Wheel rim repair or not

[Jordan Baker]

Hey all

One of the wheel rims from my Otter project has had all the 7/8 BSF studs replaced at some point. They have all been, what I believe, brazed in. The nuts were just plain nuts. On the outside of the rim it looks like a torch had been used to cut the originals off.

My question, is it worth it to replace all of the studs with proper ones? The same for fixing the torch damage?

[Mike K]

Hi Jordan

The pics are somewhat confusing . Looks like somebody has removed the original studs . Is there anything special about the rim in question ? Is it peculiar to the Otter ? If not I would not bother repairing it. Just use a standard CMP 15 cwt rim.

One of my Morris CS8 trucks came with factory brass wheel nuts fitted, I was somewhat surprised to say the least , not the divided rim nuts that you are asking about but the actual wheel nuts that hold the rim to the hubs. I would not trust these brass nuts to hold the huge weight and revolving mass of the wheel and run flat tyre. Rory Ballard mentioned he has also seen brass wheel nuts on CS8 trucks. Maybe it is a high tensile type of brass ? But they do seem to be a soft brass alloy as I have dinged a few of the nuts while removing them.

[Barry Churcher]

Jordan if this is the same wheel as a 15 cwt I have some spare rims and you are welcome to one.
Barry

[rob love]

Brazing is not the same strength as welding. I do not see any kind of heads on those studs, so it is just the braze holding in that tremendous amount of force from coming apart and killing you.

I personally would either get another rim, or remove those studs, clean all signs of brazing, and weld them in properly.

The otter parts manual lists them as the rim for the 9.00-16 and the 10.50-16 tires. Sounds like they are the bog standard 16" rim. I would take Barry's offer of a new rim if I were you.

[Bob Phillips]

Hi Jordan, same comment as Barry, (not to undercut his generous offer) but I have several available perhaps a little closer if you want to runup to Guelph and get some. Bob

[Bob Carriere]

.....I would have spare rims for you as well........

Redoing the studs would need some expensive lathe work to make sure the two halves of the rims are properly and evenly centered..... that is why the nuts are the self centering type with similar self centering spacer both on the brake drum and the wheel nuts.

That thing is only good for filling with cement and used as a base stand for a grinder......

All rims suspected of being defective that we have run across were either cut/torched for scrape or for those with just one broken studs marked with the welder on both halves "YARD USE" ....... being used for bare frames or yard hulks......facilitates moving them around with the tractor.