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Hi world. I'm new here, and I have searched the forums without luck on this question. Apologies if this has been asked previously. I bought a 1963 3/4 ton (F250) Unibody and I really don't like the aftermarket rims the previous owner put on it. I would love to find factory type steel rims/hubcaps to give it a more vintage look. Right now it has LT235/75/R15s on it and the previous owner tells me that he believes 15" was the stock size (he was the 2nd owner, but he admittedly is the guilty party who swapped them out 5 years ago leaving the original rims at the shop he bought the aftermarkets). I'm not having any luck finding 15" stock rims in 8-lug, is that becuase they're super rare, or they never came in that size Thanks for your insights.
Last edited by skitvader; 09-28-2012 at 01:50 PM.
Reason: Typo
Thanks for your feedback. That's what I was thinking too. Good news, I located a full set of 16" innies with original set of hubcaps, and they're in my garage now. Very excited. I also checked the spare, and can see that it's original (I can see that it's an innie, but will need to drop it out to measure, but that's a set of 5!)
Last edited by skitvader; 09-28-2012 at 01:49 PM.
Reason: typo
Thanks for your feedback. That's what I was thinking too. Good news, I locate a full set of 16" innies with original set of hubcaps, and they're in my garage now. Very excited.
Welcome to FTE skitvader. Man thats a lucky find Ive been looking for 4 or 5 non split rim innies for almost a year. Are the ones you came up with non split rims. Just wondering because I have found many of those. I dont find them often but way more often than the non split 16 innies. If those are non split I just want to say you lucky dog. Pics are good.
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1965 F100 4x4 for fun. Name Gentelman Jim
1963 F250 4x4 for restore. Name Beast
1998 F150 4x4 for daily use. Name Birthday Boy
2001 Ford 4x4 Explorer Sport Trac (nice but sucks on MPG its underpowered)
Hey there Buzz (Vic), thanks for the vote of confidence; I felt like I might have overspent, but I've been looking for months myself and was willing to step up as I felt they wee pretty rare. I got lucky, but it wasn't without a lot of searching. They are NOT split rims. I got a full set of 4 + the set of hubcaps to boot. Now I need to get tires to go on these things. The truck has 15" now, so the tires will not swap over.
Thanks for the information Bill. I assume the part number will be stamped on the rim somewhere, and I'll look for it and see what I have. They're 8 lug, and the Ford stamp stood out immediatly (pictured).
I took a flashlight out and looked over one of the rims in my garage. Didn't find a part number, but it wasn't the best lighting condition. I'll look further tomorrow.
While I'm here though, anyone have suggestions on tire size to put on these 16" rims (in terms of current measurements)? I would like to have the spedometer as close to accurate as possible. I actually don't mind the look of the LT235/75/R15s it has on it now - fill the wheel wells pretty nice IMHO, but now that I know they're not original my spedo may have been off since I bought the truck 8 months back. I didn't bother to check.
Everyone's feedback is appreciated, you guys are a wealth of knowledge and generous with your advice.
I took a flashlight out and looked over one of the rims in my garage. Didn't find a part number, but it wasn't the best lighting condition. I'll look further tomorrow.
While I'm here though, anyone have suggestions on tire size to put on these 16" rims (in terms of current measurements)? I would like to have the spedometer as close to accurate as possible. I actually don't mind the look of the LT235/75/R15s it has on it now - fill the wheel wells pretty nice IMHO, but now that I know they're not original my spedo may have been off since I bought the truck 8 months back. I didn't bother to check.
Everyone's feedback is appreciated, you guys are a wealth of knowledge and generous with your advice.
Your speedo is absolutely inaccurate based on the aftermarket 15" wheels and the P-Metric 15" radials. Neither existed on any F250 as original.
Even with correct 16" wheels, your speedometer will never be 100% accurate as radial tires were not factory installed on these trucks and the P-Metric radials used today are a different shape.
The original tires were bias-ply blackwalls. There's another problem, your 1963 F250's speedometer DRIVEN gear at the end of the cable. It could be fibre, it could be cast iron, or it might be nylon.
DRIVEN gear teeth are based on the type of transmission, rear axle ratio, series of truck, 2WD or 4WD and the original bias-ply tire sizes.
16-21 tooth nylon gears are EZ to find as all are available from Ford. Correct tooth count fibre or cast iron gears may be impossible to find.
Post the AXLE & TRANS codes that are stamped on the Warranty Plate. Once decoded, will know what material the DRIVEN gear is made of, how many teeth it has based on the original 7.00 or 7.50-16 tire sizes.
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Bill // Retired Ford Parts Manager // SoCal Chapter member // Part Number Research: 1928/2001 FoMoCo vehicles.
On the rim part number hunt, I'm not finding any further markings. They've been blasted/painted which may make it more challenging, and I'm not sure where to be looking. Besides the Ford logo on the front, I also found what appears to be a "K-H" stamped on the front (opposite the Ford script). I measured them and they're 16 x 6, they're 8-lug Ford Innies, that much I know
Last edited by skitvader; 09-28-2012 at 01:46 PM.
Reason: Incorrect
I've been doing some non-scientific online research, and the prevailing opinion I'm seeing is that the modern day equivalent of the 7.5 x 16 is the 215/85R16, and they are a good match up for 16 x 6 ford rims. Anyone running these or have an opinion one way or the other?
Last edited by skitvader; 09-30-2012 at 01:03 PM.
Reason: terrible typer I am
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Thanks for your insights.
Previous owner hasn't a single clue!
The reason you cannot find these wheels is: They do not exist! 
