I have seen this truck numerous times in the local ads, seems the price has dropped a bit also. I have not personally seen this truck nor do I know the seller, I just hate to think of it going to scrap if the seller is serious about that!
so thats why I even put this on here, maybe someone on here is looking for one like this? so it doesn't go to scrap.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...cat=103&lpid=4
Located in the Ogden Utah area.

jm

 

Ya I was just looking at theat before I logged on here.
I had a 50 f-1 and sold it because I had no money or time.
I was thinking of going to look at this F-4 (was thinking about offering him some trades). I was wondering about the wheels though. Does anyone know where to find 5 lug dually wheels like that? It looks like it would need 2 more for the back.

 

F-4s came standard with four 20" wheels that used 7.00x20 tires. Optional were six 18" wheels that used 7.00x18 tires. So no, F-4s didn't always come with dual rear wheels (DRW). A larger issue is the type wheel used. All came from the factory with what are now known as "widow maker" rims, whether in the 20" size or the 18" size. These wheels are generally no longer serviced at tire shops, and are dangerous to use. These are Budd wheels that used Firestone RH-5° outer rims. I'd suggest doing a forum search here of Firestone RH-5°, or simply RH5°. There's been a lot of discussion of them over the years. Wheels aside, that's a real nice looking truck for the money. And alternative wheel solutions exist. Other wheels designs were also made back then, with the same 5 bolt x 8" circle, that used either Firestone or Goodyear "lock ring" mounting systems. These are still serviced if in good condition. They can still be found at salvage yards, but you have to do some looking. Tubeless one piece rims were also made and are the best alternative, but they are harder to find and will be expensive. You'll read about the wheel alternatives in your forum search too.

 

I would jump on it in a minute if it were closer to home. All the good deals seem to be out reach.

The F-4 is rarest of the models made. They were too small for the guys who wanted to haul the heavy loads and too big for the guys who wanted to haul lighter loads. They just didn't fill a need so fewer were ordered. I like the F-4 because you get a big truck without the big truck double wall frame rust problems.

Ditto what Stu said. We've been discussing the wheel topic for years, just do the search of the board on the subject. Heck, Stu has even had two letters to the editor published in Vintage Truck magazine. Stu is the resident expert on the Widow Maker wheels.

 

my 49 has the 18 inch wheels . ive been in contact with stockton wheel and they can sell you bud wheels in 19 inch for 205 a peice . eventually i'm gonna do it as i dont wanna play games with them ol widow makers . i wanna keep all my body parts , had a bud killed by one .

 

Kevin - Please tell us more about what you heard from Stockton, and how recently did you call them? Did they say that the wheels they'd sell you were new wheels, or used reconditioned wheels? I assume you mean 19.5" rather than 19", am I correct, and are you sure they understood that you need a 5 lug x 8" circle? Do they now have these available to the public, or did you just get lucky and catch them when they had a set? That's a lot of questions, but there's a lot of guys who would benefit if Stockton now has these available. Stu

 

The last time I talked to Stockton, about 2-3 years ago, I talked to a guy named Larry, I think. Very friendly guy. I talked to someone else there a short time before who wasn't interested all and basically told me I was SOL when looking for the 5 lug Ford wheels. Anyway, Larry told me at the time, they didn't have any of these wheels and when they got them in they sell them, reconditioned, for $250 apiece. He said they rarely get them in and when they do they sell out fast.


BTW, the F-4 came with 18" if they came from the factory with dual rear wheels and 20" if they came with single rear wheels. Ford did this to keep the load capacity down. Of the few F-4 I have seen most had 20" duallies so I assume most owners either switched all six 18" wheels for 20" or added two more 20" wheels to the four originals. Two '48 F-4 I have had came with six 20" wheels and the '51 F-4 came with six 22 1/2" tubeless, diffenately not stock.

 

i talked to a fella named frank traded emails i told him what i had and yeah your right 19.5 . and i screwed up i put 6 lug down after i went back through my mail . i've got another email sent to him and will let you know . if they dont im gonna contact another fella / company to see about it with them . sorry for the screw up .

 

Kevin - No problem. Please let us know what you learn. Also, if you're really on the hunt and don't mind replowing ground where others have gone, you might do a forum search to see all the different companies guys have called about this. Sometimes things change and the only way we end up knowing about it is if somebody happens to get lucky. Stu

 

I also talked to Rickson Truck a while back because I read on an RV site that they might make a run of 19.5" rims for the RV crowd. The guy I talked to didn't know he had another market for these rims beside the RV crowd. If they got additional calls from interested people they might more seriously think about doing the run. He did say they would cost $300+, but could be less the larger the run.

 

ok i thought i put a reply on here last night fellas but i dont see it . stockton had to my understanding , they dont right now , 5x8 19.5's in their inventory . i dont know if they are new or not and when they will have more . so i geuss contact 'em and maybe they can put you on a will call list , dunno . i have contacted one other and he laughingly replied no and i should consider not buying weird stuff lol . got a couple others to get hold of as i am determined to do away with those infernal widowmakers !!!! p.s. i talked to frank via e=mail so if someone tells ya no ask for him as he's giving the impression they do . last contact and i quote from him " at this time i do not have any 5x8 19.5's in stock .

 

I got the same responce from Stockton. The first guy I talked to pretty much blew me off. He didn't want to waste his time talking to me. I then contacted one of our board members who had a F-5 for sale that he said had tubeless tires. He told me to talk to Frank, I thought it was Larry. He was very talkative and spent time talking about the wheels, very informative guy.

 

im not gonna bother him again right at this moment as obviously smiley aint gonna fit in my garage so i can bolt some odds and ends back on and get it running again , but when it's time i am gonna ask him to try and flag those rims so when a set comes up so does my name . all i can think of is they are obviously odd and /or they are rather sought after by crazies like us with weird stuff...................