Thanks for all of the ideas guys. I guess I'd like to go with the least expensive route because I'm in high school and don't have alot of money to spare. Would it be easiest to find a set of 17.5 inch wheels from a 56 to mid 60's from an f-250? I may be able to borrow the rear brake setup from my uncle's 48-50 Ford panel/ delivery truck. I'm not really sure what you'd call it, or if it's got 12 inch rear drums. I think it'd be nice if I could find the 17.5 inch rims, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to find them.

 

My guess is you'll find them right here. Shipping might be a challenge though. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ernatives.html

 

Yeah, shipping would be pretty bad, plus I don't have the money quite yet. I might have to start checking around local junkyards to see what they've got

 

I've got a couple different 8 lug wheels we can see if they'll fit or not. A 16" from an '86 F250, and a 16.5" from a '73 IH 1210. I'm in the area.

 

Both of you are in the same mental ward??

 

Well, sorta. I'm on the inside, he's on the outside, lol.

 

I'm deciding to keep the original drums and brake setup on the rear. I'm going to start looking for the rims to fit.

 

Well.. a few months later and I still don't have a solution. I would really LOVE to avoid buying a new set of rims, but if these are extremely dangerous, I guess they'll have to go. I emailed Pioneer Rim & Wheel out of Minneapolis to see if they would be able to order a set of rims that would work. Are you guys certain that there are no modern replacements being manufactured? This truck is just turning out to be a bigger project than I ever imagined. I've already rebuilt the rear wheel cylinders, so rims are my next priority. I wouldn't be in such a hurry about the rims, but my tires don't even hold air anymore, so I NEED to find replacements in order to move the truck. I wish I could find a place around Duluth who would at least put a used set of tires on the rims so I could at least be able to move it.

 

some 90's model 8 bolt 3/4 ton ford wheels will fit the F3 and of course are for tubeless tires. try finding rims for a pre 97 superduty.

 

You can also try the other two US manufacturers (Dodg3 and Ch3vy) as they all used the same 8x6.5 bolt pattern. Just remember that hubcaps mounted different thru out the years. Are you planning on using the period correct hubcaps? This will limit what you can use

 

what about having a shop redrill the drums to fit a modern 8 lug pattern.
People do it to the volare ifs why not those

 

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The bolt pattern isn't the problem. But the drums on the 48-50 1 ton rear brakes are a larger diameter than what typical 16" wheels will fit over.

 

I got a set of 16.5 inch rims, two of which seemed like they were deep enough for the drums to clear, but they weren't. I figured I might as well put the front ones on to see how they look, but I really do NOT like the look of them. They just look too small! I can't stand it. So I think I'm going to head around to all of the junkyards and try to find some 17.5 inch rims from the 56 to 69 f-250's. I know I'm jumping around an awful lot, but I want this truck to look fairly correct. I considered swapping the rear end out for a dana 60, but that would only be so I could use 16 inch rims. Now that I know how smaller rims look, I don't think I'm going with that option. Eventually, I think I'll probably switch out the rear end just to make it more practical to drive, but I don't have the money right now. Speaking of which, what kind of top speed could I expect out of this truck? It's got a 4 speed with the flathead v8 if I hadn't mentioned that before.

 

Hi.When I first got my F68 ,the Canada number for F3 the po had 16" rims from cheb. No hubcaps but radial tires sure improve ride.Of course now she rides on 31x15 on the F150 4x4.

 

My 1952 V-8 M-3 cruises at 48 mph, top speed in the 60's