Welded Wheel

[John F.]

Re: Welded Wheel

WOW! That is a lot of stuff. Maybe more than I care to know. I basically wanted to know if this wheel was correct for a 62 Corvette (May build) or also for a May build 55 Bel Air? It is also the first time I have ever seen the dog bones weld. The KH sticker appears original.
John F

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Unfortunately per my chart, and the real C1 expert Mike Ernst, dogbone wheels are not correct for a 62.

Not sure on the 55 Chevy but 55 vette did not have dogbones and was riveted.

[Joe L.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Jackpot! Lots of info below and a bit confusing but here goes.

I just remembered that John Neas sent me a parts list showing the production part numbers removed and then the special part numbers added for S.R. Options group 35 (no idea what group 35 means) dated 3-16-56 for group 10B (wheels, wheel trim, lug nuts) for the 56 Corvette.

There are 5 production wheels(15 x 5) that are available on the production 56 corvette that can be deducted and then replaced with the 3735702 15 x 5.5 S.R. wheel. It also list the individual parts (rim, disc, rivets) that each production wheel uses.

3714744, 3723561, "3724824", 3724830, 3733435 are the wheels that are released for the normal production 56 corvette per this document. Since this document is dated 3-16-56 it is a late document relative to 56 model year. This proves that the 57-62 wheels (3714744/3723561) were released on late 56 model vehicles.

It lists that "3724824" and 3724830 use rivets. This also shows that 3714744 and 3723561 do not use rivets(wheels used on 57-62 per AIM).

It shows that 3714744 and 3724830 use the same rim and 3723561 and "3724824" use the same other rim.

It shows that "3724824" does not use the disc from 3714744 or 3723561.

No mention if 3733435 is riveted or welded or individual parts.

I also have the wheel drawing for the 57-62 15 x 5" steel wheel 3723561 which I believe was a welded wheel when first drawn in 1955. Unfortunately it was redrawn in 62 and all previous revision notes were dropped off the drawing. From 62-67 it was a welded wheel. But it does show that "3724824"(riveted version) replaced 3723561(welded) in 1967 for service. Per my drawing the KH number is D-40591 "3724824" for black primered service use. This does not agree with the subject wheel.

In the revision column I see that D-48778 was removed in 67 and "3724824" replaced 3723561 when the wheel went from welded to riveted and it notes that D-48778 was a welded wheel. It does not list the wheel part number that was deleted with the D-48778.

So what have I found? A lot of confusion.

3724824 KH 40951 is a riveted wheel for service after 1967.

3724824 is a riveted wheel in 1956.

KH 48778 was removed from the drawing in 1967 and it was a welded wheel.

3724824 shares the rim from production wheel 3723561 (56-62 per AIM)

3724824 has a different disc than the production wheels. (could be center hole size which changed over the years [2.78 vs. 2.81])

We also have a part that is labeled KH 48778 and 3724824, welded and has dogbones that were used on late 56-60 corvettes.

I would say the subject wheel was produced after 1956 but before 1967 and most likely before 1960 (what is the date on it?) and that somehow, "3724824" changed from riveted to welded and then back to riveted in 1967 but got thru w/o a part number change??? That would not normally happen for a production wheel but I guess could happen for a service wheel.

OR KH made a mistake and put the wrong part number on it.

Bottom line is that is looks like this is not a correct wheel due to the disc difference. But the difference may be so small no one can tell. Can you tell the difference between a production wheel disc and this one? Does it have the double hump?


Wow, that was a lot of stuff to figure out. Good luck reading it.

Chris------


Going back as far as 1956 and right through the present day, I can find no record that GM #3724824 was EVER available in SERVICE.

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Yet it exist!

I do see per the drawing that 3724824 has "rust proofed" in the column next to it. Below it in the chart is the "black primer for KH service" which normally had a part number next to it. But in this case there is no part number. Does 3724825 exist in service?

[Gary C.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Motor Wheel 1963 catalog pages on Chevrolet wheels attached - these were previously posted by another TDB member Gary....

