Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[thetrenchesexperience]

Can anyone help?
I have just picked up these axles and wheels from a field in Shropshire and was wondering if anyone can help identify them?
The cast iron wheels are 22" diameter. The front track is approx. 4'9" and it rear seems to be a bit less at 4'7".
I cant find any identifying markings.
Any ideas?
Thanks
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189360604@N08/albums/72157715269853248

[Ray White]

At a guess I would say they are either Sankey or Dunlop artillery wheels. The braked front axle would suggest post 1923.

Incidentally, the wheels are pressed steel and not, as you may think, cast iron.

[Penman]

Hi
Did they do a double pressing for wheels with spokes like those?
The spokes are distinctly concave on both the outside and the inside which would indicate that if they are pressed there would have to be 2 pressings welded together.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[peter scott]

[Ray White]

[Penman]

Hi

[Cargy]

Could the one-piece rear axle casing be American, maybe Eaton or Timken? UK-built Willys Overland Crossley 30-35 cwt “Manchester Lorries” (and perhaps their “Garford Vans”) made from 1926 up to 1933-35 had an Eaton axle and Sankey wheels. The forged front axle profile also looks like theirs if front brakes were an option. Wider, moderate duty, Automotive-Products’ imported Timken axles had a track of 4’ 8”.

If not, notable are the larger size and smooth domed shape of the bearing caps. A 1930-ish Humber Super Snipe/Hillman 16 based van used by Bedford Borough Police and a heavy 1926 Singer had those. That year Sankey Wheel adverts show distinctly domed bearing covers. Morris Commercial R/T 1-tonners used Sankey wheels but their axle differential casing was split.

Re the wheels: Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd of Bilston first advertised, then showed their “everlasting” steel wheels at the Olympia Motor Exhibition in November 1909, when they were available with a fixed or a quick detachable (Rudge-Whitworth licensed) hub. They also made wings, mudguards, dashes, under-trays and other fittings, having developed skills in metal stamping techniques making one-piece frying pans and garden tools. In 1911, with steel wheels their near monopoly product, they appear to have amalgamated with Thomas Tilling and W. A. Stevens to make up the Hadley Engineering Company, their address becoming Hadley Castle Works, Wellington, Shropshire. Their wheels rapidly gained a reputation for strength and reliability and by 1913, they extended their range to include the Warland Dual Rim system, Albion patent dished pattern and Sankey-Austin detachable wheels. This made them an option for many UK and foreign car/light truck manufacturers.

They stated in their 1920, often full-page advertising campaign, that theirs was: “The original stamped steel wheel of the artillery or spoked type. Under Sankey patents, the first wheel of this type was manufactured. The perfect product of today is the result of over half a century in intensive research and experience... Essentially, the Sankey Wheel is built up with two pressings, stamped bodily out of cold sheet steel, welded together [NB: electrically!] around the circumference and at the sides of each spoke. The rigid structure is further reinforced by a steel web, which radiates from the centre. The turn-over rim which carries the bead of the tyre is reinforced by two extra laminated strips of metal... and is practically unbreakable”.