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I just picked up a 1959 f350 and it’s in need of tires, but I want to make sure these aren’t widow makers or some other two piece wheel that nobody will want to deal with. Don’t know much about these old rigs so any help is appreciated!
I believe that they could be... but I'm still learning about them myself and could be wrong. Look for the wheel info stamping somewhere on the visible side to help identify.
They are locking side ring wheels that can be kept in service if undamaged. Likely they have what is called the Firestone RHP design that features a solid unbroken side ring. These will be 16”. It is becoming hard to find service on them in some parts of the country because so few are still in service, and it’s a pita for shops to train new techs in their handling. An old guy at an independent shop is your friend. Avoid Wally World and similar chains.
Replacement tubeless 17.5s can be found, and our friend Bob Jones over on the 1948 to 1956 forum has asked me a day or two ago about a very nice 17” set that he found and is for sale near him in WI. I can have him drop by here to comment if interested. Stu
Checking your profile I see you live in MT. Our friend Mark Buck lives in Missoula and may have a line on a set of tubeless 17.5s if that interests you. Tires are expensive, but no worries or service issues once they are on the truck. Stu
Edit - if the tires are already 17”, which I can’t see on my phone, it’s a different discussion. There were two Budd products not originally fitted to F-350s that have the Goodyear LW split side ring design. One is Budd 63780 and the other iirc the 63770. If you can find five digit numbers on your concave side wheels I’ll look them up for you. Stu
Huh, looks like your truck was originally single wheel. That pictured front is a widow maker Firestone RH-5°. The pictured rear is a Budd 63770. They began life on a IHC or Dodge. Probably all are the same but check them all. If that’s what you find any truck tire shop should be willing to put new 17s on them. The fronts probably not. Finding replacement SRW 17s with the lock ring design might be a task. Finding 16s would be easy, but then you’re back to the RHP Firestone I mentioned above. Let me text Mark Buck and see what he might have. Stu
Edit - I texted Mark and linked this. If he doesn’t have a better answer you could also use 17.5” tubeless single wheels on the front with your 63770s on the back. Stu
Stu suggested I stop in and type about the wheels that are local to me.
I contacted the seller and he replied back with some pictures. I was interested to see if they were the five bolt 20"-22" wheels the guys in the '48-56 are always looking for for their big trucks. They turned out to be 17" six bolt rims. The last I checked, two days ago, the ad stated a sale was pending. I thought I'd give it until the weekend to see if the sale went through, it not I might try to pick them up if there is any interest in them. There are six wheels total in the ad. I'm in SE Wisconsin.
Thanks Bob . This discussion has evolved a little since the start. Turns out the four rears are the same or similar to the set near you. Either 63770 or 63780s. Neither does much good on the front to replace the WMs. I recall that Mark Buck went through heck to get 17” SRWs for his Napco’s front so hope he has something left over that might help here. If not I think it’s gotta be a pair of SRW 17.5s. Stu
Stu, isn't there an adapter to convert the front wheels to use the DRW on the front? I'm not talking about some hard to find adapter but a part that was used from the factory that was added to the front hubs so all four wheels were DRW from the factory. If so maybe searching a few country junkyards would be turned up.
That was going to be my next question, if there’s adapters out there that would work to run a single drw up front, it’d look more like a factory dually that way also.
The ones I recall seeing had the “adapter” integral to the DRW front hubs. An aftermarket adapter is an option, and here again I think I recall Mark Buck trying that on his Napco before going to a custom built 17” with a shallower dish. Hope we hear from Mark on all this. Stu
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