I recently bought a '67 F250. It came with 16" steel wheels, which I assumed were the original wheels. But I was flipping through a catalog last night, and it had 15" hub caps for sale -- not 16". So, the obvious question is, did it originally come with 15" wheels? I can go either way, but if I stay with 16", and if they're not historically correct, I'll probably look for a set of alloys instead of steel.

Thanks,

Joseph

 

What I believe to be the original spare on my 1968 F250 C/S is a split rim steel wheel with an 8.00X16.5 tire. The wheels/tires on the ground are aftermarket 15" chrome steel with 31X10.5X15 tires.

As I understand it, most 3/4 and one ton trucks of that era had the wheels & tires recalled & replaced due to the safety concerns of split rims. A friend had a second hand '72 GMC C25 with 16.5" split rims. He received a recall notice in the mail for 5 new wheels & tires courtesy of GM several years ago.

Cheers,

John

 

The original wheel size and color available is a white steel 16 and 17.5 according to this original 67 sales brochure:

Pages 10 and 11

 

There is no such thing as a 16.5" "split rim". 16.5" wheels are 15 degree bead taper drop center wheels. A 15" wheel would not have been available on a 68 F250, wouldn't clear the caliper on the disc brake models.

 

No F250 ever came with 15" wheels. 16's predominated from 1953 thru 1996. Ford also offered 17.5's & 19.5's as an option thru 1966.

The hubcaps (painted argent w/black accents, or stainless with black accents) used on 1967/77 F250/350's, 1969/74 E300's look exactly the same as the hubcaps used on 1967/77 F100's, but...

The F100 hubcaps are smaller in diameter: 10 5/16" vs 11 3/4."

Beginning in 1972, Ford offered a 15" wheel cover (D2AZ-1130-J) for F100/250/350's. This same wheel cover was used on 1971/72 Galaxie/LTD's.

Also beginning in 1972, Ford offered a 16" trim (beauty) ring for F250/350's: D2TZ-1210-A.

F250/350: The trim ring was snapped on first, then...the 15" wheel cover was snapped onto the trim ring.

Packard 8: The first Gov't ordered recall on a FoMoCo vehicle occurred in 1975. This had to do with exploding 1971/75 Pinto/Bobcat fuel tanks.

I'm not aware of any recall inre to split rim wheels on any year Ford truck. Must have been a GM thing.

The first tire recall I'm aware of had to do with the Firestone 500 tires used on some 1976/79 vehicles. On FoMoCo products, these were factory installed on LTD/Thunderbird/Mercury Marquis/Lincoln/Marks.

The tread separated from the tire carcass. Firestone fought the Gov't recall initially, but in 1979, recalled millions of these tires.

Many had been replaced before by owners, but Firestone would not refund their money unless they had the receipts for the new tires.

btw: What year Packard 8 do you bave? I've owned dozens of Packards from a 1st Series Single 8 thru 1956. Presently have a 1934 V12 Convertible Victoria.

 

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the informative post. Yes, I am aware that the 15" "swamper" tires & wheels on my '68 F250 are aftermarket...they were on the truck when I bought it. I plan to find a set of current 16" "take off" wheels & tires at one of the local off road stores. Hopefully they will accept correct Ford hubcaps. And jhooch is correct, the (original?) spare on my truck is a 16" split rim, not 16.5.

Re Firestone's recall, I had a new Volvo in the late 70's with Firestone 500's and got a recall for a brand new set of Firestone 721's. The 500's on my car were made in Sweden, not defective like the USA production ones and were perfectly good after 50K miles but needless to say I did not refuse a new set at no charge.

I currently have a 1954 Henney Patrician 8 Passenger, a 1954 Pacific HT, and a 1956 Patrician with all options including the rare factory A/C. Recently sold a 1956 Caribbean conv and a 1949 2 door fastback. Also have a 63 Avanti R2 (factory supercharged) and 2 Jags ('48 Mk IV 3.5L DHC and a '67 E FHC). Old cars keep me broke and out of trouble!

The '34 V12 Vic is a beautiful car, congrats!

Cheers,

John

 

When Studebaker closed the Vernon CA assembly plant/parts warehouse, I rummaged thru what was remaining, found a pair of NOS quarter panels for a '54 Executive limo/sedan, later sold them to George H.

I formerly owned a red/white '54 Pacific (5477), bought it from Helen Boyce, a former opera star (the block was cracked-typical). It was sold new in Santa Monica by Simonson-Schactmeyer (today: W.I. Simonson M-B). Where the car is today, I dunno...I sold it to Bob N, who you may know...he lives in Glendale. Bob also has a 5582 that I once owned, a '37 Super 8 ragtop, and a few others.

I've also owned a 5682, and a 5687 (bought it from Nethercutt), a ratty 5697, a plethora of 5580's, mostly 5582's, and dozens of other pre/post war Packards. The first Packard I owned was a 633 Club Sedan, bought it from Mike McManus for 800 bucks.

I've owned quite a few 1962/64 VK6's, including one of the first '63 VK6 pre-production R2 Super Hawks (two were made, AFAIK). Never owned an Avanti, too small for me to fit in.

The Studebaker dealer I worked for briefly in 1962 (as a partsman), had the first Avanti R2 in CA (Frank H. Afton Co., in Inglewood).

I also owned a '56 Golden Hawk, stick and over with P/S, assembled in Vernon. According to Richard Quinn, this was the only GH with O/D & P/S made in Vernon. I sold it in 2005 to Everett N, who lives in MA

 

does it look like this Bill?

 

You are an S/P Dude for sure! I also had a '56 GH with the T85/OD, PS and as I recall it was an LA car, yellow over black. Last I heard it was in MO It had the 352 replaced with an S/P 374 Crate Motor with a blank serial # boss. I found it in Watsonville CA. Also had a '64 R1 full package GT Hawk, a '58 Packabaker Hawk, '55 Speedster, '57 Fairlane Skyliner Flip Top and a bunch of others I wish I had back....lol. Like I said, they keep you broke and out of trouble!