anthonygeo

I picked up an old sears cruiser that I plan to build up for my wife. The wheels and tires are trash but I have a steel rim I'd like to use. Thing is the fork isn't wide enough unless I force it. The rim wants to "pop" out and I'm worried the nuts won't be enough to hold it. If you look at the pic, there is a second nut that seems pretty permanent but if I could get it off/swap it the fork would fit. Question is can it be removed?
The bike originally had hybrid/road bike size wheels and this is a steel cruiser/mountain bike wheel.