While you're there, see if you happen upon some 59340's for me! Take a tape measure. They're 17", 5 hole x 8" circle. They were used on IH R150s, L150s and similar medium duty trucks of the early 50s. Finding some of them would REALLY thank me! I'd hear you singing all the way to Illinois.

 

Stu,

I'll see what I can do.

Johnny

 

Find some of them and you'll hear ME singing! Thanks Johnny.

 

Meanwhile, over a year later, I have obtained one one-piece wheel that will fit my '56 one-ton. I got it off of eBay and it is a Budd 79120. It's 5.25X17.5" with the proper six-lug pattern, 4-3/8" offset and, according to the seller and the Hollander interchange, came on '61-66 one-ton Fords, Dodge '61-'68 fwd one-tons and '67-'68 Int. 1300B-C series. The Hollander number is 560-883. So, only five to go!

 

Johnny - And I thought my wheels were hard to find! With that assortment of donor trucks I'm surprised more haven't shown up for you. Hang in there.

Has anybody saved that F-5 M-H? Hope so.

 

Stu,

I'll have to check with the owner of the M-H. Around last Thanksgiving, he still had it...

 

Stu,

I talked with the owner of the M-H and still it can be had. He's thinking seriously about just selling it and the other truck for scrap, so if you or anyone else out there in FTE-Land wants it/them, let me know ASAP. They still can be seen in one of my galleries.

 

My apologies for such a long time in finishing up this thread. I found a man selling a 1958 Ford F-350 that had the one-piece wheels with the correct six-lug pattern. He agreed to sell me just the wheels, and the wife and I drove up to Ashville and got seven one-piece wheels. Two of them are Budd # 79120 like the one I bought several years ago on eBay. The other eight are part # 71320 with the year '58 stamped on them. The five 71320's have six vent holes, while the three 79120's have only three vent holes. Evidently, threse are later models.

My plan is to keep the original wheels and use the one-piece ones with radial tires for driving around.

Thanks to all of you for the help, comments and advice.

 

Johnny - Good goin'. Those are some of the hardest wheels to find, and to now have a full set plus extras is great. In case you want the info, the books say that the 71320 was replaced by the 79120. My 1960 Budd listing shows the 71320, and my 1972 listing shows the 79120. They have exactly the same specifications. They are 17.5" x 5.25", 6 lug x 7.25" circle, have a 5 9/16" center bore, have 4.75" of offset (same as 9.5" dual spacing), and require use of a 90° cone cap nut. They are rated at 2155 pounds each at 60 psi. Take care. Stu

Oops, I guess I repeated myself. It would have helped if I'd have read what I said a few years ago.

 

Stu,

I plan to use two of the 79120's for the inside duals on the rear. There is a man here who can widen wheels and I plan to talk with him about making two of the the 71320 wheels wider for that 'Super-Single' look. Those fat front fenders just swallow up a narrow tire...

 

Yeah, keeping all the hand holes looking the same would help the looks.

Making super singles would mean two spares, yes? I agree that your 5.25s are narrow by today's standards. And they limit you to an 8R17.5 from the looks of it. According to the Yokohama on-line catalog a 9R17.5 would fit a 6.75" rim, a 10R17.5 would fit 7.5" rim, and an 11R17.5 would fit an 8.25" rim. Be careful, though, not to go so wide that they rub. Here's their link. Stu

http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires_co...usRefGuide.pdf

 

Stu,

Yep, Super-Singles on the front would mean two spares, but I can live with that. I have not talked with the man who does the wheel-widening, so I am not sure whether it will take two wheels to make one S.S. or if he just adds to the center to widen them.

I plan to do some research before the fronts are widened.

Regards,

 

My assumption would be that he would probably take your centers and remount them into commercially available wide modern rims. Dayton style trailer rims could be adapted, plus I know that replacement rim suppliers are out there in the trade. That's one way companies like American Wheel Specialist and Stockton do it.

I've also seen wheels that Stockton has made by cutting the face of a new or used rim having a different pattern and welding on a new face plate with the desired bolt pattern. You can sorta tell it's been done because they look a little different, but it's a nice job. The 19.5s I bought from AWS look a little different side-by-side with stock 19.5s too because they are welded on both the inner seam and face seam which AWS claims makes them stronger than stock.

Given the rarity of your rims, I'd be inclined to leave them alone. Super singles could as easily be made using old widow maker centers mounted in new rim stock. Here's the Accuride catalog with 17.5 Daytons. Stu

http://www.accuridewheels.com/rimspacerband.pdf

Edit - As I've thought about it, widening a drop center rim would mess with your offset. You couldn't just add metal anywhere because of the contour of the drop center.

Second thought, if you were to use a Dayton style outer rim with an old WM center, you'd probably be looking at using a center from a smaller wheel. When this is done commercially on 22.5s and 19.5s, the old widow maker centers from 20s and 17s are "well welded" to the new drop center rim. To do similar on a 17.5 drop center I'm gonna assume you'd want to start with a 15" or 16" center to allow him to "well weld" it in to achieve the desired offset. In my conversation about all this with American Wheel Specialist a year or so ago they said they can cut down a bigger center to fit the "well diameter" of a drop center, but I don't know whether a local guy would be set up to do that while ensuring wheel balance. FWIW. Stu

 

Stu,

Of all the things you have mentioned, I like the idea of welding the center of an old WM to a new rim. I should be able to get in touch with my wheel-widening man today to see what he says.

Thanks,

 

$175 may seem like a lot for new wheels but that can quickly be offset when you start to buy tires. You will never find the 17.5 tires on sale or used so expect to pay almost what new wheels would cost just for that first set of tires. Plus there is only about two sizes that I have been able to find for the 17.5's and they are relatively narrow.
I am a big fan of used (when it comes to tires) and a lot of the popular SUVs now run nice sized 16 and 17 inch tires so their new take-offs are plentiful at custom wheel places and in salvage yards.
I am intrigued though about welding up a set of aluminum wheels and having them re-drilled. CrewCabCOE, you are only about 2 hours away, when my 17.5 tires wear out (or rot off), I might need some pointers.

There is nothing prettier than a set of polished Alcoas and shinny lug nuts spinnin' in the sun against a backdrop of black asphalt. I'd have to get one of those school bus mirrors and adjust it so I could watch them while I drive.