I have found em to help both loaded and empty. When I ran the 8.25x20's they would have to run for 5 to 10 miles to get the flat spots to even back out and they would side flex when loaded with 7 ton in the bed and make the truck want to dance on the road. The 22.5s seem to take alot of my shimmy out when loaded down heavy and they dont have the flex. I like the fact I dont have to drive all over creation to get someone to deal with the tire and wheel when a valve stem gets torn out due to mud packing in the tire and I have also found out its alot more affordable to find good used tires to mount on the rims then pay the labor involved with the other wheels. Down im my area its hard to find someone that wants to touch a clamp style let alone the widowmakers ( and I cant really blaim them because I dont want to either ). I would push to go ahead and convert now and save yourself the expense and hassle.

 

22.5's can still be mounted at your local tire shops...mention split rims and you will see a furrowed brow and a stern look of disapproval... the tubeless run much smoother, don't flat spot as much from sitting, run cooler and truer and they are radials as apposed to the bias ply typically found with the split rim... I also use dyna beads to balance my tubeless steering tires... no external weights to fall off or scratch the rim.... all goes inside the tire when mounted....if you use this stuff, never use fix a flat sealer.it will mix with the dyna beads and give you a 2 lb. blob inside the tire.... love the stuff almost as much as antiseize...good luck.... keep us posted..

 

Thank you. I'm going to look at some 22.5 wheels as soon as we can connect so I'll see what the guy has. It supposedly is what I'm looking for but you never know until you actually see it. I guess I would prefer the 22.5's for mounting purposes.

The truck is only going to get a few hundred summer miles a year so if I have to go with 20's and bias tires I can live with it.

That's where I'm at--waiting to connect with the salvage guy that has the tires. Tried today but he was out. Maybe Monday. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks everyone for all the help.

 

OK, I looked at the 22.5 wheels and they looked pretty good. Wheels need a re-paint but look good and have very nice radials on them. They were on an Int'l truck and to be sure I'm going to take one of my front wheels off and take it with me for comparison. The 22.5 do appear to be the same measurements as my fronts but I need to compare the diameter of the stud holes.

The back wheels are the stud and nut type. How do I compare those or do I presume they fit if the diameter of the stud on both trucks is the same?

Anyway, it's a country salvage yard and he wants $150 each for the steering tire/wheel combo and $125 each for the rear tire/wheel combo. I really didn't talk price; that's just what he said in conversation.

The wide single rear tire has an appeal to me because it would solve any clearance issues--that I'm not sure I have--but I wonder if it would look as "cool" as the duals. While I have owned big trucks in the past, they were farm trucks and I really didn't pay attention. I guess I should have.

Thanks for all the help to a newbie here. Your knowledge saves me a world of time and effort so I can get this right and get on the road. Photos soon.


EDIT--Do you think the 225.s and radials would present a similar appearance to 8.25-20's from the viewpoint of the casual observer? They need to be somewhat similar in appearance .

 

20 in to 22.5 inch conversions are pretty simple... if you have a 750x20 tube type, the 8x22.5 is the equal... 8.25 x20= 9x22.5... 9.00 x 20= 10 x22.5.... the metric radial is a whole other game... it is out my base of on hand knowledge... 1rst number is millimeters of tread face..2nd number is percentage of tread face used in sidewall height. that is where the 40,50,55,60,65,70,75,85 numbers come from in the size on the sidewall ..if you have spare bucks at the end of your project.. have some steel wheels fabbed up to approx 24 inch wide.. then run the new duplex type tire (super single) that are on so many of the new trucks and trailers.. that would look very cool on an N pickup. if memory serves... N series was used '63 /66 med and hvy duty.67 /69 hvy. duty only.. if you can locate a 61/66 F350 single wheel pick up body...the body lines will match,or be real close to your cab...they also were 9 ft bodies... 60 inch cab to rear axel center..i am not positive...been a real long time since I played with this stuff..if this is incorrect, I hope that someone will correct me...good luck

 

Mine is the blue one and I'm going to make it resemble the red one.









The bed on the red one is a Dodge dually from around 2005 with the Dodge sweeping fenders removed and older Ford fenders put on it on it.

 

The tires on the 22.5 wheels I am looking at are 9r-22.5 so that size is correct. As mentioned, the steering tires are great and he wants $150 each for those. The rears are not as nice and he wants $125 each for those. How do those prices sound?

On the bed, I was set to go with a 2005 Dodge dually bed with 1960's Ford fenders--and I have a beauty---but some of you guys got me thinking. I've been looking up the 1960's replacement beds and all I can find are short style side ones with fenders.

I don't think a short bed would look right. I guess it's not that hard to fab the sides but it would be nice all built. I'm still thinking this one out since I think either bed would look OK, especially with the early Ford fenders on the Dodge bed.

Here's a pic or a 1966 Ford long box and I don't find that one too appealing.
1966 Ford F-100 Longbed Stepside Pickup

 

you have a truck that most truckies in the north east would die for... if that was in my yard, I would get rid of the pusher axel, go and find a factory FORD script or block letter flat bed rack body. take apart the wood, paint or powder coat the racks, paint the body,then find some ash or white oak and reassemble it.. makes your truck far more marketable in the event you need to sell. more space for cargo and far less work than bobbing the frame..i would keep this truck as original as I could.. it's a real nice piece.. looks very correct.. if I had seen it,i would have bought it in an instant...an aluminum roll back body would be my choice.. as I am into the hot rod/rat rod sort of stuff as well

 

Wow what a great looking truck! Id love to have that cheater axle on my truck. That sounds like a good deal for your tires. I think I had 20 or 30 bucks a wheel and 70 bucks a used tire mounted on the wheels. Where did you fine one that clean?

 

Thanks. Despite looking for a truck like this for 5 years, I found this just a couple miles from the house and along the road with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It was an old grain truck that got used a week or so out of the years.
Only has 10,000 miles and looks new in many regards,


-1968grain600deere;13455398]Wow what a great looking truck! Id love to have that cheater axle on my truck. That sounds like a good deal for your tires. I think I had 20 or 30 bucks a wheel and 70 bucks a used tire mounted on the wheels. Where did you fine one that clean?[/quote]

 

Thanks. Despite looking for a truck like this for 5 years, I found this just a couple miles from the house and along the road with a "For Sale" sign in the window. It was an old grain truck that got used a week or so out of the years. Only has 10,000 miles and looks new in many regards.

 

That sounds awesome, I rescued my 1968 f600 grain from the scrappers at an auction. Mine came out of elpaso illinois. If your close to ohio and are getting rid of that tag axle let me know! Thanks!

 

The tag axle is not factory but a farmer add-on and yes, I am getting rid of it. Send me a PM if interested.

 

I agree! That truck is beautiful as it sits. Would be a shame to disfigure a nice looking rig like that, with a mix match p/u box. That would definitely make a nice rollback, but a block letter FORD flatbed would be a nice look as well. I'd love to find an N600 that nice, just so I could preserve it's beauty.

 

Have an update and am going tomorrow to look at some 9R-22.5 tires and wheels off a 1981 F600. I'm presuming the wheel pattern and bolt diameters are the same but does anyone have a better guess than mine?

I know the bolt pattern and center hole size so I figure to measure the front bolt diameter as well as the rear and see if I can figure it out. The seller did mention the rear wheels are the dual setup with smaller holes than the front and I think that sounds correct.

These are priced pretty reasonable and look like they'll work for me. Any advice welcome and thanks in advance.

If these work I'm going to start cutting the frame next week.