War Department 16” divided rim: British and Canadian manufacture

[Bob Carriere]

I find the last post confusing.....

Seems we all measure differently...... and do not identify what the wheel came from (type of vehicle).....

It is my opinion, based on some reading originating from a GM publication.....all older original rims were made by GM and stamped.....later the rim manufacturing was transferred to Kelsey Hays and they used a similar stamp with the Kelsey name instead of GM.......Kelsey became an outside supplier some time around 42 to 43...... and there may have been some overlap.... the rim press is photographed in some old GM publication....about 3 stories high and sunk into the floor to the basement for clearance of the flywheel......operators are feeding precut circular 1/4 in. steel plate and it seems that they where punched/shaped in one go with the center opening.....the stud bolt holes were probably done in a separate indexed gang drill operation as they were also tapered for centering purposes....... the CMP wheel can be said to be center and bolt centering as the seat of the nuts are tapered and the center opening rest on the raisea groove on the brake drum.........civilian GM wheel of the time where self centering on the axle stub only using flat shouldered nuts...

From experience 900x16 and 900X10:50 Tires will fit US and Canadian CMP rims without modification IF you use special tire lubricant on both the tire and the rim face. On HUP vehicle with original rims mounted with 9.25x16 tires the vertical section of the HUP rim seems to be more parallel as opposed to a slight taper on the regular CMP rims. It makes mounting and removing ( the tube was pinched) by far easier.