CC wheels for my '59

If I were to put on a none CC wheel I would go to a later welded wheel. the only thing to watch is the offset. this would be the standard wheel used today on a hearse. and if your changing one change all 4 you need 4 wheels a like to maintain the handling. then you need one that will fit on the drum also. the friction of the wheel agents the drum is all that holds the car up. if the matting surfaces are not similar then you loose that friction. this is why you try to keep the factory wheels on the car. but puttering around town and driving in a parade are different then over the road driving and carrying a heavy load. one has to weigh using the car with rusty wheels and under load tires or parking it. over getting a set of new solid wheels that aren't quite right for the car but fit a new safer tire. you change your wheels you lose your factory caps. no one is making any replacement stock wheels for your old car. but then nothing is more freakier then loosing a wheel going down the road. it's hard on the car to.

but me and this is me, if I had one of these cars I would go down and buy me a set of 16 inch chrome smoothies and the right size 16 in radial tire in a 8 ply rating if I was going to drive it down the road. I wanted to show the car I would swap wheel and tires when I got were I was showing it. but thats my idea of safe. yours may be different. a 60 some year old wheel laying in the mud these last 20 years ain't a safe wheel no matter how many rivets are in it. one pulled out from inside the car with a tire mounted on it or the car weather tight would be a good wheel. maybe? as would one that had inside storage.
a under sized 235 is not as good as the right size in diameter 8 ply tire.
but that being said I'm running undersized 235's and old wheels on all my cars. how about you.
 
I am struggling in differentiating a '59 C.C. rim from the '56 C.C. rims. The '56 rim is also a "star" design and the rivets are visible from the outside. I do not, personally, own any rims that I know came off of a '59 or '60. Can anyone produce photos of a '56 rim compared to the '59/'60 rims? To me, they look identical based on the photos that some of you have posted of what you are stating to be '59/'60 rims.
 
This should answer some of the questions...
 

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Your sheet states that all '57 through '60 C.C. and Series 75 rims are the same. It also shows '56 as a one-year only rim on the C.C. and the Series 75. Where did you find this information, Paul?
 
According to my Cadillac "Chassis And Body Parts Catalog" published by GM, 1969 through 1976 C.C. and Series 75 rims are all the same. This would be consistant with my experience as well. Your info shows '61 thru '64 to be the same rim, but I have never found that to be the case. '61 & '62 have the "little slots" and I have always found '63 thru '68 to be the same rim used on all Series 75 and C.C.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
This should answer some of the questions...
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I stopped by Fred Simons' place in Newton, Iowa today to try to get an answer to this '59/'60 rim issue, which has been eating at me. Fred owns one Series 75 for every year, 1953 through 1963 and possibly more. He also has a yard full of other Cadillacs of the same vintage. His '59 and '60 Series 75s were both sitting there with no wheel covers. What I saw on those two Series 75s confirms what Paul's document states and what I had suspected. It looks like all '57 through '60 C.C.s/Series 75s used the same rim. The "star pattern" reversed rims(rivets visible) are 1956 only. The '57 through '60 rims are also "star pattern", but not reversed(rivets not visible). I did take photos with my digital camera, but my laptop is not letting me download them tonight for some reason. I will post the photos on Thursday night when I return home on my home computer.
 
Kurt Arends said:
I just purchased 2 of these rims and was going to post asking what they fit. I found them on a '57 Fleetwood and I knew that they were not the stock '57/'58 Caddy rims, which are riveted on the inside. I have not gotten them home yet, but will in the next couple of weeks. I don't need them for any of my cars and will offer them for sale.
Kurt
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They were '56 rims.
 
The chart that I posted is from a Cadillac parts book.
 
Another Little Cad. Rim Mystery

I have also discovered that some '56 through '60 Cadillac passenger cars(both styles) came from the factory with the 3-rivet rims, and some had the welded rims. The only noticeable difference between these riveted rims and the C.C. riveted rims is the small drilled hole on the C.C. rims. They are otherwise identical. Does anyone have any idea as to what the reason was for the small drilled hole near the bolt pattern on C.C. rims? Not meaning to beat this thing to death, but I think that I might be able to help some members out with some rims that they have been searching for. I would like to do a photo album documenting all of the post-war C.C. rims through at least 1976.
 
the 3 rivet rims were the heavy duty wheel. as the bolt pattern is the same back as far as the 30s the mix and match game makes it hard to say what wheel any one car came out of the factory with. my 72 cb ambulance had the 3 rivet disk wheels on it. the 72 CB Seville has 2 rivet disk wheels on it. one wheel on each car still had the original spare. the 75 Cb had the welded wheels. none of these were CC cars. none had the hole drilled. I can supply you with a picture of a original 58 CC rim with the 890 still on it. I just can't tell you for a fact that it came out on this car in 58. same as the original spare in the 69. I can tell you that the 890 off the 58 is about 2 inches taller then the 890 off the 69. here is the 58 wheel
 

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The spare in the 1969 is the original spare, since they only had one Cadillac, and I can trace its history back to the original purchaser. The tires that were on it when it came out of service are the tires that were on it when I received it, and the difference in mileage was less than 12 miles from the title when it was sold out of service to the time that I received the car. Considering that the spare had never been mounted, I feel certain that it is the original spare.
 
Kurt Arends said:
I have also discovered that some '56 through '60 Cadillac passenger cars(both styles) came from the factory with the 3-rivet rims, and some had the welded rims. The only noticeable difference between these riveted rims and the C.C. riveted rims is the small drilled hole on the C.C. rims. They are otherwise identical.
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That explains a lot to me. I found a 60 fleetwood in a local yard that has all 4 and the spare rim with the three rivet rims.. As soon as the snow melts i was planning on grabbing them. Also my 55 62 series came to me with a riveted rim on the spare and one on the car.. This puzzeled for a while... Know it makes sense...
 
John ED Renstrom said:
the 3 rivet rims were the heavy duty wheel. as the bolt pattern is the same back as far as the 30s the mix and match game makes it hard to say what wheel any one car came out of the factory with. my 72 cb ambulance had the 3 rivet disk wheels on it. the 72 CB Seville has 2 rivet disk wheels on it. one wheel on each car still had the original spare. the 75 Cb had the welded wheels. none of these were CC cars. none had the hole drilled. I can supply you with a picture of a original 58 CC rim with the 890 still on it. I just can't tell you for a fact that it came out on this car in 58. same as the original spare in the 69. I can tell you that the 890 off the 58 is about 2 inches taller then the 890 off the 69. here is the 58 wheel
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That is definitely a correct '57 through '60 C.C. rim.
 
here is the front. they a standard GM wheel used from if I'm not mistaken 36 to 55. a little had to come by in decent condition now days. I picked up this rusty pair out of a yard in Ohio.
 

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