Need some advice. My father in-law wants to get rid of the old split rims on his 53 f350 but cant find anything with the big 6 lug bolt pattern. Anyone know where he can get or salvage some?
His other thought is to replace the whole front suspension to something a bit softer with Better brakes but he never wants to spend money so an aftermarket kit is out of the question.
What might prove a good donor for it .what is commonly used

 

Gonna have to spend some money, regardless of what you and he decide

 

Many will tell you to get rid of the widow maker split rims. There have been several posts regarding wheels off of Dodge trucks, motorhomes, etc. Personally, I'm working on my "53 f-350 mostly for the fun of rebuilding it & will probably drive it very little when/if completed, so I'm sticking with the split rims I have. A challenge I'm running into is finding replacement rear 13" brake drums for mine. If you are gong to go with disk in back and your rear drums are in reasonable condition, are you interested in selling them? Anyone else have a couple?

 

You've got that right. Keeping widowmakers in service isn't a great idea. And finding a reputable shop that'll touch them isn't easy.

Swapping axles, for perhaps an F-250 axle with 8 lug x 6.5" pattern, would seem a logical swap. But we've not heard of anybody successfully doing it. Member GBSisson has done a swap of front hubs on his F-350, but as I recall he had some engineering to do to make it work. I'll see if I can find his thread where he described his method, then do an edit.

Your original idea of finding the tubeless wheels having the 6 lug x 7.25" pattern is the simplest solution, but finding a full set might take some looking. I have three of the 17.5s I could offer to get you started, but don't know of any others locally. I know of four others in a yard in South Dakota that our friend Mark (thundersnow70) knows about. But then you'd have shipping, etc, but even with that you'd be getting a cheaper fix than doing one of the aftermarket swaps. Stu

Edit - here's the thread I had in mind. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...5-f-350-a.html

 

Thanks.
He said there is one shop here in town that will do the split rims, he's going to get the front tires replaced but it'd Just a matter of time before finding someone ho Do them will be really hard.
hi are 16 inch.
53 tonner I tried to tell him to just find a whole dually axle from something more late model but I'm not sure he wants to go to that expense or trouble.

 

OK part two of the question.
who makes a good front end kit to maybe get better steering and disk brakes?
That's the way I'd like yo see him go. Anything to make this old man safer

 

Every one I've seen is designed for a half ton, with those bolt patterns. So you'd be looking at doing both front and rear to avoid carrying two spares. Stu

 

I think s half ton front would be OK. He doesnt drive too far and he has duals on the back he could probably make it home

 

has anyone found a good solution to the f350 front end disc brake conversion? besides buying a whole new frame.

 

I have a set of 5 17.5 6 lug wheel, id be willing to sell. tubeless, srw style, 4 have good tires on them. Located in South Dakota

 

Ryan - the SRW 17.5s work well on 1955 and later F350s. The ‘53/‘54s need the DRW style. I hauled that set home from my trip to your place last month.

I don’t know of a disc brake conversion for the F-350s, but know one of the Studebaker forum guys was working on engineering a disc conversion. I’ve not seen him post any updates for a while, though. Stu

 

https://www.scottshotrods.com/

I've seen a guy on facebook who is using this company to build a whole new front end using air bags for his 53 F350