A neighbor found a 6 bolt, 18" rim in his garage while doing fall cleaning. He says it has "Ford" stamped on it. As long as I've known him, over 30 years, he's had as many vehicles he bought and sold. He can't remember any truck he had that this wheel would have come off of. Any ideas? I'm thinking late '50s F-250?

 

I’ll assume you are thinking SRW since you say F-250. But no SRW Ford wheel that I know of was ever 18”. Unless your buddy has measured wrong. Could it really be a 17” or 19.5”? A picture might help too. I’ve become a fan of DRW 18”s and have gathered up a few sets for my trucks, but even there the 6 lug is a puzzle unless it’s a different diameter. Stu

 

Stu, check out this 17" front wheel, I believe it's off a IH? The tire size reads STA 7.50-17. It's different than the mid 50's F 350 express wheel. I see it has a lock ring, not the widow maker type. Should be a good alternative if someone is looking for a taller diameter tire for their F 350 dually. This 17" tire and wheel combo fills up the front fender nicely.

 

My gut says that is a 1970 (ish) Budd that I’d never seen before our friend Mark Buck came up with a pair for his F350 Napco. I’d have to dig back through old text messages to find the Budd number but I think you are right that IHC was the OEM user. Mark has two of them and is looking for others. I’ll text Mark and have him drop by.

Regarding the wider face and different shape of the hand holes, this truck’s front wheel resembles the 18” Goodyear locking ring wheels I’ve found a set of for my trucks. In the below picture you can see the narrower face of the old Budd 35570 sitting in front of the newer Budd 89190. The 89190 was the replacement for the 35570. Stu

 

I am on the hunt for 6 lug, 17 inch lock ring as I have 4 but need 2 additional for my 62 napco AWD project. I will purchase, or trade for 17.5 s or ????? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Am I right Mark that your 17s resemble the ones on the truck, and have the wider face and hand holes like the 89190 I posted the pic of? Stu

 

Yes Im going to get the number from one of mine in the morning for verification, but it looks correct.

 

Here are the pictures you sent me. Same face and hand holes, coined mounting, and Budd #63780. Stu

 

yup thats it , forgot I took that photo

 

My neighbor called me this afternoon and just gave the six bolt 18" information. I'm assuming they are single wheel because he said he couldn't think of a car he had that would have such a wheel. He's leaving for a hunting trip in Wyoming tomorrow morning so I won't have a chance to get a picture my time soon. When he gets back I'll take a ride to his house and get a few pictures.

He's actually a neighbor down the from the farm and we live about five miles from the farm so he's not really a close neighbor.

 

While we wait to hear back from Bob on his neighbor’s 18” wheel, I did a deeper dive and refreshed my recall on tripleframe’s 17” and Mark Buck’s 17”.

Budd listed two different 6 x 7.25” pattern, Goodyear rimmed, locking ring 17” wheels. Mark’s #63780, a 17” x 6”, that I find no OEM application for. Maybe the fact of the truck being a Napco conversion explains some of that. The other is Budd #63770 that is 17” x 5”. This 5” wheel is probably the one pictured on tripleframe’s slick. That wheel was OEM sourced by IHC on one ton 130/1300 models under IHC #80541R92, and by Ford under #TCAM 1007SE. Special Equipment for Ford. It would seem unlikely that either wheel could be readily found on a donor Ford, but finding the 5” on a 1960s IHC might be feasible. Stu

 

Again, while we await Bob’s neighbor, and since we are way off topic with discussion of odd ball 17”s, I’ll dive a bit deeper down that rabbit hole if I may.

I told my buddy Mark Buck when he first asked about the Budd #63780 wheels that he was chasing unicorns. The usual solution on F350s is a set of 6 x 7.25” DRW tubeless 17.5”s. But not for his Napco! So the following was my suggestion, which might also be of interest to other F350 guys.

A custom pair of wheels can be built by locating a pair of center discs from an early F350 Express. The 53/54 Express 9’ bed trucks have deeply dished (5”) single 17” wheels. These discs are riveted to original widow maker rims near the outer faces of the rims. These 17” discs can then be cleanly remounted into commonly available Goodyear LB 17” x 6” outer rims from early riveted Budd #66520 wheels from Dodge motor homes or IHCs. Later 66520s have welded centers, so early donors are better. So, it’s a solution for Mark and maybe others. Stu

 

Thanks for the update Stu. I would suppose anything IH was a low production item, so, those would be a hard find. But, IMO, worth the leg work or online search to get a taller tire + dually wheel combo for F 350's.

 

Yeah, I agree. Even though the 17” x 5” is listed as an option, most IHC tonners I’ve seen have DRW 16”ers. At least it shouldn’t be hard to spot them if found on a yard truck. And as I’ve studied Mark’s pic I’ve thought more about the #63780s, and wondered if they might have been railroad wheels. Which might explain why Mark’s Napco came to him with only four. Stu

 

A deeper look at NWRA references shows that there was a 6 x 7.25” pattern 18” x 5.5”, KH #37751, having a Goodyear LW rim/ring, 1” of SRW offset, and used on 1950s era IHC 120 models. IHC #126254R91. Never listed for Ford, and not likely to have a Ford logo stamping.

NWRA records also show the Budd #63780 available on IHC 130 DRW tonners prior to 1967. Stu