"53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

[Karl L.]

I couldn't find the information I was looking for in the archives!

The difference in Rim Style????? "53-54-55-56"
"53-54-55" had rivets....."56" and beyond were welded. "FACT"

Question is about the little "NUBS".....
"53-54-55" Rims...NO NUBS??????
or
"53-54" Rims....NO NUBS...-----"55" Rim...NUBS???

I thought "55" rims had the NUBS. That the wheel disc's could
be installed with no-problem.

I have a few (KNOW ALL ABOUT CORVETTE) Friends that say
NO NUBS on a "55" Rim.(53-54-55) That the wheel disc "WILL NOT HOLD."

"HELP!!!!!"

I'm confused.

Karl.

[Roy B.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

On the early 55 wheels like many early 55 parts , I feel they were riveted , late about #400? up 55 welded . Both early and late had NUBS

[Chuck G.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Also, 53 wheels are totally different in configuration from 54 and 55 wheels.

Chuck

[Bill M.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

On the early 55 wheels like many early 55 parts , I feel they were riveted , late about #400? up 55 welded . Both early and late had NUBS

I have a pair of original wheels off a '55 Bel Air. They are riveted with nubs.

[Tom P.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

By no means do I come close to claiming to be a 53-62 wheel expert.
But below, is what I generally understand to be the differences.
The picture shows 53-62 type wheels.
The blue wheel is from a 51-52 pass car, which is essentially identical to 53 wheels (both pass car and Vette). The ONLY difference is that those reiveted-on clips (for retention of dog dish caps) are NOT on 53 wheels.


As I understand, 54 and 55 wheels were the same. SOME say 54 wheels are different and DO NOt have the nubs to retain the full size wheel covers, but according to Noland Adams, they do. Soooooooo?
The 54-5 wheels were riveted and the 56-later wheels were welded. The center hub of 55 wheels, JUST OUTBOARD of where the nubs are for retention of the dog dish caps is smooth, whereas the 56-later wheels have an additional ring or line or groove or whatever you choose to call it, as seen below.


Reiveted vs welded




Nubs for retention of full wheel covers (on both pass cars and Vettes).


And still the big question seems to be, did 55 wheels have these nubs? Well, for sure, the Pass cars DID have them. So why would Chevy make a completely different 5x15 wheel without nubs just for the Vettes??? I think not!
And then in addition to that question, were the 54 wheels the same as the 55 wheels with nubs. Again, as I said above, Noland's book shows nubs on 54 wheels.

[Steven N.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Didn't the early cars come with wire wheels ?..............

[Karl L.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Well...
I thank ya-all for the imput.

My...(KNOW IT ALL VETTE) friends here aren't going to like this
information. THEY HATE BEING WRONG!

They say the wheel disc won't fit because of the nubs.

"WEREN"T THEY PUT THERE FOR THE PURPOSE OF AN EXTRA
HOLDING POINT FOR THE DISC'S?"

Referring to the Quote from Steven Neel...

QUOTE:
Didn't the early cars come with wire wheels ?..............

ROY....."You must have big shoulders to bear the weight
of the WIRE WHEELS!!!!!"

Karl.

[Cecil L.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

I have a set of 15x5 riveted wheels exactly like the 55 wheels Tom pictured but they don't have nubs. 54 or ?

[Tom P.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Well...
I thank ya-all for the imput.


They say the wheel disc won't fit because of the nubs.

"WEREN"T THEY PUT THERE FOR THE PURPOSE OF AN EXTRA
HOLDING POINT FOR THE DISC'S?"


Karl.

Karl,
ABSOLUTELY, the nubs are there for retention of the full wheel covers!!!
Show this to your unbelieving friends---------------also, to take the heat off of you, have them give me a phone call and I'll be happy to set them straight (if you should need my phone number, email me and I'll give it to you)!
The 56-62 Corvette full wheel covers are all the same, except for the slots in 59-62 covers. The Vette as well as pass car full wheel covers have locating slots on the back side where they fit over the nubs on the wheels (in 1957, pass cars went to 14in wheels, but STILL had the nubs!).
This is one of the full wheel covers off of my 56, and on the back side, my thumb is showing one of the slots that fits over a nub on the wheel.



Tell your friends there is nothing wrong with being incorrect. What IS wrong, is being too stupid to learn something new. Print this out and show it to them!

[John N.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

According to the GM production information there were several rivited wheel combinations as well as welded wheels and magnesium wheels available for 1956 St Louis built Corvettes.
Regards

[Roy B.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Karl,
ABSOLUTELY, the nubs are there for retention of the full wheel covers!!!
Show this to your unbelieving friends---------------also, to take the heat off of you, have them give me a phone call and I'll be happy to set them straight (if you should need my phone number, email me and I'll give it to you)!
The 56-62 Corvette full wheel covers are all the same, except for the slots in 59-62 covers. The Vette as well as pass car full wheel covers have locating slots on the back side where they fit over the nubs on the wheels (in 1957, pass cars went to 14in wheels, but STILL had the nubs!).
This is one of the full wheel covers off of my 56, and on the back side, my thumb is showing one of the slots that fits over a nub on the wheel.



Tell your friends there is nothing wrong with being incorrect. What IS wrong, is being too stupid to learn something new. Print this out and show it to them!

The way to know your looking at a original hub-cap is to look for this

[Karl L.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

Thanks for all the knowledge and pictures everyone. Karl.

A couple pictures of "53"-"55" Caps.

[Mike M.]

Re: "53-55" Wheel Rims.... What is right?

53 thru 62 full size hubcaps installed on nub-less rims will end up in the ditch alongside a bumpy road. speaking from experience. mike