I have an all stock 52 f1, and its in need of tires. It currently has tubed wheels/tires..6.50x16. I know i could just get tires and tubes for it, but I really would like to go tubeless...with that said, im looking for black wheels with chrome caps that would fit my truck without any modification and correct offset, and tires to match it. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

You can run tubeless radials on your stock rims. Here is my brother's old F-1 with 215/85R16 tires:

 

I drove to my local tire shop and he said that I can't run tubeless on the rims I have, something about "no safety" or something...is this not true?

 

I have run rubeless radials on 30s, 40s, & 50s rims for years. Starting in the mid 90s I ran radials on my 52 sedan. I think I put 30,000 miles on this car in high school:


I had radials installed on my/dad's 37 sedan back in 2007. We have driven the car several thousand miles since then. I had the wheels sand blasted and painted before the new tires. No tubes and they don't leak down.


I had tubeless radials installed on my 53 sedan in 2001. I think I put 40,000 miles on these tires in the 12 years I ran them.


I replaced the blackwalls due to age (I don't trust old steel belted radials) and installed radial whitewalls since my girlfriend (now my finance) really wanted white walls. I drove these to California and back in 2013 and they are on the car today. Again, no tubes.



Now a word of caution. The old rims were never tested for the load radials put on your wheels. Stu made me aware of a good technical article explaining the situation published by SEMA. I understand the risks and accept the risk of radials on my old cars. I religiously check the tire pressure. If a tire ever starts leaking down on me I will find out why before I just add air. Here is a link to Stu's post linking to the article: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14988993

 

There is no safety bead on the older wheels. It is a secondary bead inboard of the primary (outer) bead to keep a deflated tire from coming off the rim.

 

Ahhh, makes sense now. Well, with that said, I want the truck to be as safe as possible, my 8 year old rides with me often. Best plan of attack? Tires are shot, so trying to figure this out!

 

If you decide to update your wheels there are a couple of vendors who can make up close to original spec.
This fella quoted me about $85 per wheel; 16x6 that would use original hubcaps.

theWheelsmith.net Home for Custom Wheels and Accessories

Here is a tire size chart, you can find a tire close to original size or to suit your taste. Coker and a few others have "Classic Radials but they are pricy.
Someone else might chime in here, I used 15", but I think the 225 75r 16s are in the ball park @ 29" diameter and fit a 6" rim nicely.

http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-chart/