Hi again FTE, Im hoping to find some alternative options for wheels on my 1959 Ford F350 dually.

Currently its riding on 16 inch rims. I understand the other stock option would be a 16.5 inch rim. What other sizes have you guys used?

This size in a commercial truck rim / 6 bolt pattern seems to be in pretty short supply up here. On the other hand 6 bolt 20 inch rims, old army rims, seem to be plentiful.

Could I fit some skinny 20s under there? Or will they not clear the body up front? Im not worried about this lowering my torque as currently i have plenty and am not doing a whole lot of load hauling. Im just trying to get ahold of a spare set of tires.

No shipping isnt an option otherwise I probably wouldnt have a problem.

Thanks guys!

 

Moved to the correct forum.

 

The six lug 20s that you've seen on big trucks won't work for you. They are 6 x 8.75" bolt pattern, you are 6 x 7.25" pattern. There are no new wheels made with your bolt pattern, unless you buy them from a custom wheel dealer. No 16.5" was an option on your truck, and you don't really want them because of their short stature.

Used wheels exist, but finding them in the interior of Alaska might be your challenge. Our friend GBSisson has the wheels you need for sale. He lives on the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast. The wheels you need are 17.5" x 5.25" dually wheels having 4.75" of positive offset. They are either Budd #71320/Ford #B6TZ 1015-A which have 6 hand holes, or Budd #79120/Ford #B6Y 1015-A (which replaced #71320) and has 3 hand holes. IIRC Sisson's wheels are the #71320. No 19.5" tubeless dually wheels were ever made that I've found record of having your bolt pattern. I have record back in the WWII era of some 20" tube type "lock ring" style made having that pattern, but I've never heard of any that have been found. My suggestion is to look up GBSisson and swallow the shipping costs. Stu

 

Thank you Mr. Seekings, I enjoy this forum but it is easily the most unintuitive design I have ever encountered, and thats coming from a 20 something internet addict.


Truck Dog, why cant the people that know what their talking about ever have good news! hahah.

These are the 16 x 7.50 on it right now < 1959 F350 (20) by ~Alfonzz on deviantART >

Is there any reason that I shouldnt keep using those? other than the fact that I cant find any rims to mount a spare. Smaller wheels would make it slower and less efficient, so long term if its feasible id like to get the bigger wheels i guess.

So it should actually have 17.5 x 5.25? Ill call around to the local salvage ops and see if they have any and Ill scrounge through the junk piles.

I'll repeat this, shipping is not an option, it would cost hundreds of dollars per rim to get them here. I would have to replace all of them if I was going to change to the larger size, and I dont know about you, but I dont have a couple grand kicking around let alone a couple hundred bucks. If I cant find it local, for cheap or free, I'll run without spares.

 

Yours look like the better style of two part wheels (there's some good news). We commonly call them "lock ring" style. You'll see a separate ring on the face side of each wheel. But just in case I'm not seeing things right in your picture I'll post a picture below of a cross section of the really bad kind of two part wheel that's called a "widow maker". Them you don't want to find, and if you have any you'll really want to be rid of them.



In your yard searches you don't need to restrict yourself to Fords. Both the 16" and 17.5" wheels were also used by Dodge, IHC, and Studebaker in addition to Ford. Stu

 

Ok, thanks for the tip, I already had this down to our fine local used tire distributor they told me its got split rims? Not widow makers. Ive done some looking around online, and the terms seem to get confused.

This is a widow maker?



This looks more like my wheels:

Just want to make sure I have an Idea what Im looking to avoid.



Is the best way to see if rims fit the bolt pattern to slide em on the truck, or is there a quicker method? Measuring tape?

Thanks again!

 

Top is a widow maker, bottom is a lock ring. As long as the measurement from center of one stud to center of the other straight across is 7.25" you're ok.....with one exception I can think of. That exception is an IHC 120 or 1200. Some of them have 9/16" studs where your tonner and all the others have 5/8" studs. Those IHC models might have Kelsey Hayes wheels that look right but won't clear your studs. Otherwise any of those makes have Budd wheels and trucks from the late 1960s back should have what you're after. Stu

 

Awesome, thanks. Im going to go check out a local scrap pile today if I can find the time let you know what I find.

 

I still have 'em. Thanks Truckdog.

 

Im going to look locally first, because shipping would be killer, but how much would you want per wheel? I would need a minimum of 6 and would love to have at least 1 spare.

 

75.00 each. They have nearly new tires. I recently shipped an 800 lb diesel enge from Georgia to Washington . Yellow freight wanted 1350.00 so I'm thinking no dice. So I googled 'shipping an engine'. Found a bunch of brokers. Enginesdirect.com got it here for 400.00 strapped to a pallet, and it arrived on a UPS freight truck. Give them a try. tell them it's a hot air engine.

 

Hey, thanks again, its been a while since ive had a chance to get on. Im going to keep looking locally for wheels, that would be cost prohibitive for me, especially since I really only need a spare. If I end up spending a lot of dough I think I might just get my guys to swap out the rear axel so I can use the 8 lugs.

 

Whiz over to the Alaska Transportation Museum in Wasilla, stroll around, you might find the wheel under a shed, or a spare on one of the F350's, Cornbinders, Dodge's or Studebakers.

These trucks aren't going anywhere, so won't need a spare.

There's an ALCAN Highway veteran there, 1941 Studebaker dump truck with GI issue front sheet metal, the only one I've ever seen in person. Most of these trucks were "Lend-Leased" to the Russkies.

The same 6 lug 7.25" bolt circle DRW's used on 1953/66 F350's were also used on 1953/66 P350 Parcel Delivery's aka bread trucks. The front doors slid back/forth.

 

Ive only been once, Its a great little place, youve been then? Problem is, they arent selling as far as I know, and its over 300 miles away, not exactly the local option.

 

Of course I've been there (May 2010). How else would I have known about all the old rolling piles of misery they have?

US Army used GI issue Studebaker trucks during construction of ALCAN Highway. AK Trans Museum has one, it's probably the only one extant, rarer than hens teeth.

If you live near Fairbanks, you might give Ken a call at Hectors Welding in North Pole, ask if he knows of any 'ol F350's layin' around. Ken is an FTE member, so he knows Ford trucks.

I've been to Fairbanks (2004), but I've never been to North Pole or have met Ken...we talk on the phone every now and then on a different subject.

I love Alaska...have taken 4 cruises: 2004/2005/2006/2010. Cruise/Tour in 2004 and in 2010, after the cruise ended, we rented an Explorer in Anchorage, then took our own tour.