American Racing Equipment 1 Piece 12 Spoke Magnesium Rim 18 X 3.5 U.s.a. on 2040-parts.com

THIS ITEM IS EQUIPMENT FOUND IN A STORAGE LOCKER I PURCHASED.

AMERICAN RACING EQUIPMENT 12 SPOKE, TRUE MAGNESIUM RIM 18 X 3.50

For sale is one (1) American Racing Equipment 12 Spoke, true Magnesium rim that is 18-inches in diameter X 3.50-inches in width. These 12 spoke magnesium rims, especially in as good condition as this one, are becoming rare. It has a Michelin tire on it that the buyer may choose to run or not, it is up to you. The pictures tell the tale on this rim. It is drilled and tapped on one side in a six bolt pattern; looks like 3/8-16 maybe. The opposite side is not drilled, leaving the choice of what to do with it to the buyer. Even though this rim does not have “American Racing Equipment” cast into one of its spokes, I say that it is an American Racing Equipment magnesium rim because it does have information cast into the spokes of the rim, which was characteristic of the A.R.E. manufacturing processes. This rim is sound. I would not hesitate to run it on my bike but I like 21-inch rims so I am letting this one go. However, if the rim does not sell for what I list at, then I am going to keep it for a Sportster project I have going. The pinch tube inside the bearings is 1-7/16-inches in diameter. That could be replaced with ¾-inch I.D. pinch tube and Harley-Davidson Big-Twin bearings if you want them. The bearings appear to be frozen, so they should be replaced anyway. This is an excellent rim and the lucky buyer will not be disappointed.

Please note: this rim is also listed on Cragslist in Redding, CA and is subject to prior sale.

American Racing Equipment

Probably no other part is as immediately recognizable as the five-spoke wheel that American Racing Equipment introduced in 1960. Though copied with impunity, the company gets the ultimate honor: show any enthusiast a copycat five-spoke wheel and chances are they will identify it as a Torq-Thrust.

Romeo Palamides founded American Racing Equipment and A.R.E. owes its legacy to him. Nevertheless, Palamides owes the wheel that put him on the map to circle-track legend Rolla Vollstedt. Vollstedt had wood patterns made to cast a dished magnesium wheel. “My wheels were just solid, they had no spokes,” he said. “I had the pattern made so I could put a spacer in and make the wheel an inch wider, you know so I could run them on the front or rear.”

American Racing Torq Thrust

In 1966 American Racing machined the Torq-Thrust spokes for caliper clearance. That year it created the Torq-Thrust D, a wheel with spokes curved to clear larger Corvette calipers. This is the somewhat faithful version that American Racing introduced in 1988. Rolla Vollstedt continues, “But then I found that I could buy them ready-made from Halibrand for less than it cost me so, I sold my patterns to a guy down around the Bay Area named Romeo Palamides.” Palamides made them his own by first adding material to create trapezoidal holes in the wheel face and further widened the wheels.

When they debuted on Palamides' handsome dragster that graced the cover of the November 1956 edition of Hot Rod, Palamides Racing Equipment was born. When Palamides asked to be cashed out so he could go racing, machinist Jim Ellison and engineer Tom Griffith changed the name to American Racing Equipment.

American Racing introduced dozens of wheel variations over its long and storied history—far too many than we can honor here. It still produces relatively faithful copies of many of its most famous wheels to this day.

12 Spoke Wheels

American’s second iconic wheel is the 12-spoke magnesium rim. As a spindle mount, it lacked provisions for brakes, it is drag-racing only equipment though later it caught on among T-bucketeers. The first 12 spoke was the 15 X 3.5 but later, A.R.E. offered 12 spoke rims in 18 X 2, and then 18 X 3.50. All of their rims are magnesium. Several companies produce aluminum variations of this design.

 

RETURNS AND SHIPPING

NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED

THE BUYER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PURCHASING THE CORRECT ITEM FOR THEIR PARTICULAR APPLICATION.

I only accept PayPal for payment. I have been buying and selling on e-Bay since September 2012. I have a 100% feedback rating of which I am proud. I urge you to review my feedback and buy with confidence, knowing I will treat you, with the same honesty and courtesy I would want to receive. At the end of the auction, I will deliver your purchase to the local UPS store or the USPS for professional packaging and shipment to the winning bidder. I honestly and clearly do my best to present the items I sell in their true condition. I offer a 14 day money-back return on this rim. However, if the buyer finds something they believe not accurately represented or they are dissatisfied with their purchase, please contact me first and give me the opportunity to rectify any problem before opening an incident report with e-bay.