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Wow, thanks for the pages from Motor Wheel.

In quickly looking at them I do not see 3723561 which is one AIM listed part number for 57-62. It does show 3714744 which is the other AIM listed part number for 57-62.

This proves that Chevy released the wheels to both Motor Wheel and Kelsey Hayes with different part numbers. I do not believe Motor Wheel ever supplied wheels to production since I have never seen mentioned anywhere a Motor Wheel stamped Corvette wheel. GM back then did this on most parts. Dual tooled to assure the plant never went down due to parts shortages.

It does show that the 54-56 Chev and 59-64 taxicab used the same wheel.

[Joe L.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Yet it exist!

I do see per the drawing that 3724824 has "rust proofed" in the column next to it. Below it in the chart is the "black primer for KH service" which normally had a part number next to it. But in this case there is no part number. Does 3724825 exist in service?

Chris-----


I have no doubt 3724824 existed, especially since there was posted above a photo of a wheel with a label with that part number on it. However, it must have been a PRODUCTION-only part number. I suppose it's also possible it was a wheel once available in SERVICE but not available through regular GM SERVICE parts channels. That's extremely rare and I very much doubt that happened in this case.

I can find no record of GM #3724825, either.

[John F.]

Re: Welded Wheel

What do you mean by production only part number?
John F

[Joe L.]

Re: Welded Wheel

What do you mean by production only part number?
John F

John------


A PRODUCTION-only part number means a part that was available to the assembly line only and was not available in SERVICE from GM. In other words, it could be installed on a car at the time it was built but you could not buy the part over-the-counter at a GM dealership parts department.

[Joe M.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Chris,
That photo you posted of my 61 honduras maroon wheel is welded, no dog bones and has a double hump as you describe.

[Bill M.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Unfortunately per my chart, and the real C1 expert Mike Ernst, dogbone wheels are not correct for a 62.

Not sure on the 55 Chevy but 55 vette did not have dogbones and was riveted.

I have 2 wheels from my '55 Bel Air and they are riveted.

[Edward M.]

Re: Welded Wheel

John------


A PRODUCTION-only part number means a part that was available to the assembly line only and was not available in SERVICE from GM. In other words, it could be installed on a car at the time it was built but you could not buy the part over-the-counter at a GM dealership parts department.

Joe;

A question for you. I thought the presence of a part number sticker meant that it was an over the counter item. In other words, production line items did not have the part number sticker on them, but over the counter parts did. Do I have this wrong?

[Tom P.]

Re: Welded Wheel

The 55 and 56-later wheels are completely interchangeable, but had some differences.
GENERALLY, the 55 wheels were riveted, and GENERALLY the 56-later wheels were welded (pertaining to 15x5 wheels).
Below is what is GENERALLY considered to be a 55 riveted wheel.


Below is what is generally considered to be a welded dogbone wheel.


All of them will have 4 of these nubs for retention of full wheel covers.


Below are comparrisons of 55 (left) and 56-later wheels. As mentioned/shown above (by Chris), the 56-later wheel center section has the additional hump, ring, circle or whatever you choose to call it.

[Joe L.]

Re: Welded Wheel

Joe;

A question for you. I thought the presence of a part number sticker meant that it was an over the counter item. In other words, production line items did not have the part number sticker on them, but over the counter parts did. Do I have this wrong?

Ed------


It depends upon the label. The label shown on the wheel pictured in the first post is not among the style that I have ever seen used as a SERVICE parts label. I strongly suspect that this sort of label was a PRODUCTION-only sort of labeling and not one used by GM Service Parts Operations to identify a SERVICE part.

[Chris H.]

Re: Welded Wheel

The extra "hump" was most likely added to increase the durability of the wheel as vehicle weights went up. I would guess they were getting cracks in that tight radius during rotary testing. (attach the wheel face to a rotating disc, bolt a simulated axle/brake drum to the wheel and then pull down on the test axle while spinning the wheel). The hump would give the wheel a higher load capability.

Good photos.

Also during 1960 the dogbones were deleted w/o a part number change as far as I can tell.