Looking for wheel/rim
Marmon-Herrington Man
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,984
Likes: 444
From: Central Illinois
Don't think so. I'm looking at an old K-H listing that shows that 39-47 3/4 tons used 5 bolt x 10 1/4" "wide fives". If the guy's truck was a tonner they used 17" rims with a 5 lug x 6 7/8" bolt pattern. Bonus Built F-2s and F-3 used 8 lug x 6.5" circle. If all you're looking for is a 16" wheel in that bolt pattern, any more modern (pre 96 am I right?) Ford/Dodge wheel should work. If you're looking for an original equipment F-2 rim to let you use stock hub caps, that's different. Hopefully somebody is sitting on some and will speak up. Stu
Marmon-Herrington Man
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,984
Likes: 444
From: Central Illinois
Your F-3 would have come with 17" Firestone RH-5° two piece rims. Now called "widow makers". They are entirely different wheels than the F-2s' wheels that are 16" one piece. The 17s should be recycled into Kia's, or similar. If you look at the front of the 17s, they will look like a one piece rim. But from the back you'll see where the halves overlap. Do a forum search and you'll find a lot of discussion about them as well as diagrams. Stu
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New User
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 16
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F2 wheels
I encountered the same problem a few months ago with my '49 F2 that had 16s on the front and 17s on the rear. Here's the beginning of the thread from 9/9/07 describing my solution, which may or may not work for you. As I recall the 16s were standard on the F2 and 17s an option. Both with 8 lug 6.5 inch spacing. You are right though that the orig hubcaps don't fit newer wheels with the correct lugs and spacing. I don't have a good solution for that yet. You can the result in the gallery under the truck "Maybelline" Hope this helps:
Just thought I'd share my solution for getting rid of the 49 F-2 17 inch widow makers. Actually the truck had the 17X 7.5s on the rear and 16 X 7.50s on the front. The fronts were the one piece riveted type--not sure if they'd hold air in a tubeless tire etc.
Anyhow I bit the bullet--rather than spend weeks hunting and pecking around junkyards-- replaced all four wheels with new steel 8 lug 6.5 inch 16 X 6 F250s from Southwest wheel. Then I prepped and painted using vermillion red Ford tractor paint--a pretty good match to the rest of the truck. Then I bought 4 blackwall Goodyear wranglers 215 85 R16 (on sale). These are fractions of an inch taller than the orig 16 X 7.50 (obviously an inch or so shorter than the 17s). Tread width about 1/8th inch or so wider.
Wheels and tires fit perfectly--tires look pretty good...Truck steers better and rides fine. (Still working on double clutch downshifting)
Now the big problem is finding hubcaps. The orig was the stainless moon 9 inch with the blue FORD stamp--fit on the nubs on the inside. The new wheels have the teats on the outside and are about 11 1/2 inches diam teat to teat--no obvious way to fit these caps.
Many thanks to all of you guys who gave suggestions a couple of weeks ago especially Bob Jones (bobj49f2) whose posts here initially alerted me to the dangerous two part 17 inch rims. You guys conviced me that safety trumps appearance even sacrificing orig condition. And local tire guy in ME said he wouldn't work on those old rims for any amount of money.
Just thought I'd share my solution for getting rid of the 49 F-2 17 inch widow makers. Actually the truck had the 17X 7.5s on the rear and 16 X 7.50s on the front. The fronts were the one piece riveted type--not sure if they'd hold air in a tubeless tire etc.
Anyhow I bit the bullet--rather than spend weeks hunting and pecking around junkyards-- replaced all four wheels with new steel 8 lug 6.5 inch 16 X 6 F250s from Southwest wheel. Then I prepped and painted using vermillion red Ford tractor paint--a pretty good match to the rest of the truck. Then I bought 4 blackwall Goodyear wranglers 215 85 R16 (on sale). These are fractions of an inch taller than the orig 16 X 7.50 (obviously an inch or so shorter than the 17s). Tread width about 1/8th inch or so wider.
Wheels and tires fit perfectly--tires look pretty good...Truck steers better and rides fine. (Still working on double clutch downshifting)
Now the big problem is finding hubcaps. The orig was the stainless moon 9 inch with the blue FORD stamp--fit on the nubs on the inside. The new wheels have the teats on the outside and are about 11 1/2 inches diam teat to teat--no obvious way to fit these caps.
Many thanks to all of you guys who gave suggestions a couple of weeks ago especially Bob Jones (bobj49f2) whose posts here initially alerted me to the dangerous two part 17 inch rims. You guys conviced me that safety trumps appearance even sacrificing orig condition. And local tire guy in ME said he wouldn't work on those old rims for any amount of money.
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