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How about getting it registered under Historic Vehicle 81' makes it older than 30 years and can be driven with "Not for Hire" proclamation. There's plenty of class 8 trucks registered "Historic" / "Antique" under this scheme which does not require a CDL. Ask a member of the (ATHS) American Truck Historical Society about it.
btw they are split ring wheels not split rims, split ring wheels (Dayton demountables) are considered safe for everyday use. With split rings the rear duals have the ring mounted facing each other with only the front wheels having the ring facing out.The ring is located in a groove which accounts for its safety. Must tyre fitters haven't got a clue about the differences and hence why they say they are all dangerous.
We have 100's of thousands of split ring medium to large trucks on the roads down under including multi trailer road trains everyday.
You can always change the rims to tubeless 22.5 demountables as a later option if they are 10 20.00 currently.