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I have a 79 f250 custom thats gonna need new tires as me and my dad start doing real work on it. Looking for recommendations for new wheels as well. Especially stuff that breaks away from the typical steelie look
I prefer vintage correct wheels since I'm old enough to remember what's correct. the biggest drawback to them is most of the 8 lugs of that era are 16.6 and he tire selection poor at best. an easy and cheap way to go are the white or chrome mojocks, or wagon wheels they call them now. vintage correct and in 16".
Once again sixpack 440, that's a beautiful truck youhave there.
Cy_4n, what are you plans for your truck??
Restoration or just making it driveable and dependable??
If its a restoration find a set of original wheels and OE tire size.
If you and your dad plan on making changes to suit your personal wants and needs then pick the rims that YOU and your dad like, not what we like.
If you pick what I like you might end up with a set of Dodge factory wheels.
PS, they were on the truck when I bought it. I would never actually buy a set of Dodge wheels for my truck but I think they look just fine.
Well now days you have a million options for rims, just remember that you need old school standard lug size, NOT metric. So you need for a 79 F250 was is commonly called 8 on 6.5 rim. 8 lug nuts and 6 1/2" spacing from one across to the other. And if you get 16's you tire choices can be sort of limited and depending on the off set/back spacing there could be a front brake caliper clearance issue. So alwasy test fit before you even mount a tire. Steeping up to 17's should give you way more tire choices.
I agree with going with 17's if your truck came with 16.5 wheels. My 79 F350 was that way and I went with 16's. They work but they are very close to the brake calipers in the front. Rear drums are not a problem.
You guys just keep in mind that the hub is supposed to support the weight, not the lug studs and nuts
Dodge Chev and Ford used different hub diameters over the years so most aftermarket wheels fit the biggest hub
That means it will / might be too big for your Ford hub, which has the smaller hub diameter
16 inch Alcoa might fit your hub correctly
Sort of , the hub is close to the same size as the wheel , but like most wheels on older rigs they're lug centric not hub centric. that's why all aftermarket wheels for older rigs will fit anything with the correct bolt pattern. most everything today is hub centric and that's why tapered lug nuts are no longer needed in many cases.
Somewhere in the 70's Chevy changed their 8 lug center hole to standard size but before that it was too small to fit a Ford, Dodge or Jeep. but you could run the Ford wheels on a Chevy no problem.
I have a 79 f250 custom thats gonna need new tires as me and my dad start doing real work on it. Looking for recommendations for new wheels as well. Especially stuff that breaks away from the typical steelie look
Wishing y'all fun in your work .
I don't know your taste in wheels, but I like what I like and some of what I like are steel, some are alloy, some are even Dodge steel wheels. I like seeing some tire sidewall, I don't like the thinner rubber band looking ones.
If the center of my Dodge wheels was any smaller the wouldnt fit over the hub.
I can't imagine the center of a wheel being any smaller and fitting over the hub.
It should be pretty tight, but if it wasn't it wouldn't matter. on my newer F350 for instance the stock wheels are hub centric. I've had to use a big hammer on the tire and work the wheel off the hub, and the lug nuts are flat faced. but my aftermarket Fuel wheels are lug centric and the hub center is slightly oversized . as a result, they use tapered nuts to hold them center.
I don't see an advantage either way, heavy trucks have always been lug centric so obviously there's no disadvantage to it.
I don't see an advantage either way, heavy trucks have always been lug centric so obviously there's no disadvantage to it.
Mine is just a F-150 with five1/2" studs, and all 20 are original to 1977 I'd guess as I've never replaced one on it, and I know that since 1986 has always had lug centric steel 15x8 wheels with the big 4"+ center hole, nowhere near hub centric. I have hauled a bunch of loads 2,000 pounds plus up to just over 3,000 pounds. I have replaced the nuts a couple times, and I always torque them in a star pattern. Always just 31x10.50 tires.
Likewise, have run cars with lug centric Cragars, etc .... even my old GTO and those were just 7/16" studs.
Wheel Recommendations?
