Hi all
Just picked up a new toy
1954 f600
Thinking rat rod....lol....cause ...why not
But I want to keep it usable for hauling..so....
Looking for some super singles in the old big ford 5 lug...( fat chance huh???)
Probably have to have them made

 

 

nice rig! if you decide to remove the driving lights that are mounted on the frame rails I'd be interested.

 

Nice F-600. You are right that no super singles exist having the 5 lug x 8" pattern. Your truck right now has a mix of original and none original wheels. The right front has a locking side ring style outer rim that wouldn't be original, but is safer and much more readily serviceable than the visible outer dual rear. That original rear wheel, and others no doubt like it on the truck, have what is termed a "widow maker" outer rim. Trade name Firestone RH-5°. Most shops won't touch them.

If you want to have super singles built, Les Schwab and Commercial Tire have contracts with a company called American Wheel Specialist in Kennewick, WA. Good folks that I've visited and bought a set of their custom built 19.5s. I think you'd be wise to inquire about having your center discs pulled for remounting into tubeless 22.5" rims. Because you live in WA, and within the service area of the Les Schwab and Commercial Tire dealership chains, you would have to work through a local dealer. American Wheel Specialist can work directly with customers like me who live east of their wholesale contract relationships with those chains. Stu

 

Watch this if you question changing those wheels:

 

Man I wish I could find the video I posted last year of the guys running their pickup over the upper half of the widow maker wheel to put it back together. Priceless.

 

Oh,another thing --> Another big truck saved! Yeah! I've seen quite a few of the big'ns of late. I love that these old, slow, loud trucks are being put back into use. Congrats! And show lots of pictures of your build!

 

Thanks...yeah...I had called les Schwabs yesterday...they said if I have some super singles I can have the centers changed...not sure if I want to do that or change the hubs....probably way more trouble and cost in changing out the axles...I wonder if there's wheel adapters....lol

 

Nice truck and welcome to the 48-56 forum. Thanks for the pics. Get her running, use her, paint her if you want but don't use her for a rat rod? Those things are a dime a dozen, trucks like yours in stock good shape are getting rarer.

 

Abe is right! Keep it fairly stock, nice paint and a fun driving vehicle

 

Adapters can be made too, but the times we've had guys look into it they cost about as much as a wheel at each corner. At least it'd be four adapters vs six wheels. Stu

 

Welcome!

Good looking truck!

It's your's, build it how you want. Your definition of a rat rod might be different than others. Most people have it associated with a bad attempt to make something look like it came out of Mad Max. If done right it can be very cool, but it's usually saved for something that's beyond normal repair. Personally I think making one come out well takes more skill than restoring something back to it's original condition.

Do you have a front flip hood on it? What's the latch for by the hood emblem?


Also I'm up near Seattle, just south of Everett. I have a '56 F600 that I'm going to be swapping out the axles on hopefully this fall. Not sure if they make super singles for that wheel size, but they're not widow makers. Also 5.83/8.11 rear gear. 5 speed direct transmission.

 

We did the rear brakes yesterday and discovered that the rear hubs have 10 holes in them but only 5 studs....I'm hoping that this means that a 10 lug x 22.5 wheel will bolt on....then I can install a super single without having to build a new wheel.....any one know if the bolt pattern will line up....
...I'm not sure about the hood latches...it's not a flip hood and the hinges need help...I thought the same thing when I saw it....anyone have any good hinges just laying around for sale....lol

 

Good news on the hubs

To my knowledge the only 'good' hinge on these is making it a front flip. I can't speak for everyone but it's my understanding that the factory style hinge just doesn't work as well as it should, even if rebuilt, or even rebuilt from scratch by a machinist, the design just has the flaw of needing to be pushed down. I'm sure some people don't have this problem but you never really hear of them, most people just go "yep, they all do that."

 

Not so good news. Your hubs (TEAA 1109-B) have the 5 x 8" pattern. The traditional 10 lug wheel patterns have a 10 x 8 3/4" circle, a 10 x 11 1/4" (285.75 mm) circle, and a 10 x 13 3/16" (335 mm) circle. My records go up to the year 2002, so if there is some more modern metric sized pattern I'm unaware of it. Stu

Edit - a quick check of the Accuride 2015 on-line catalog shows no other 10 lug patterns. Stu