Definitely check the coined vs. flat lug nut surfaces -- that has to be right or you will get trouble. A 1972 F-350 DRW would have been coined lugs (lug-piloted) from the factory. If you have flat rear lugs (hub-piloted), then your truck could have had a whole later rear axle swapped in. While a lot of work, this would not involve any custom machining. If you found a late donor (after 1984?) you might be able to swap in the whole front suspension, but I have not done this myself and it would take a lot of checking to see if it would all bolt in.

There is a possible problem area regarding using radial tires on non-radial wheels, but I never got to the bottom of this. I suspect that radial rims are slightly thicker metal to handle the extra flexing of the tire side-walls, but I have not found any direct statement about that. It could be that it is a statement put into tire-mounting instructions by the lawyers -- sort of like the label on a hammer telling you that you could be injured if you use it improperly.

Any type of tire mounted on a split rim will have to be mounted with a tube and the tube should be a radial tube if it is a radial tire.

Here is a link about wheel terminology in general:

http://www.accuridewheels.com/Safety...ction%20IV.pdf

With Accuride, the terms are hub-piloted and stud-piloted. Here is a link to their light truck wheel catalog:

http://www.accuridewheels.com/lighttruckwheels.pdf

It looks as if their part #29577 might work on older trucks, but you would need to check this out very carefully. I have never bought anything from them, but last time I saw a price it was under $100 per wheel -- I expect it would be more by now.

Post back if you learn more . . . or need any help navigating this confusing subject.

P.S.: Neat find -- do you have pictures ? ? ?

 

Acheda:

Thanks, great info! I lied though, rears are split too, forgot to take into account outer dual is reversed. Still seems like a ton of work to convert split tube types to non tube. Ya think someone would come up with a conversion wheel. If I keep the splits, I can still run radials as long as I run the right tube?

Thanks again!

Rocky

 

I am running radials all the way around on split rims. You definitely must have a tube as the split rim will not hold pressure. I think most tire places will recommend the radial tubes, but they do cost more. If you are doing any highway, I would spend the extra money on radial tubes.

Another thing to consider is how good the condition of your split rims are. The wheel & rim can be in good condition, but the locking ring parts can be rusty or damaged from abuse from poor workmanship. For this reason, I would have an experienced tire man look things over and do the mounting for you.

I did my own mounting, but I preceded with great caution, carefully checking everything as I went along. I had about twice the number of wheels I needed, so I could pick all the best parts. Any pro will have a cage to inflate the wheel/tire in to be safer if there is an explosion. I still recommend finding a pro with experience -- I would not go to someone who does not have such experience. Any place that deals with big truck tires should be able to help you.

Once you are all mounted up, you should be fine. Remember that you place the male coins of each dual wheel against the female of the mate. Also "clock" the two hand-holes for the valve stems 180 degrees opposite each other to make checking pressure easier. You can have long, bendable stems, but I have small hands and just use short valve stems. Once everything is mounted up you should get a lot of trouble-free miles if you are starting with new tires & tubes. Both the split rims and the coined (lug-piloted) wheels work just fine so long as you understand how they are meant to be used.

 

why are you trying to get rid of the split rims in the first place?

 

There are many reasons people might want to move from split rims to drop-center type rims:
There are other reasons, but if you have a full set of split rim wheels that are in good condition and do not mind running tubes, they work fine. That is what I currently have on my F-350. I have a set of drop-center wheels to put on the truck when I finish fabricating my next trailer and use the split rim wheels on it.

You need to have a tire shop that will work with split rims or be capable of mounting tires yourself. This last option carries a major requirement on you to do your homework on doing it properly -- a split rim ring will cause injury and death quite easily if it pops loose during inflation. For this reason all pro shops have a safety cage to place the wheel & tire assembly during initial inflation.

 

Archie:

Great info. Thank you! I found bias plys at my local Discount Tire, but they won't mount them. Talked to a Local Truck shop and they do them all the time, so I'm half way there. What size radials do you run, the 235 85 R 16s?

