TO-20: Tires: Rims/Calcium Chloride... and 12.4 vs. 11.2?

Took the rear wheels off the TO-20 this weekend, with the help of my wife (Thanks, again, dear!) and yanked out the valve cores to let most of the calcium chloride drain out.

That's [i:f5e71666ec][b:f5e71666ec]nasty[/b:f5e71666ec][/i:f5e71666ec] stuff, by the way: had the tires leaned up to drain in a weedy, little used part of my driveway - no more weeds there now! (And, a little less skin on my left hand.)

I want to paint the rims/centers, and I also wanted to get rid of the CaCl2.

I dropped the tires/rims at the shop this morning.

Actually, I dropped them at the [i:f5e71666ec][b:f5e71666ec]second[/b:f5e71666ec][/i:f5e71666ec] shop I visited: the first one, my local farm supply co-op where I buy my gas/propane, some car tires, etc., said they "won't mess with them, 'cause they've got calcium chloride in them, and it's corrosive." (He also said they wouldn't take the rims off the centers, even before I mentioned the CaCl2.)

I told him I knew it was corrosive, and that's why I wanted them off. Oh, well.

So, I went down the road to another local independent guy (a little [i:f5e71666ec][b:f5e71666ec]too[/b:f5e71666ec][/i:f5e71666ec] independent at times, if you know what I mean), and he didn't bat an eye - rolled 'em into the shop, and had a guy start to work on them.

At least one of the rims may need to take a ride to the welding shop for repairs. I'll post some pix when I get 'em back.

Also: the tractor has 12.4x28 tires. One's in very good shape, but the other isn't the greatest.

If I end up needing to replace the bad one, I was thinking of replacing both, and going back to the "original" 11.2x28. (As I understand modern tire sizing, that's as close as to "original" as we can get.)

Is there any reason to go with one size or the other? (If I'm measuring correctly, I have 10-inch rims.)

12.4s are slightly larger diameter so will give
higher road speed but less traction torque. 11.2s
look better, but that's an opinion. Water filling
useful in some situations, but traction can be
increased by lowering pressure to say 9 psi to
increase contact area. Normal rear tyre pressure is
12 psi, front 26 psi

I go to my local Firestone Dealer for all my tire
issues. They will take care of any CaCl issues,
break down rims, install new, whatever you want.
they have all teh right equipment and do volume
work so prices are decent as opposed to say your
local mechanic shop. For my '48 Ford 8N, I have
RIM GUARD in the 11.2 x 28 Firestone Field & Road
rears. You need to replace tubes with new ones
either way you go once calcium chloride is
removed. You can probably get a good deal from an
AG Tire dealer on a set of new with trade-in on
the old. Get rims sandblasted and primed. I used
a good special wheel paint by IH CASE called
SILVER ARGENT and it worked out fabulous. A lot of
regular aluminum or metal facsimile paints will
get dull and rub off with your thumb after a year.

Tim 'PloughNman' Daley

Thanks, Tim and Graeme.

It looks like I'm going to end up with one (1) new rim, and two (2) new 11.2x28 tires/tubes. (One of the rims was too far gone.)

Like Graeme mentioned, the 11.2 tires will look better - I always thought the 12.4s looked too big, and made the back end sit up too high. (Tim, I remember seeing photos with side-by-side comparisons of rear tire sizes over on your N Tractor Board, and the difference is pretty dramatic.)

The FENA chart says TO-20 rear rims were Ferguson Gray, and TO-30 rims were Bright Aluminum. I was planning on doing the aluminum. (Thanks for the tip on the IH paint, Tim.)

(quoted from post at 08:44:46 08/29/13) It looks like I'm going to end up with one (1) new rim, and two (2) new 11.2x28 tires/tubes. (One of the rims was too far gone.)

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The Tire Guy just called with prices: :shock:

I'm going to repair/clean up/paint [i:14bffa8e26][b:14bffa8e26]both[/b:14bffa8e26][/i:14bffa8e26] of the old rims, and put new tubes in my current 12.4 tires!

11.2 tires...maybe next year.

What did he quote you Tom? I recently bought 2 new 11.2-28 tires, rims, tubes and delivered to my place for $950.00 from Tucker Tire.

Del, two (2) 11.2-28 tires and tubes, and one (1) new rim would have been $780-ish, so pretty much the same ballpark as Tucker. (Did yours come from Tucker already mounted, or did you have to get that done locally?)

