in with a thinner that evaporates leaving a plastic base in the pores of the wood. There are many similar products. Normally these products are brushed on (several coats until no more is absorbed), but if they can be stabilized before hand by soaking for a period of time or vacuuming out the air the penetrate will embed in more cells - Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5SvMVrMur0

Are your spokes loose to the point of being cracked or really weathered? Could be age has finally gotten to them and they have shrunk some. If you determine that they are borderline and you drive your T more than just occasionally rebuilding your 21” demountable wheels would be the way to go and it would be correct if your trying to keep it fairly original.

Most people, even most model T people, do not realize how many options the model T had for wheels in the 1920s.
1925 was when it got really interesting! I have never seen anything definitive about what the "standard wheels" were. I suspect that "standard" is largely a matter of semantics.
1925 is the first years for Ford offering the new (then!) style "balloon" type tires on the model T. They were of course the 21 inch by about 4 1/4 (4 1/2?) demountable "split rims" wheels. Those new type tires and wheels almost immediately became the top seller for new Fords! Following those in popularity, were two types of clincher "high pressure" tires and wheels. The more popular of the two were of course the demountable rims with 30 X 3 1/2 clincher tires all around. The least popular option on the model T that year was then the non-demountable wheels, with 30 X 3 1/2 tires on the rear, and 30 X 3 tires on the front.
One of the interesting side details about the non-demountable option is that some of them had square wood fellies with non-demountable steel rims, while others had a single unit steel felley and rim. What makes these particularly interesting is that some sales literature and letters to dealers indicate that the wooden fellies were being discontinued and replaced by the steel felley and rim wheels (letters dated across a few years!). Empirical evidence (surviving cars and era photographs) indicate that that never did happen. Evidence indicates that although some cars did get the steel felley wheels, far more cars got the square wooden felley wheels. I have never seen any indication that the customer had any choice on which type fellies his car got for the low cost non-demountable "option".

For 1926 and 1927, Ford added the drop center welded steel wire wheels as another option on all model T body styles. All the wooden spoke options of 1925 also remained.

All that is not getting into the TT options? Or different manufacturers or specific timelines of transitional wheel versions?

If you have 21" wheels you may well have the large brake drums of the improved cars. Finding 23" wheels with those will be difficult, but it is not difficult to swap 21" wooden wheel brake drums onto 23" wheels.

Allan from down under.

regardless of the size of wheel you would like to place on your car. If the spokes are loose get them rebuilt, it is not worth your car or life for a few hundred dollars. I had dave build me a set of 8 and was very happy with them. oil them, seal them and maintain them. have fun

Most 1925 open cars still used 30 X 3 1/2 wheels. Most knowledgeable people use Calimers wheel shop in Pennsylvania.