Word of warning on 16.5 rims.

[Yummi]

Somedays I hate my job. 

A current file I am working is making my woman cry and she has not gotten through all the witness statements yet.  I spent the better part of three hours interviewing, understanding, collecting evidence, etc on a file where a young man had his face blown off.  Lips, nose, forehead, etc just peeled right off.   Compound fracture to his arm and permanent brain damage.  The culprit?  A 16.5" rim.  He was trying to mount a 16" tire to a 16.5" rim.  I can't tell you many details, but I figured a word of warning is in order. 

They are pretty common on Ford trucks and motor homes.  Do your self a favor.  Plan on getting rid of them when you need new tires. 

The upshot is there is no inner bead to lock the tire onto the rim.  The process of mounting a tire is Seal, bead, inflate.  On a 16.5" rim it is seal, inflate.  In the event of a blow out, the tire will separate 100% from the rim.  On a 16" or 17" rim you will get the deadlocks / shards but not full separation. 

Having learned all that I have on them, trust me, just say no.  If you can afford the truck, or the motor home, you can afford new rims when it is time for new tires.  Till then, keep em puffed up.   

[dsrace]

always a worry on any rim tire combo but that is horrible!

[dsrace]

how long has this design been used?

[Yummi]

how long has this design been used?

They have been phased out.  Like split rims, these are deadly.  Just check your wheels / tires see if you have them.  Lots of them out there on relatively new vehicles.  Tire shops are just saying "no" any more. 

[dsrace]

well i know my 99 f350  are 16" and my th'er is 15" rims. wouldn't use 16.5" simply because that is a bastard size and i would bet, on a trip, you might be hard pressed to find a tire shop with them in stock. that is or has always been how i choose tire combo's on trailers and trucks. good info and sad story. like glenn's deal with the wheel on his sand jack.  i know you can't talk about it but why a 16" tire on a 16.5" rim? that one is confusing

[Yummi]

That was the mistake the wheel was misidentified.  Visually a 16.5" and a 16" are identical except a small bead.  Maybe 1/8" difference in diameter at the lip?  That is on the mounting side. 

On the driving side, full separation from rim?  No thanks.

[dsrace]

where i will never know why they designed such a thing i know that ford has had some bastard designs like honda lol and most manufacturers. i see a lot of aftermarket rims on trucks around here and have always said just leave the stock ones on , i speak for a towing app. i have never trusted the weight ratings for the aftermarket rims for a towing app. enemys friend john is a good example. he bought aftermarket rims that were rated slightly higher than the stock ones on his duramax, a good brand as well, but upon arrival to the dunes with his wolf pack 30wp bumper hitch th'er ( 35' overall ) he found a cracked spoke on the right front and a split in the flat bead area on the left rear. no one in town would weld the crack shut on the left rear aluminum rim. i do understand why they wouldn't so he jb welded it to get home. it helped but didn't stop the leak.

[fabr]

We had just that happen about 30 years ago here. The dude was had about a inch of his skull blown away and was seriously messed up mentally after the incident. A few years later intentionally drove his truck into a bridge abutment,killing himself. The fricking tire dealership,after the incident,still refused to use the tire inflation cage and to this day does not. Moron owns the place and just does not/did not care.

[dsrace]

now that is tragic!   ever tire shop i have been in here in lincoln have the cages and most use them. they go through help like wild fire as well but i can see the need for them.

[Carlriddle]

I've read about 16.5 tires on 16 rim. They would fly off when inflating!  Damn that's a crazy story

[BDKW1]

All of the half size rims do not have safety beads. Nothing wrong with them if you know what you are doing. Unfortunately there are plenty of stupid people out there that fxxk themselves up because they do not know what they are doing and expect everyone else to pay for their stupidity.

It sucks that the kid got screwed up, but blaming it on something that has been used for 50 years or more isn't right in My book. There are plenty of warnings out there against doing what he did. All of the 16.5 rims I have had have the warning stamped in them not to use 16" tires. If your not smart enough to figure it out after all this well...........

