Wheel Identification

[#1CaddyFan]

Good morning everyone,
I have four Cadillac wheels, stock steel, original paint appears to be black. The came on my 56 ser. 62 coupe. The original hubcaps won't fit. How can I determine the year of these wheels. I don't find any numbers but the wheels have a small square hole near the lug nut bolt holes.
Thanks Dan

[Cadman-iac]

Dan,
First off,  are they the reverse dish rims? And secondly, are there tires mounted on them? Reason I ask is because they have a stamped marking on the inside diameter of the barrel with a date of manufacture included.
  Also,  the original 56 wheels have rivets holding the centers to the barrel of the wheel.

Rick

[walt chomosh #23510]

Dan,
  I ran a set of Chevy truck rims on my 1955CDV for a while. (radial tires) The stock hubcaps fit,but,were very tight and thus hard to pound on.....walt...tulsa,ok

[Cadman-iac]

 Hi Walt,
I think the 55 caps are not as deep as the 56 caps are,  thus the reason you were able to use the truck wheels.
I don't have my 55 caps anymore as I had traded them for a set of 56 ones, but if memory serves,  the 56 caps were deeper.


Dan,

Later year Cadillac wheels will work, and they have welded centers, which are less likely to leak if you use a tubeless tire.
I'm not sure how many years they used that reverse dish center section,  but it was at least through 64. I'm also not sure what year they started welding instead of riveting them in.  But 56 was definitely riveted.
Once the cap is on though,  you can't tell which wheel it is. Unless you are looking for a 100% original car, then you have a much bigger choice of wheels to choose from.
But again,  if there's no tire on the wheel,  you can find a stamping with the month and year of manufacture on the lowest part of the center of the barrel.  I'll take a picture of the one I have left without a tire on it to show you what I am talking about.

Rick

[Cadman-iac]

Here's a few more pictures of later year wheels.  There's a difference in appearance to the center section around the lug nuts that can make identification a little easier once you know what to look for.
I also need to correct my earlier statement,  they used this reverse dish through at least the 66 model year.  I have 2 stamped with the year 66 on them.
I've got one other that I can't pin down a year on, and it's got a different center design from the others. Maybe somebody else knows what it is and would share that with us.

1st and 2nd ones are the 66 wheel,  the 3rd is the one I can't identify. The design around the lug nut holes reminds me of a truck wheel, but it's definitely a Cadillac part.

Rick

[Cadman-iac]

Hi Dan,

Those wheels are not the correct ones for a 56 Cadillac.  Notice the center section on yours versus the ones in the pictures I posted for you.  The centers of the original wheels look like they were put together backwards,  in other words, reversed, or reverse dish. That's why your caps don't go on all the way.
I can't identify what year yours are, but you can check the rim, or barrel for a stamping after the tire is removed. It will have the name of the maker and a date code, usually a month and year.
Hope this helped.

Rick

[cadillacmike68]

The outer flange where weights on other cars would go but where the wheel covers on Cadillac grab, looks a bit shallow to me. It's difficult to tell unless a more angled pic is taken, but it can be measured.

That said, 56 wheel covers might not go all the way out to the outer flange like ones from the 60 and 70s do, so who knows.

[Cadman-iac]

Hey Mike,
The wheels he's got pictured there may be a Cadillac wheel, but they're not for a 56.
Dan,
The center section, or flange,  or whatever you want to call it for the 56 to at least 66 looks like it was installed backwards compared to the one you are showing there. Take another look at the pictures I posted and zoom in on the wheel near where it's riveted together.  You'll notice that the rivets are visible from the front side of the wheel.  Yours are not, they show up on the backside of the wheel.  That's the difference,  and why your hubcaps won't fit.
Your wheels may have the wider lip on the front edge,  but unless you are using much newer caps, you won't get anything to fit.

The very center of the wheel, where the lug nuts are, looks just the same. It's the area from there outwards that is different. It really does look like it was installed backwards,  and that's so that the caps will fit and clear it. The 56 to 66, and probably through 68, use this reverse dish wheel. And it doesn't matter how big of a lip you have on the wheels you're showing here, your original hubcaps just will not fit. That lip would have to be 3 inches wide.

I hope I have explained it well enough to you. I wanted to go with disc brakes on mine,  but to do so, I would have had to use newer wheels, and then my original caps wouldn't fit. I'm not willing to part with them, they just look too good, to me anyway, so I decided against the discs.
I hope this helps.

Rick