My 1976 F250 4x4 came with 7.50 x 16 tires on split rims. I still have them in the basement. I am starting on the body restoration, mechanically and the interior are good! I have 2 others sets of tires, 35's BFG on alum. rims and LT285/75R16E's on steel rims off of an 1987 F350 4x4.

Do I get some new tires and put the splits back on for that factory look? Why not? Someone told me once it was illegal? This is Jersey, the police have bigger issues than a 30 year old truck that slow pokes around town on weekends to Home Depot...LOL! The local tires service said that they can put new tires and tubes on them for me no problem. They said that there is nothing wrong with split rims, it's just that a lot of tire places do not know how to change them.

Do I do it?

 

There are several different types of split rims, 3 piece rims, etc. Some have been declared illegal, but I believe that varies state by state. Split rims, the ones that have a rim with a ring and a lock ring are legal in all 48 states. If they weren't than most of the railroad container chasis's would be illegal. It certainly is best to let the tire experts mess with that style of rim. They are perfectly safe assuming they are in good shape and put together properly. People have been seriously hurt and killed changing tires. In every case though, you will probably find that someone got careless, there was a problem with part of the rim assembly that failed, or they were mounting a tire that should have been junked. If the tire people say the rims are in good shape, then I'd use them.

 

Also, you are correct that a lot of tire places don't know how to change them. Most truck garages (big trucks) know how to change them.

 

Also, the tire/wheel needs to be in a special cage for the first time airing it up after the tire is mounted. Most tire places don't even have this cage, and often the people working there have never seen a split rim.

 

The only place I can find to mess with spilt rims are truckstops. There is no advantage to those rims except for the restoration correct application. But while on the tire/wheel topic, does anyone know what tires would have been on my 73 F 100 4x4 when it was new?

 

Are you wanting to know what size tire? Or what brand and model tire?

 

I have to find out if they even still make 7.50 x 16 tires?

 

I was wondering what the tread pattern was. I am guessing it was some sort of bias ply tire. As far as split rims, I always thought they were a 16.5 diameter rim.

 

I have never messed with a small vehicles split style wheels, but I have had the unpleasentness of changing them on heavy trucks. I will never as long as I live mess with another. They are straight dangerous. The lock rings have been known to miss lock and decapitate many a people over the years. On top of that they must have a bias ply tire and they have tubes. For our line of work that is bad for monetary reasons. It required us to have another type of tire and tubes in stock, and they never lasted as long as our newer radial tubeless tires which could be changed twice as fast and much safer.

For correct period parts I would use them If that is what I was after. If the tire shop says they know how to handle them then let them and it will be in their hands.

The military still uses split ring wheels on most of their equipment so the parts are still manufactured and available to every one.

The only split wheel set up that I know is illegal for road use are bead locks. But that is changing. I can't rememeber who the maker is but there is finally a bead lock endorsed by the FHSA for road use. That said you still see many people running them and I've never heard of anyone being ticketed for their use.


If that's what your after.....I'd use em in a heart beat!

 

Split rims on steroids:

There is nothing wrong at all with a split rim, other than being archaic technology that few today are capable of properly servicing.

Proper bias tires are still out there, you just have to search for them. An industrial/agricultural supplier would probably be the most help.

 

Yes 7.50 x 16's are still available.Most outfits that handle truck tires can get them.As others have said leave the mounting to them.

 

I design multi-piece rims/wheels for a living. These type of designs are just as good if not better than single piece rims in many applications, but for a daily driver truck I see no reason to run them.
Safety issues with these rims typically come from inexperienced people trying to work with them.
The military still uses them because you can change the tire with just a few basic tools (not too many tire shops to stop by in war zones).

 

The large split rims used on big trucks (20, 22 & 24") do not need to be bias-ply only - they just need to have a tube. We ran radials on them all the time back in the 70's & 80's in the oilfields, and I was the shop grunt that had to take care of the whole fleet's tire needs. They can be dangerous if you do not know what you're doing, do require a cage, but do not require much for tools to bust 'em down ( a little coca-cola doesn't hurt sometimes either, if they're a little rusty) I say, for the nostalgia, they'd be kind of cool. You may even be able to find a radial pizza-cutter tire for them (although you're correct in that they would have been biased-ply back then). I don't think we started running radials on our shop pickup split rims until mid-to-late 70's.

 

I do remeber this much. The truck came from the factory with 7.50 x 16 Armstrong bias ply mud and snow tires with tubes mounted on the 7.50 x 16 split rims that were painted argent (silver) with no hub caps. I would like to achieve that factory original look to the truck.

PS: Catskinner...what model cat loader is that? 992? It's big enough alright!

 

Looks like a 994, typically they run 57"x44" 5pc Wheels with 55/80R57 Tires.