[Yummi]

All of the half size rims do not have safety beads. Nothing wrong with them if you know what you are doing. Unfortunately there are plenty of stupid people out there that fxxk themselves up because they do not know what they are doing and expect everyone else to pay for their stupidity.

It sucks that the kid got screwed up, but blaming it on something that has been used for 50 years or more isn't right in My book. There are plenty of warnings out there against doing what he did. All of the 16.5 rims I have had have the warning stamped in them not to use 16" tires. If your not smart enough to figure it out after all this well...........

I know the whole Darwin argument.  In this case it got past a combined experience of about 50+ years.  No doubt they were all Darwin's?  In fact I should have just shot each of them after the interviews.  I mean their life is pretty useless cause they made a mistake right?  I would have, but I have made plenty of mistakes myself and was not 100% comfortable in doing the deed.   

Trouble with that is that this kid is still jacked. 

I have interviewed lots of folks who have done lots of stupid things.  Surprisingly most are not quick to blame others.  Most are not quick to whine or moan.  Most are happy to be alive.  Even if that means high quad, full quad, missing limbs, digits, etc. 

I suppose we can keep blaming them that get jacked, comforting ourselves that won't happen to us cause it is always "the other guy?"   

Or we can figure better ways, see where we fail and move on from there? 

[BDKW1]

Trouble with that is that this kid is still jacked. 

And is suing the shit out of some corporation for $$$$$$$$$ going to make him better? Will it take the millions of rims still in use off the road to protect other Darwin candidates?

I think not, anything above paying for his medical bills is a money grab pure and simple.

Cases like this are why we are stuck with shitty gas cans now..........

[Yummi]

And is suing the shit out of some corporation for $$$$$$$$$ going to make him better? Will it take the millions of rims still in use off the road to protect other Darwin candidates?

I think not, anything above paying for his medical bills is a money grab pure and simple.

Cases like this are why we are stuck with shitty gas cans now..........

Well, his medicals bills will be pretty substantial.  Suing?  His right if he chooses to do so.  My guess is right now he is wondering how the fxxk he ended up three states away sucking dinner through a straw.

Not all plaintiff actions are bad.  Some have pretty positive outcomes.  Remember the McDonald's lady?  Hot coffee is hot?  Most folks get pretty torked on that deal.  If you read the case, I have, not only is it a fully legit case, it has likely improved your life.  How so?  Well, come to find out coffee tastes better at a lower temperature.  Not the nearly 200* it was given the her at.  Now I freely admit better tasting coffee is not a game changer.  Them little wraps on the cup?  Nope not a game changer.  Reduction of 2nd / 3rd degree burns from hot liquid served to patrons?  No way to track it.   

I can come up with a boat load of plaintiff cases that have improved your life, and; I am a defense monkey.  I make my money by extracting folks from bad deals.  Sometimes that costs more than they, or you, might think it is worth.  But yea, I clean up their shit. 

My deal on the 16.5 was cautionary.  Use it, don't use it.  I don't care.  Just know if it does fxxk up, and you have the bad fortune of hurting someone as a result, you will need to be extracted.  That will cost a whole heck of a lot more than you think. 

[BDKW1]

Just know if it does fxxk up, and you have the bad fortune of hurting someone as a result, you will need to be extracted.  That will cost a whole heck of a lot more than you think.

And who do we have to thank for that?



Years ago I was at a birthday party for the kid of the guy I was working for. After a full day of drinking free beer I decided it would be a good idea to get in the bouncy house castle deal and try a back flip. This resulted in a chipped C4 that bothers Me to this day.

Should I have sued the bouncy house maker for having an unsafe design for drunk people? Sued My boss for giving Me all that free beer and having and "unsafe" kiddy amusement?

Seriously, I could use a few million right about now for all My pain and suffering...........
Maybe I should call Larry H Parker...........

I mean, just because millions of kids use those things doesn't mean they are safe, I bet there are more injured drunks out there. We should band together and start a class action lawsuit to rid the world of these dangerous bouncy devices of doom.........