Taking pictures on Sunday!

Thanks again.

Rocky!

 

I currently am running (old number series) 7.50R16LT tires on my front axle and 7.00R16LT (dual-mounted) on the rear. My next set of new tires will be LT215/85R16 (new number series). I could stick with 7.50R16LT tires all around and get a bit more load capacity, but these tires are becoming less common. If I had a tire failure away from home, I might have trouble finding a less common size. (The "LT" means light truck and should give better truck service than a passenger tire. Another thing I would look at is the load range of the tire if load capacity is important.)

Rocky, you mention LT235/85R16's, but you really should not mount these on the original wheels which (if they are like all of mine), give a dual spacing of 10 inches. This is OK for the 7.50R16 tires and the LT215/85R16 tires, but the LT235/85R16 tires require a dual spacing of 10.75 inches. These numbers come from the Tire & Wheel Association and are referenced by many regulations and laws. There are a number of considerations that they used when arriving at the minimum dual spacing numbers, including proper cooling air flow, but one other consideration is reduction of rocks being picked up and then thrown out at high velocity. I am sure that many people ignore this and mount bigger tires, but the dual spacing recommendations are something I recommend following.

Here is a link to the dual-spacing table I use:

http://www.accuridewheels.com/dual_spacing.pdf

Note that rim width recommendation is one more consideration which is often "violated".

P.S.: Here is another link if you need to buy new wheels:

http://www.qtrailer.com/catalog/tires.pdf

And a huge amount of info here:

http://www.kellytires.com/commercial...anual_2004.pdf

 

Excellent:

My goal is to go with as close to OEM, but with the balance of safety and conveniance. Looks like you've done a ton of research, and the 215's are the way to go. Not sure where I got the 235, I think it was a conversion chart somewhere, but thats why we ask the folks that know!

Thanks again, and again!

Rocky

 

I have done split rims (was my first job) for over 30 years and have seen only one exsposion and just about blew one up that I was inflatting along with a rim that came apart on me in Cheyenne last fall with a full load, it was one of the duals in the back so the ring went to the inside, aside from a lot of noise and getting thrown around a bit all was well.

The first one was a 10-00-20 truck tire of the day that was being inflatted near where I was but had only been leaned against the side of the truck in field. The tire went off before I had any clue what happened and when the dust cleared that tire had missed me and went out in the pasture a ways, the ring was embeded into the side of the truck and very fortunately the fellow putting air in had a clip on chuck and had stepped away when it went, all he had was a very stunned look on his face that matched mine I' am sure, it was determined that the ring had not been set correctly.

The other wheel was badly rusted and I was not paying to much attention until as I was adding air to this in the back of a pickup of all things when I suddenly heard creaking and a little crunching, at this point I saw the ring start to come up around the wheel, I let out a yell and every body ducked for cover as I removed the air, I was one lucky dumb kid with a very strong angel on my shoulder that day. I removed the core while that ring kept creaking and let the air out before it went off. There was people every where around me and I was afraid someone was going to get hurt because of my stupid move, this wheel had been on a fertilizer wagon and the ring land was mostly eaten away.

Last but not least I, thinking that by now that I' am a quite smart fellow and pretty sure that nothing can happen to me and live the "I know everything" from my signature which is a joke by the way installed an incorrect ring on that split rim that blew up last fall on my truck, that ring had stayed on until I got to Cheyenne about 38 miles and loaded it up. I am not sure what I had on it but some where around 2 ton on a 1 ton and in the dark as I headed home there was no mistaking that sound. The weight was somewhat of a problem but when I looked later it made no difference, the ring was not right and would not have stayed, I don't want to think of what would have happened had that been a front wheel with the ring to the outside in a crowded place in town.

 

I recently bought a 1970 ford f-250 and i found that the spare tire it's original. It is split rim 7.5-16 and it has the bias tire on it still. Does any one know what the value of it is?

 

Value is old scrap iron price as nobody wants to deal with split rims. And the tire is junk as it has been deemed that the allowable age of a tire is 7 years, IIRC.