I just couldn't see getting rid of the one like-new 12.4-28 tire.

On closer inspection, the rims weren't as bad as we thought - the tire shop is going to weld the valve stem area for me.

They came already mounted and I did not have to paint them. They were already painted the aluminum color I was looking for.

Thanks, Del - I see them on Tucker's eBay store now.

Got the rim (the one old one that was worth saving) and the centers sandblasted today - amazing!

Wish I'd taken before and after photos.

Got a coat of primer on them this evening, and a new rim is on the way - should be here next week.

I hope you don"t end up like me. I bought one new rim for mine at the local Massey dealer I usually get my parts from and it seems the new rims are made closer to the Ford N series style. My new one has the valve stem on the inside and my old one it"s on the outside. I"ll eventually buy another rim so they will match, but I can"t complain too much. I think I gave $119.00 and they had it in stock along with new rim bolts because the tire shop stripped two of my rims bolts that I did not tell them to take loose. On the tire sizes, I ended up going back with 11.2x28"s but these are several inches taller than the 11.2x28 Firestones that they replaced. They filled my tires with the pink RV antifreeze.

Jason, my old rims have the round "pipped"" heads, not carriage bolts, and that's what the new one uses, too.

(I checked with one supplier, and his rims used carriage bolts.)

I'm hoping the new one is close to my old one.

I am getting new bolts, too: rust and/or CaCl did a number on most of the old bolts.

Here's as close to a "before" picture as I can come up with: The Draining of the Fluid.



That's also the rim I ended up replacing: you could poke your finger through that rusty area by the valve stem. My Tire Guy said it was too much to repair. (I don't doubt it, since he's not the one selling me rims, plus, they worked pretty hard welding up the other rim.)

Mine has the original style bolts with the flats for holding them with the wrench as well as the little tabs that stick out to keep them from turning inside the loops. They stripped the threads on two of my original bolts but my local dealer had new bolts that were the original style in stock. I'm pretty sure they came from sparex. The outer rims for a Ferguson and Ford were pretty much identical it's just that Ford put the valve stem on the inside and used carriage bolts and Ferguson put the valve stem on the outside and used his style of bolts,but the loops on the rims work with either bolt style.

Jason, I tried a 5/8" carriage bolt in my old rim, but it wouldn't fit into the loop. (Websites like this one show 5/8" as the size used on rims.)

Maybe a smaller size would have worked, or maybe these aren't "normal" carriage bolts?

Anyway, I kinda wanted round-headed, "pipped" bolts, 'cause that's what's in the Parts Book.

And, I think the replacements are from Sparex, but I don't think they have the "flats", like our original bolts.

(quoted from post at 02:49:00 09/07/13) Jason, I tried a 5/8" carriage bolt in my old rim, but it wouldn't fit into the loop. (Websites like this one show 5/8" as the size used on rims.)

Maybe a smaller size would have worked, or maybe these aren't "normal" carriage bolts?

Anyway, I kinda wanted round-headed, "pipped" bolts, 'cause that's what's in the Parts Book.

And, I think the replacements are from Sparex, but I don't think they have the "flats", like our original bolts.

Click to expand...

Look at an S.4352



Also I looked at the rear rim on Sparex and they call for the same part number for a Ford N tractor and a Ferguson. So it will be right for one and wrong for the other. Sparex also says both tractors used a 5/8" bolt so I don't know why a carriage bolt wouldn't fit your rim,although like you I would much rather use the pipped bolts.

(quoted from post at 21:24:26 09/06/13)
Also I looked at the rear rim on Sparex and they call for the same part number for a Ford N tractor and a Ferguson. So it will be right for one and wrong for the other. Sparex also says both tractors used a 5/8" bolt so I don't know why a carriage bolt wouldn't fit your rim,although like you I would much rather use the pipped bolts.

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Jason, I received the Sparex 61709 Rim 9x28 Rim, and there no way the "pipped" bolts will fit:



That's my old rim in front, and the new one behind.

A 5/8" carriage bolt [i:d0c0d9801d][b:d0c0d9801d]will [/b:d0c0d9801d][/i:d0c0d9801d] fit the new rim. (I ordered the Sparex "pipped" bolts, but they haven't come in yet.)

Also: as you predicted, on the new rim, the valve stem is one the same side as the loops - opposite of the original.