Last summer I bought 4) slightly used 7.50 x 17 Courser extra traction tires on CL. The new tonner pu had 4 flat tires, two pumped up and stayed, the other two were broken down, cleaned with the needle scaler, set on the wood stove and primed. These, along with two I bought when I picked up a stuck 8rt and I saw two 17" 5 lug tonner wheels. He had scrapped the other 3. Too bad, because they were in really good shape. Only mounted one today because I need more tubes. I bought one at a Les Schwabb tire store while on the mainland last week. I wanted some good paint on the inside of the rim after the primer and found some Case implement spray-paint I bought for my skidsteer. A pretty cool yellow, but maybe too flashy for me to drive through town with....Pretty gol-darn snappy in my book. Most likely the coursers will go on the rear of the tonner pu and panel, freeing up other tires for my trailers and parts trucks.

 

Wow GB, that wheel and tire combo really looks great. Your'e going to cause quite the scandal on the island running around on those. Actually, I'd like to re-do my rims in something other than black but can't decide on a color.

 

I never liked black rims because of the lack of contrast. I used to paint them black with a silver lock ring like Henry did, but somehow the looked too much like whitewalls. And we know what they say about whitewalls on a truck...... Just wish I had some kind of MH tonner so I could put these on all four corners..... Hey, whats the bolt pattern on a dodge power wagon. I think I know where some axles are.....

 

Nice!! I love the color.

 

As long as I'm on this earth I will never understand why I am drawn to these truck tires. I wish I could say it was easy peeling those old stiff tires off the rusty rims. I have been doing them for years and I will say I am way better at it after doing at least 50 of them. If you are familiar with the 'Christmas Story' movie where the dad does epic battle with the furnace, that's me with ancient lock ring wheels. The skidsteer with forks will let me fork down on them at 90 degrees to the bead. I can engage a fork right against the rim and then hop around with the front wheels off the ground imparting downward pressure on the bead. The tire's bead has to be down about a half inch to get the ring off.. Then we bust out the combo lug wrench/ tonner lock rim removal tool. That has been way more helpful than even the skidsteer. When the bead is down, and the notch in the lock ring has been located, the ford tool hooks in the notch and the ring gives in every time without fail. Over the years I have bent, distorted and busted off untold tools prying the lock ring off. This ford tool which I found under the seat of the tonner from Twisp is without a doubt made from the finest form of kryptonite. The superbly tempered and shaped tip just rolls the ring up and over. I think you have had to been there to appreciate. Obviously I like this tool. The sawzall and the cutoff wheel figure in as well, but not too soon because I like to save the tube and flap when possible! OK, off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

this is the color i painted mine on the forklift trailer, with the trailer dark blue if i remember right these rims were dated 1947?

 

I've been kicking around painting my rims some shade of reddish orange. I think that would really pop. However, my brothers say is would make the truck look like a rolling ................
house of ill-repute.

 

Gotta add my two NOS sets to a thread about Courser Traction LT 7.50-17s. Stu




And a used set.



Second set mounted up ready to go on the F3 M-H. Stu



We can work on finding you a tonner M-H that would use these same wheels and tires. The pre-war M-H trucks used your same shallow dished wheels, while post-war used the deep dished Budd style. Power wagons have your same 5 x 6 7/8" bolt pattern. I've seen an F-3 set up as a 4x4 using PW axles. It wouldn't be hard to make yourself one. Stu

 

Here is a little tip for you guys, maybe you already know it and maybe not. When dealing with old rusty rims and beads pour a little gasoline around the bead, it does not take much, it will surprise you how much easier those beads break.

 

I thought the power wagons were 6 lug. At least by the early 60s they were, same pattern as the 50s Ford one ton.

 

You're thinking about Power Giants. The civilian bodied Power Wagons. The war era and post war military style that were sold through 1968 have the 5 x 6 7/8" pattern. Same 3/4" x 16 tpi mounting hardware. Stu

 

Thinking back to the F-3 I saw that has the Power Wagon drive train, it looked pretty much like a M-H but I could tell something was different. Besides the bolt pattern that's hard to eyeball the difference on, it had a slightly wider stance.

So I went to the books just now to see how PW axles would work under a tonner, ideally with stock tonner 17" wheels having the shallow 1/2" dish. The front tread width of a tonner is 58", rear is 60", according to the 1946 Dealer Handbook. Since I also have a 1948 B1PW126 Power Wagon, I have those references too. Both front and rear tread width is 64.75". But that figure factors for 4" of positive wheel offset/dish on each side using stock PW 16" x 6.50" Budds. I fear the combination of wider axles with shallow dished tonner wheels would yield a Frankenstein. Using stock PW wheels would work, though, just like I saw on the '51 F-3. I tried to find a pic of that truck but I must not have saved it. Stu

 

Stu, your tire pictures are pure pornography to me. Thanks for sharing them! I think I could get the power wagon for free. I haven't seen it for 25 years and it was pretty beat then. Heck, 9.00 x 16s are good looking tire as well. I also know of a jeep m715 about a mile away in the woods . I think those axles are wide too, but wondering about bolt pattern anyhow. I have toyota landcruiser running gear but I doubt I could find adapters from their chev 6 lug pattern. I have a long fascination with wheel adapters and just dont see why one couldn't cut a center about 8 or 9 inches in diameter out of a landcruiser wheel and weld it on top of a tonner wheel, being of course very careful to center it and weld it in place, then drill through the six lug pattern. It could never come off. Centering could be done with a wood 2 step plug made on my wood lathe. Longer studs of course and if dia was figured correctly , the tonner's hubcap clips remain intact for covering all this mess with a nice hubcap. Now I'm just obsessing and I have to go to work. The party's over. But I got a lot done with the 4 day weekend!

 

I made wheels that way for an old Subaru hatchback off road buggy. I axquired a set of 26x12x12 mudders from a big Yamaha 4 wheeler. Cut out the centers and found 4 Subey space saver spares, cut out the centers and welded them into the other rims. You just need a spindle or a hub on the truck that spins freely to jig it up on and rotate to get centered as you tack the center in

 

Nice looking wheels and tires there! Those meaty traction tires would work well here in central Washington today.