Hello, First of all I would like to introduce myself. I am new to this forum as well as to classic ford trucks. My name is Cory, I live in Connecticut and I am 22 and a recent college grad. In my spare time I like to work on older vehicles and have restored many old tractors.

I just bought a 64 F350 Stake Body truck with 29K miles on it. It has been sitting for nearly a decade and has a 292 V8 with minimal rust/rot. I have a few questions. It has 8x17.5 tires which I understand are hard to find. I found some tires that are 215/75R17.5 and was wondering if they would go onto the rims without any issues because they are slightly wider.

It is going to be trailered to my house in the next week so I can work on it, just thought I would start collecting information. I can already tell that there is alot of information on this site and it will all come in handy.

Here are a couple pictures.




Thanks for your time!

 

Welcome to FTE.

I would close inspect the rims. In your picture it shows one of the tires off the rim. this would allow moisture in and ruin the rim.

You may need to purchase new rims for the truck. Six lug can be had new from Stockton Wheel.

It loos pretty solid in the pictures first thing is to clean out the cowls of leaves and see if and corrosion is present.

Garbz

 

good looking 64, i would agree with what garbz2 said, get some new rims that is more common in size. Those kinda look like split rims, correct me if im wrong and i have never heard of a 17.5 inch rim lol

 

1953/66 F350's have 6 lug wheels on a 7.25" bolt circle. The only other trucks that useD these wheels were P350 Parcel Deliveries.

16, 17.5 and 19.5 wheels were available, all are very difficult to find used, especially the 16 inchers.

And what's even worse, this F350 has DRW. These wheels are different than the SRW versions.

 

Garbz, Thanks for the info. I will definitely check into the rims and see their condition. Personally if they are okay, I would like to stay away from the added cost of tires and wheels if I can find something suitable. If I can, I'd prefer to stick with those wheels. Like I said I found those 215/75R17.5 tires and I think they will fit, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. It is a pretty clean truck, very little rust.

Yeah, I will have to find some new wheels possibly. If these rims are okay, I may try finding some wheels that fit however. It seems they still make the 17.5" tires for motor-homes . Thanks for the information everyone!

 

Welcome to FTE and a great choice of truck to start working on. I like drw slicks I want one as a yard truck/parts getter one day. Those dreaded rims are the only downside of that truck. But if the rims seem to be in nice condition still and you get tires that are good that will save some time and money to focus on other areas on the truck more. Doesn't look all that bad being on this side of the coast. Hopefully no real hidden rust issues show up.

 

Why are they "dreaded rims"? They are one piece tubeless and are to my view the best of options to be had on a DRW F-350, assuming they are undamaged. They are most likely Budd #79210 having three hand holes. The earlier Budd #71320 version has six hand holes. Both of these versions are 17.5" x 5.25". The 215/75R17.5" is spec'd for a 6" wide rim, so it should be approved for the 5.25" as the narrowest optional size. My concerns with that size are that it's primarily a trailer tire which, because of its high ply rating, could dislodge your fillings. The other concern is tire diameter of 30". Your current tires are no doubt 8-17.5" bias ply that will be in some designs about 32" tall. It will effect your road speed. Below is the Universal Tire listing for their 8-17.5s. Stu

https://www.universaltire.com/truck-...transport.html

 

Stu, Thanks for that information. I will look into finding 8-17.5 tires as long as those rims are okay. I looked at those from Universal Tire as well as I found these... 8-17.5 HIGHWAY - Highway Tread - Truck - Tires By Vehicle but the diameter is only around 31". Not sure what 1.5" does to MPH or ratios.

On a side note... why don't the emoticons let me insert them into messages? I click on them and nothing happens.

Thanks for the info everyone

- Cory

 

Luckily we have people like truckdog62563, who know the wheel subject well. He is exactly right, you already have the best period factory wheel on your truck (3 hand hole Budd)! Just purchase the 8-17.5 tires. STA has them also. A local truck tire dealer should be able to order them for you. By the way super clean F 350. What I would look into though, is an overdrive transmission, those F 350's are geared very low. STA Super Transport® I Light Truck Bias Ply Tires

 

If one or more of your rims are damaged from having settled into the mud, our member GB Sisson has a set available to my recollection. Stu

 

Drag and drop the smiley's Bud.

 

Thanks Arctic!... I keep getting URLs when I drag and drop... Hmmm. MAybe its one of the restrictions from being a "newbie" Haha >> http://images.ford-trucks.com/forums.../party0005.gif

Thanks, once I get her home I can determine their quality.


I agree, Its nice to have people around here who are knowledgable about things. I'd like to keep it as stock as possible. So as long as the rims are ok, Ill find some 17.5 tires. I like the STA ones but need to check on the width, they recommend 6-7" rim and the ones I have, according to someone earlier, are 5.25" rims. From past experiences, they should fit, but would like to be certain.

 

They'll fit. Not sure why the Universal Tire catalog says what it does. Here's the industry spec's page from a Tire and Rim Association manual. The "Design Rim Width" is 5.25". The industry also allows for alternatives on the narrow and wide side which would permit use of a 6.00" rim. The next wider sizes are 6.75" and 7.50" on 17.5" 15° type drop center rims. I've never heard of a 7.00" as listed in the Universal catalog for a 17.5" diameter rim. Interesting that the below chart lists a 7.00" for a 14.5" tire. This is something I've also never seen, and have no idea what truck would run a 14.5" wheel. Stu

 

Stu, you are the man with all the answers. Thank you for all of your help so far! It is appreciated.

 

Glad to help. Stu