I sold the "First National" several years ago but I see it a Hot August Nights every year. The family that has it now loves it and I think they drive it quite a bit. We planned to get together for me to give them some history of the truck but it never happened.
I have years of adventures with that old truck. I bought it from a rancher whose son was the Governor of Nevada at the time. Just to be on that ranch was an adventure. I injured myself there and his other son had to drive me to the hospital.
I never had a rim try to come apart. The guy that got killed was using air pressure to remove the the outer ring on a three piece style we called a California split rim. The outer ring slipped on the rim and was held in place by a lock ring. He got the lock off but the outer would not slide because of dirt and rust. When it did come it took a big hunk of his head with it and his helper's arm. They had brought it to my dad's shop and he told them he didn't have time to clean it up and if they would take it home and clean it up he'd fix it. They rolled it to the gas station next door and grabbed the air hose. Dad started to walk over when it came apart. What a mess! I have respect for all things under pressure & tension. The energy is just waiting.
(Yeah, men of many words)
