The subject of rims and rubber is one which I gave a lot of thought to. It is a very common source of discussion, I've noticed, and there's a reason for it.

This series of trucks represent a real transition period and one could draw a line within this series at 1964 where the post war, fifties technologies gave way to the newer powerplants, suspensions and amenities of the 65 and 66 models. The tires and rims were also breaking new ground as tubeless tires , both bias ply and radial, were becoming more and more common. Thus we see several iterations of the 15 and 16 inch rims as well as the 17.5 's. There are innies and outies , one piece and two piece and probably a few other variations. Several of the better informed on this site have made coin by identifying and grabbing the more uncommon types and its a good thing, all in all.

This truck still had the two piece lock-ring rims it came with from the factory.They were a bit rusty but still viable. The easiest route would've been to monitor Craigslist. 8lug Ford rims with decent tires are common.but I liked the tall skinny look of these trucks and did a little research on them.

The two largest negatives are the need for a wheel liner and tube, and the difficulty in finding a tire shop which will handle them.

The second part was not a problem. We've got a tire shop up here which has been handling pipeline and oil field fleets for decades. I got to talking with one of the older guys who'd been there for years. He told me that there are still rigs which run lock rims. The lighter trucks, one ton and under, transitioned to one piece rims long, long ago but it wasn't because these older rims failed. He said he couldn't remember a single instance where the rim itself failed when properly installed and he mentioned how those rigs live a pretty tough life. I can vouch for that having driven the Haul Road many times. When I mentioned that I really wanted radials he took me out to a warehouse out back and pointed to a large pile of lightly used 7.50/16 tires. They were truck rated radials which came off an entire fleet of trucks when the owners went to a different brand. He swore by them and made me a price I couldn't refuse.

After the old rubber was removed the rims and rings were sand blasted and primed. The originals were black but I chose to paint mine Wimbledon white and silver for the rings. Not as foolproof as powdercoating but they touch up easily.
I had to buy a new rubber liner and a tube to go with the tires. The guys at the shop seemed to take an interest in this old truck which was nice.

I personally like the stock look/ The tires are skinny by today's standards but these things do very well in snow and mud.. I'm glad I went this way. To my eye,, they look right.


If anything is more confusing than rims, it has to be hubcaps.
I like the pop bottle caps and I'm fully aware of how difficult it can be finding 16 inch innies.

The truck came with two. Argent with red letters.
They were banged up so I pounded them out as best I could, sanded, primed and painted them. I made a mistake when I sprayed them the same color as the wheels. I maybe will re-do them in argent but my thinking was that white is a much more forgiving color when it comes to the dings
At a later date I got a 66 F250 as a parts rig. The cab was full of trim pieces from other trucks and boxes of parts. One box held a full set of 15 inch innies and one solitary, well traveled 16' It will need a lot of TLC but now I have three. If anyone out there has an orphaned 16 in at least reasonable condition, I'd love to hear from you. I promise to give it a good home and swear I won't turn it into a clock.

The fifteen inch caps show the correct color of white.

 

 

The picture in post #31 shows a Firestone 16" x 5.50" RHP Semi-drop center rim design. Not a widow maker and no recall ever on those wheels. Should be perfectly fine to use.

Chad

 

 

ive changed sortsof splitrings onwheels,i think people are just scared of everything nowadays.

 

Heater was a factory option or a dealer installed accessory for all models and there were TWO different fresh air heaters for 1965/66.

The deluxe fresh air heater had two *****/cables mounted to a bracket underneath the dash, to the right of the steering column.

The economy fresh air heater did not have these *****/cables.

C5TZ-18591-A .. Heater Blower Motor Resistor / Obsolete

Parts catalog does not specify which heater this was used with, so IMO it was used with both.

1965/66 F100/1100 // 1965/67 Econoline // 1965/69 N/NT500/1000 // 1967 F100/750 // 1967/69 F800/1000.

MCDONALD OBSOLETE PARTS in Rockport IN has 1 = 812-359-4965.

CARPENTER NOS OBSOLETE PARTS in Concord NC has 1 = 800-476-9653.

MILLER OBSOLETE PARTS in Binghamton NY has 3 = 607-722-5371.

 

ND, you might check also the blower motor. There should also be two blower motors, one for use with resistor, one not.

Cosmo.

P.S. Unless I miss my guess, the blower motor should be the same as installed in Falcons from '60 to '63.

 

C5TZ-18527-A .. Heater Blower Motor - Use with economy & deluxe fresh air heaters (Motorcraft MM-208) / Obsolete

1965/66 F100/1100 / 1965/69 N/NT500/1000 / 1966/77 Bronco / 1967 F100/750 / 1967/69 F800/1000 / 1968/72 F100/350 / 1970/72 F500/750.

1960/65 Falcon & 1965 Mustang (before 4/1/1965) heater blower motor is: C0DZ-18527-A (Motorcraft MM-240) / Obsolete

 

 

 

The resistence of the circuit wil be the combined resistence of the motor and the resistor. You will only have part of the 12V across the resistor and the rest across the motor.