I've been rebuilding my 50 F1 for a number a of years now, and slowly but surely making progress. I've got a question I hope someone on here can help me with. I got the truck with 15" steel wheels on it. I've tried to keep everything stock, but I did go with the Speedway disc brake kit for the front end. The 15" wheels I have scrape on the calipers. I understand the original wheels should be 16", but haven't seen any of those around. What are a good set of steel wheels that will give me a stock look (correct back space) and not rub on the calipers? Thanks, Don.

 

Most ford 16 inch wheels are 8 lug. I assume you have 5 lug wheels. I would start by looking at mid 60s f100 or f150 with 5 lug wheels and disc brakes. They should fit fine. Good luck

 

Thanks f3, I'll keep an eye open for a set.

 

If you want to stay original you can either find a set of 16 wheels from an original truck or you can buy Genie wheels in a variety of widths made by Wheel Vintiques which are sold by Summit Racing.
That is what is on my truck however wider than stock.

 

The wheels you have now are probably for a truck that had drum brakes. Like f31951 mentioned find some rims of a later model with disc brakes, and you should be fine. I personally prefer the 15 inch rims. Your choice in tire's should be better, and cheaper. Good luck.

 

5 lug wheels on a 5.50" bolt circle:

1940/47 Commercials (1/2 ton trucks) / 1940/48 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars / 1948/52 F1 / 1953/79 F100 / 1966/96 Bronco / 1969/74 E200 / 1975/96 F150 / 1975/2014 E100/150 / Some 1980/83 F100's.

1940/47 Ford Commercials & 1948/52 F1's came with 16" wheels as did 1953/54 F100's. 15" wheels were optional for 1953/54 F100's.

Beginning in 1955, 15" wheels were standard equipment in F100's, 16" wheels were optional (thru 1979 including 1975/79 F150). 1956/66 F100's were also available with optional 17" wheels.

When people swap disc brakes into 1972 and earlier F100's, they have to use 1973 and later wheels, because...

*1973 was the first year that disc brakes were available for: F100 2WD's; 1975 F150 2WD's & E150's; 1976 F100/150 4WD's & Bronco's.

Note: There are no F100/150, Bronco or E100/150 disc brake wheels that use an "innie" hubcap, all are "outies."

Innie wheels were used thru 1964 and on some 1965/66 F100's. Outies were introduced in 1965 F100's. Innie wheels were cancelled at the end of the 1966 model run.

Innie: So called because the hubcap snaps over tabs located on the inside of the wheels center section.

Outie: So called because the hubcap snaps over tabs located on the outside of the wheels center section.

6A-1130-A .. Innie Hubcap / Reproduced = Late 1947 & 1948 Ford Passenger Cars / 1948/52 F1.

 

Thanks for your responses. Number Dummy, let me see if I can summarize your information. Since I changed to front discs, I need to get post 1972 rims to clear the calipers and it doesn't matter whether the wheels are 15" or 16"? So I need to luck into finding a full set of post 1972 Ford wheels, or go with the (not to cheap) Wheel Vintiques Gennies?

 

16" wheels for these trucks are very hard to find, they were also optional for 1966/79 Bronco's, but I've never seen a Bronco with 16" wheels.

15" disc brake wheels are EZ to find, but you cannot use your original F1's "innie" hubcaps, as all these wheels are "outies."

 

That is true if you use a Ford 73 or later F-100 disc brake setup. Not sure what calipers the Speedway kits use. How much of an interference is there?

 

Numbers, that's ok. The truck didn't come with any hub caps. It sat in a field for years with no windows. I took on a project that was bigger than I thought. Albuq, it is a rub. Not enough to lock up the wheel, just drags as you try to turn it.

 

My 2 cents:
Started looking for stock wheels out West here and found they are hard to find and pricy too. I called a wheel manufacture that can build stock looking rims starting at $85 for 5" in SoCal, these will fit the original hub caps. In comparison the new wheels are cheaper by the time you purchase and media blasting to the old ones.
The Wheel Smith..... theWheelsmith.net Home for Custom Wheels and Accessories
Since I'm cheap, uh, I mean on a budget....
I landed a set of mid 70s F-100 wheels for free, the stock wheels are 6x15, made by ford and rated for about 1900 lbs each.
Even the "free" wheels have cost a few bucks to r/r tires, media blast, and paint.....with 225 75r15 tires they are 28" tall and fill up the wheel wells.

 

The speedway disc kit must have a 3-7/16 center hole and 73 to 93 F150 rims will work and most all aftermarket wheels.

 

Thanks all. I'll be on the lookout for some Ford 15" wheels.

 

Great info here guys. Thanks for posting!

 

I know, bringing up an old post, but it had good info from NumberDummy!

I have 2 types of wheels on my truck right now (1950 F1, all original, patina rust color), 16 inch on front, 15 inch on rear. I have a full set of four 15 inch rims that look like they take an "outie" but i don't have the hubcaps (2 of these on rear as stated above). I have two 16 inch rims with the "innie" hubcaps on front. I haven't tried, but because of the drum size difference (2 inch vs 1.5 inch width or something like that) i was thinking the 15 inch wouldn't fit on the front drums.

So the question is, use the four 15 inch and find outie hubcaps to fit, or get 2 16 inch rims and caps to match my front wheels (probably harder to find to match the rust look). Will the 15 inch even fit on front?
Are these all "period" rims? I'm all stock, the truck has that rusted look, and they aren't split rims.

Front with caps, rear without