UPDATE: See more information on the Rapport, Flox Foy, and Welliver adapters here.
I’ve spent the past couple days working through the selective hub relationships between Free-Lock (Denver, CO), Dualmatic (Longmont, CO), Husky (Longmont, CO), White Manufacturing (Colorado Springs, CO), and Cutlas Tools & MFG (Vinton, IA). During that process, I ran across more information about dual wheel adapters for the jeep. I thought it might be worth listing the one’s that have been documented. Perhaps someone has more information??
1. Max Rappaport’s hubs: A patent on these hubs was filed in 1947 (awarded in 1953), making them the earliest known hubs. Max Rapportaport was the President of Northwestern Auto Parts Company (aka NAPCO).
Here is an example of them:
This December 1947 NAPCO ad promoted the hubs:
This July 1948 Popular Mechanics ad might be advertising the same dual wheels, but rebranded as “Du All” Converters. The design looks very similar to the Rapport models:
2. Welliver Jeep Dual Adapters No. 3000: These adapters were available by 1949 and sold by the Welliver Machine Shop. This April 1949 ad from Popular Mechanics provides a documented date.
Thanks to Stefano Oddo, we have this brochure regarding these adapters:
3. Hickey Dual Adapters: Vic Hickey developed his higher compression head, giving jeeps a power upgrade option. Then, he designed a set of dual wheel adapters. The first documentation I could find on his adapters was this July 1952 article in Popular Science about his hubs.
The next month, this ad appeared in the August 1952 issue of Popular Science:
This Photobucket page has some good close up photos of the Hickey adapters. Continue reading →
What is the ECWA? It’s been, and we hope to keep it up as a group of people with a passion for the Willys Jeep. An unofficial club, with a forum and Facebook presence, where people can share Willys and Jeep info, stories and projects etc. The only rules are to have fun with your Jeep, help each other out, and treat each other with respect. We are hoping members will generate events like Jeep runs, tech days etc.
