Hey fellas,
Been a while since I've been on here, still in the work season. I'll be back on here more this winter when things slow down a bit.

I've been doing some thinking on wheels....and I'm going to join a few other forums, including a (GASP) Chevy forum...to get more info. But I figured I would start a thread here so anyone else interested will have the same info.

My goal is to find a standard wheel with the highest weight capacity, so I feel safe with my F350 single rear wheel dump truck.
Some background: It was originally a dually long wheelbase rig, capable of handling a 12' body. I have swapped from Dually to SRW because I want something a bit less bulky, among other reasons. I'll be swapping over to 4x4 using leaf springs and a Dana 60 front axle sometime here in the near future this winter. So my goal is to find wheels and tires that can handle a 6k pound load of wood chips or logs and tow a 4k-5k pound chipper. Basically...8k pounds of dump truck + 6k pounds of load + 5k pounds of chipper = 19k - 20k pounds total. Usually, this figure doesn't mean much because guys are towing trailers.
In that scenario, 8k pound truck + 12k pound trailer = 20k pound total. However, the truck is only seeing 2k pounds worth of tongue weight...essentially meaning 8k pound truck + 2k pound load = 10k pounds on the truck. And still adding 10k pounds worth of trailer.
In my scenario, the bed is loaded @ 6k pounds + 500 pounds worth of tongue weight...so the truck is seeing 8k pounds + 6,500 = 14,500 on the truck + 4,500 worth of trailer.

I currently have a set of the 92-97 factory aluminum wheels and a set of stock steel wheels. In my opinion the steel wheels seem stronger, and I trust them more. But I'm looking for something a little more flashy and seem to remember someone has a truck here with the Chevy 2500 alloy wheels like this: (4) Nice gm 2500HD wheels w/ 285 75 16 tires (general grabber AT2) - $750 (cape cod) for Sale in Massachusetts Classifieds - AmericanListed.com

I'm interested to know if anyone has the specs on the factory 92-97 aluminum wheels as far as weight capacity and wheel width (I still have tires mounted on them, so tape measuring has me guessing at 7"?)
I'm also curious if someone has the specs on the factory steel wheels as far as weight capacity and wheel width.

Then I'm curious if we could compile a list of popular wheels that fit the 80-97 trucks with the specs on them...as far as weight capacity and wheel width...pictures would be sweet also so we all know which wheels we are talking about.

Off the top of my head, the GM/Chevy 8 lug wheels...alloy and steel....will fit our trucks.
Here's the GM/Chevy steel wheel I'm talking about: GM-Trucks.com > Gmt-800 8 Lug Factory Wheels

As far as I recall, I've also seen pictures of our trucks sporting some dodge wheels...like these ones: 2006 Dodge 2500 Turbo Diesel Big Horn for sale: Anamera

I'll be visiting a little more frequently in the near future to view this thread and comple info as I get more from google searches and other forums. Until then, feels good to be back!!

 

Dunno if this helps, but all Ford E-series vans, even the brand new 2011 model still have our old bolt patern.

If you find good looking rims off a van, they'll fit on our trucks.

 

Thanks John, that's the kind of info to compile here!

 

Do you already have the d60? if not, look at gettin one with the 8x170mm (99+ super duty) bolt pattern and same with the rear iirc that bolt pattern is supposed to be able to support heavier rated wheels.

Not tryin to sway ya or make ya spend more $$$ lol

 

All input is appreciated!
Got a deal going now. $600 for the D60/10.25 out of an 88 F350...so that makes it a kingpin axle. 3.55 gears.

I'm curious...before I pull the trigger, I haven't tossed out the idea of Superduty axles....why would a different bolt pattern be able to support more weight?
I had steered away from the Superduty axles because of unit bearings and ball joints on the front end, and the 10.25 has a beefier pinion than the 10.5.
However, I've never seen Superduty axles fail either...and the factory wheels are pretty nice also.

 

As a Chevy owner, me has this to say: before purchasing ANY Chevy/GMC wheels, make sure you measure the opening for the hub, and compare it to yours - especially older GM trucks tend to have hubs that are ever-so-slightly smaller than Ford hubs, so Ford wheels may work on a GM truck but often not the other way around - my insignificant other loves to tell the story how he once got a flat with his Ford way out in the middle of nowhere, only to find out his spare came from a Chevy truck

 

In my opinion the original steel wheels were not all that strong. I've seen more than a few 80's Fords that had a bent wheel.

The design of an after market wheel will have a big effect on the strength. One of the strongest OEM wheels I've seen was on the Dodge in the 90's. Steel wheel, chrome finish and heavy. I found a link to one, it's not an 8 lug but same wheel as the 8 lug.

DODGE OEM RIMS DODGE FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS DODGE Wheels DODGE OEM RIMS DODGE FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS DODGE Rims

Alloy's are very strong but again, the design of the wheel greatly affects weight bearing. Ford's alloy with the holes around the wheel seem to be a fairly strong wheel.

 

we sell rims and tires down at work and over the few years i have noticed that when mounting and balancing the wheel and tires (the wheel specs are stamped on the inside of the wheel) that the weight rating for 8x170 wheels are slightly more than the 8x6.5(165mm)

and i dont blame you about wanting to with the kingpins though

 

The problem I'm having is coming up with a tire that will carry 5,500#. The smallest I've been able to come up with is 255/70R22.5 load range H. I like the 568 Revs per mile vs. 680. Getting a rim to match it to our bolt pattern and offset could be a problem.

 

Let me add something here that hasn't been said yet - all factory wheels, whether steel or alloy, are HUB-CENTERED. This means that the inside diameter of the center of the rim fits snugly onto the axle hub, centering the wheel and transferring the weight directly into the hub. The lug nuts in this situation don't carry any weight, they simply keep the wheel in place on the axle flange/hub.

Almost 100% of aftermarket wheels (or wheels from another make that will bolt up) have a hole in the center which is TOO LARGE to fit tightly onto the hub (unless you buy hub adapters which most tire stores don't even carry). In this situation, your wheel studs now have to do two additional things that they weren't designed to do: 1) center the wheels, and 2) transfer all of the weight into the hub/flange.

Now is this that big of a deal? Probably not. BUT, if you're going to use your truck as a truck and are planning on loading it up with thousands of pounds of stuff, I'd recommend running stock rims (either steel or alloy) for the reasons outlined above.

 

Or at least make sure that they are rated for your load and hub configuration. On that note, I did find a set of Alcoa alumonum rims for specific year trucks that should address this issue.

PS: For what I'm talking about would be a special order unit that would be made to fit my rig properly.

 

And go with a load range G tire. they make them in a 235/85R16G

 

G range? Never seen some.

What are they like 25 bias plys?

 

Great thread with good info.

 

You still end up 5,000# short of max capacity. You also have to make sure that your rim is rated to match. If you're operating any kind of business with your truck, you sure don't want to be caught running overloaded on any component of your truck. Your insurance will probably be voided since you would be running illegally.