Well, it is time to put some good tires on the 60 F600 so that I can drive it. I have enough good unmounted 8.25 x 20 tube type tires, but the current wheels are a mix of the RH5° (yep, stamped right on the wheels) on the rear and 3 piece on the front. I have found a place that says they have quite a few 20" 6 hole Budd lock ring wheels from military vehicles. I am going to go look at what they have in a few days, are there any opinions on using these?

 

3414, welcome . i have a 42 marmon, 1.5 ton that's bumped up to 3 ton, that i use splits on. 7.50x20. have had no issues what so ever. they are 5 lug. your 6 lugs should give you plenty of life. just be sure they are not rusted up. those rings must lock on tight! punch in --military wheels--- you will find lots of resto places for military only. lots of good stuff out there. i'm sure truckdog will comment on this thread. he's the guru on wheels.

 

Most likely you have 6 lug x 8 3/4" bolt circle wheels. You're smart to get rid of the "widow makers". Enough said on that. The three piece, though, should be fine to use as long as they are in good shape. I'd suggest sand blasting them to find cracks and other damage that can't be easily seen on just an eyeball inspection. Three piece rims were sourced on the bigger model trucks back in the day because they allow the "side ring" to move with the tire bead. That results in less bead abrasion under load.

In going to the military rims I'd suggest staying with a rim width as close to your stock rims as possible. Especially since you are staying with 8.25 x 20" tires. My books show they were made for the military in sizes between 6.0" and 10.0". Wider rims would rub I'm afraid, and create offset issues for you. Another thing to keep in mind is lock ring design types. You can't go using one style "lock ring" on another style rim. Bad business. There was a Military Standard design, but Budd also listed some for military use that had a "FL" and a "CR" ring design. I'll see if I can post you some cross section diagrams of those. And last, Budd shows there were wheels produced with two different center bores. The ones with the standard Budd "stud pilot" mount had a center bore of 6 15/32". Others were made that had a 6 1/4" center bore and used what they called "straight stud holes (not ball seated)". The only wheels I know of that would fit that description would be "hub piloted" rims as would have been used on GM products and maybe others. So, be alert to the shape of the lug holes and the center bore measurements. Now, for pictures. Stu

 

Thanks for the advice. I already have a template for what I need (center hole, hole pattern, etc.) to make sure of a match. They say that they have rim widths to fit 7.50 to 11.00 tires in the 20s. I just want a matched pair for the front, and a matched set for the rear.

 

Sounds like you've got your head on straight. Good luck finding what you're after. Stu

 

Good luck finding the rims u need. Welcome to FTE...lots of great people on here. It is always nice to have another Ohio guy on as well. I'm in Massillon, which part of the state are you in?

 

Thank you. some are out there somewhere. I am up in Willoughby, but I park things about 40 miles to the east.

 

Could you tell me your source for the 20" split rims. I want to see if he might have some of the 16" 6 lug split rims that I need for my old IH 1300D. I am told that the same rims were also used in Ford and Dodge trucks from the 50s and 60s.

Thanks,

Noah

 

Howdy,

In reality if you MUST use splits on your truck,

You can probably use them "safely" on the back, on the duals. (assuming you have someone else willing to mount the tires on the rims!!)

If one of them comes apart the "ring" stays inside the pair since the split rings are on the inside of the duals......(you would lose the tire on the one that came apart though)

They would absolutely be unsafe on the front since the "ring" is on the outside..... so if you're stopped at the street corner and the ring comes apart it whacks the old lady waiting to cross the street etc............and if you're driving down the road it comes off explosively and whacks the motorcycist/bicyclist next to you (in addition to completely losing the tire)


If you're near a Les Schwab Tire company, they can get you rebuilt 5 or 6 lug BUDDS.

Since you're 6 lug, you might have more choices of used and new wheels.


Cheers,


Rick

 

Rick - I doubt he'd find anybody reputable to work on the WMs. The safety of the guys in the shop will be as big an issue to the shop owner as the old lady on the corner. Just because they air them in a cage doesn't mean one won't blow between there and being mounted. And yes, once on the truck they'd blow toward each other, but if he's driving what does that do to let him safely get off the road and out of the way of traffic?

Over on the YT site, where Noah first posted his question, I said that to my mind our guys with the 6 lug x 7.25" circle have a harder time finding replacements than guys with the 5 lug x 8" circle. When I visited American Wheel Specialist last summer I asked if they had wheels with this pattern and they do not.

Since Noah has corrected my guess telling us that he has DRWs, another option is to go to Stockton Wheel to have wheels made. They do it different than AWS. Over on the Chevy site, Stovebolt.com, a guy bought a set from Stockton that were done by cutting the faces off used wheels and welding on new faces with the correct pattern. The finished product looked pretty slick. AWS cuts the whole center out and mounts it in a new outer rim. I've hesitated recommending Stockton after all the flaming they got over on the HAMB, but the guy on Stovebolt was sure happy with his. Took him a while to get them, but they were nice.

 

I just got off the phone with a guy from Les Schwab. Apparently what I have would not be called a split rim sometimes known as a widow maker. What I have has a lock ring on the top which the Les Schwab guy says is safe once properly inflated. He says that he works with this type of wheel every day.
Unfortunately he does not have this size wheel. He has a lot of 8 lug wheels but no 6 lug. So I am open for more suggestions. By the way, this truck is a site truck for plowing my 1500 foot driveway. So, the chances of taking someone's head off are diminished and the Les Schwab guy says they are safe in any case.

Noah

 

Noah,

I think Les Schwab tires will take your old wheels and sandblast/powder coat for a fairly nominal fee if you buy your new tires from them.

I bought a set of new TOYO 9.00-20 radials for the front and a set of radial recaps for the back on my F-600. I don't remember if they had 8.25-20's or not but I wanted radials.

Since I had "Widow Makers" they would not mount tires on them but they did get me rebuilt lock-ring wheels.

I think they got my wheels from American Wheel Specialist, LLC in Pasco, WA.


73/Rick

 

Rick,

I have 6 rims (dual rear wheel) that have already been sandblasted and painted by a local (NJ) truck tire outfit. Two of the 6 rims have very thin metal and I do not trust them to last long. I have not been able to find any more rims to be refurbished. One junkyard in CT thought they had some for me but when they took them off the truck they found that they were not good enough to salvage. As per of one of the previous posts, I called Stockton Wheel Service and they will build me wheels for $250 each. They said that they have done this many times. So I think this is the way I will go. I take it that you are also a ham?

73, Noah K2NG

 

Noah, I didn't say it clearly enough above, but Les Schwab doesn't have your bolt pattern because American Wheel Specialist doesn't have it. AWS is the supplier for Schwab. Before you order from Stockton Wheel I'd suggest you visit the H.A.M.B site, also called the Jalopy Journal. Google either one and you'll find the site. Do a search there on Stockton Wheel. You'll get an ear full. Then look at this thread from the Stovebolt site. That'll give you a balance of opinions. Stu

Big Bolt wheels - The Stovebolt Forums

 

Stu,

When I spoke to those guys over a at American, they implied that they could do any center (5 lug/6lug) etc if they wanted.

Maybe there's not much call for the 6 lug BUDD wheels so they don't do them....

I didn't ask since I didn't want 6 lug wheels.