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I have a 1975 Ford F250 Ranger Supercab. I am trying to find out what the OEM wheels are for this truck. I know they are 16" . The truck currently has aftermarket crap wheels and I want to take it back to original.
Thanks in advance!
Are you sure they were 16's, and not 16.5's instead? There were 16's back then of course, it just seems that most of our trucks got the 16.5 size.
I would think that someone has a set that they're hanging on to for putting aftermarket wheels on, or maybe would even like yours in trade. What have you got now? Got pics?
In a pinch, Stockton Wheel and Wheel Vintiques make stock-ish steel wheels. I'm running 15x7 Vintique that look very stock but are a bit wider.
Are you sure they were 16's, and not 16.5's instead? There were 16's back then of course, it just seems that most of our trucks got the 16.5 size.
I would think that someone has a set that they're hanging on to for putting aftermarket wheels on, or maybe would even like yours in trade. What have you got now? Got pics?
In a pinch, Stockton Wheel and Wheel Vintiques make stock-ish steel wheels. I'm running 15x7 Vintique that look very stock but are a bit wider.
What size tire will you be running?
Paul
Your right on the 16.5 size. What size tire will fit the 16.5 wheel? Is it an odd throwback size?
I just went threw this,I have a 75 4x4,,,,,,,,,you can find oem up to 97 lug space 8x6.5 x 16,old school steelies,,,,just ck out facebook market place and be patient,,,,,,,I picked up 4 with 275 bfg all-terrain for 100$,they fit with wide acorn lug nut and clear a dana 60 up front these are from 1993 F250
lafermedavid I was looking at those oem wheels for distinguishing marks. I noticed that on the high spot between the holes, on the one opposite the valve stem hole has a dimple stamped into it. Do you know if this is unique?
pretty much the same as the seventies wheels; The,seventies wheels were made by Firestone ,both sets have Ford stamped into them.,can receive the dog dish caps
Your right on the 16.5 size. What size tire will fit the 16.5 wheel?
It has to be a 16.5" tire obviously, not only because of the size but due to the bead being a completely different design from most other wheels that have what is known as a "safety bead" with less "ramp" shape.
The width of the tire still depends on the width of the wheel. A stock wheel might be 6.5" wide for example, which would generally limit you to a 10.5" wide tire or thereabouts. Even less by today's standards apparently.
A 4" wider tire than the wheel was a generally accepted max a few years ago, but the tire manufacturers seem to be settling on 3" or less nowadays. The wider tires never caused any trouble I ever heard of, as long as you adjusted pressures according to your vehicle's needs.
Originally Posted by Cellcounter
Is it an odd throwback size?
Well, not odd exactly since most heavy-duty wheels back then on standard pickup trucks, and probably military vehicles too (Hummers used them for a time) were actually 16.5's. But a throwback, yeah I'd say so.
I don't know for sure, but I believe the purpose of the unusually designed bead was to make mounting and dismounting the generally very stiff tires much easier. They had stiff, thick sidewalls which probably tasked the machines back in the day.
And likely made fixing a tire in the field easier for a rancher or military tech.
But one negative side-effect was that it was easier for a tire to fall off a wheel if run under lower pressures. Not good if you don't know you have a leak (this was back when "tire pressure monitoring" was done manually by the owner) and especially in wet conditions.
This is just a guess though. But I think it makes sense.
The manufacturers started getting away from that size and going to the 16" size which still had the high weight carrying capacities, but were less likely to fall off a wheel when pressures got lower. Changing the size slightly was mandatory so people did not try to mount a 16.5 tire on a 16 or 17 inch wheel with a safety bead.
Bummer. Ever tried re-seating the beads by hand? I wonder if a tire-iron can get the job done without all the fancy machines.
Watched my boss' wife's nice '86 K20 Suburban, with 31x10.50 16.5 BFG's roll into the parking lot to drop her kids off at school. The right rear tire was low, and I was pulling in behind here to let her know. She went through a puddle going up into the driveway and the tire just peeled right off the wheel then and there going about 2mph.
X2 on I bet the 75 had 16.5's OEM and you might as well just get some 16" steelies, because 16.5 tires (other than 36" or 37" military takeoffs) are about as extinct as T-rex, real expensive or just hard to get.
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) and especially in wet conditions.
