The rims I found are one piece not the three piece. Is that what you are thinking?

 

I think you're wrong. But if you've found a one piece 17" wheel from that era you will have found something I've spent a lot of hours unsuccessfully scrubbing through the books looking for. We'll need pictures. Stu

 

The rims had firestone tires on originally. I'm not sure on the year of the chassis . I'll take some pic's today and post them. The rims have clips for hub caps also

 

Hub cap clips are another GM feature. You'll want to scrape along the front rim lips to see if there really are the small lock rings in there. A cup of coffee, or cold adult beverage, says that's what you'll find. But I'd love to proven wrong. Stu

 

Are you sure that what you have are 17" and not really the 17.5s? That could explain it. Stu

 

I was wrong they are 17 1/2" rims that are 6.5 wide, but anyway there are rims out there that will work on the F3 of about the same time period without going into custom made rims or changing the back axle.

 

Yep, and that's the goal here.... to find out which ones work(compile a list of sorts) so that the WM's can be put into retirement. BTW, welcome to FTE!

Next question is, do the 17.5's fit over the early '48/49 drum?

Or is it the 16.5, I can't remember.

 

Scott - the 17.5s work, but this is the first example we've heard of Chevy style being used. The 17.5" tires are approximately the same size as the 7.50 x 16s that came on F-2s. The 16.5s, if some are found that clear the drums, will have a real short tire profile that makes them look odd. Stu

 

The 17.5" rims need the bore about 1/16" bigger to clear the center hub and I'm planning to use a 8 stud x 6.5" x 1 1/2" thick wheel spacer behind them so the drum clearance on the back isn't a problem.
Rosco

 

Not sure why that spacer is needed. The Ford/Dodge version of the same wheel fits fine on the drum with no modifications. Stu

 

I'm jumping in here a little late but my dad had, I think, Chevy or GMC wheels on the back of my F-2. He torched out the hole to make them fit. I don't remember if he altered the lug holes. They were the first thing to go when I started tearing my truck apart 30+ years ago.

 

I got rid of the 6 that were on my truck about 4 or 5 months ago.

The wheels were so rusty, I couldn't break the bead once the air was out and the rings were pried away from the wheel.

So I used a cut-off grinder to cut the rims away from the tires, and a plasma cutter to cut up the wheels. After that they were just scrap steel.

I couldn't find anyone to take the tires before I destroyed them so I cut them up into pieces small enough to fit in the garbage and let the garbage guy take them away piece by piece!

A sawzall will go right through those tires "lickety-split"!

 

Yeah, a sawzall works great on old tube types. Guess I'm lucky the shop I use to recycle doesn't care whether my old tires are all in one piece. But mostly I'm lazy because about all that I get rid of anymore are dead 19.5s that I have them pull. Easier that way. Stu

 

The rims I have don't quite clear the rear rim splash lip so if I put the spacer on behind it will solve this problem

Ross

 

There was a discussion on the HAMB a while back about disposing of used tires. In most places it's illegal to dispose of tires in the in the trash but a few posters said if you cut them into pieces they are no longer considered tires and can thrown into the trash. I don't know if this is true in every municipality or even true at all. Just thought I'd post it for discussion.