Stovebolt Tech Tip -- New Wheels for an old truck

 

2 years ago Stockton Wheel quoted $250 per wheel. These would be dually 16" one-piece tubeless wheels. However, $250 x 7 wheels = $1,800 ish plus shipping is close to $2,000. This is the option i was saving up for-until my driver's side wheel hub rusted and snapped off. So be sure your components (axles, spindles, hubs, etc.) are in GREAT shape before investing $2,000 of your hard-earned dollars into wheels that you will most likely never be able to sell in the event your truck has issues. I'm sure somebody would buy the wheels, but for nowehre near the original price tag of $2k...be sure your equipment is solid before investing. Otherwise, if your components are good- go for it, you'll never have to worry about a tire blowing off again.

As previously mentioned-they can also take your centers (lug area) and weld them into newer one-piece tubeless wheels. I did not ask for a quote on this option. I've been exploring other options for wheels as well- converitng to 4x4 or swapping in newer 2wd parts. I've noticed the bread trucks such as Frito-Lay have 2wd sollid front axles-they seem to be 8 lug, drw, and 16"-but that's what i see as they pass by going 50....anybody know more about these? This is a potential option to ditch the nasty 6 lug wheels.

 

A couple of years ago I received a quote from Stockton Wheel for replacing the rims (using my centers) on some 15" wheels. It would cost roughly $150 per wheel at that time. They told me that for the same price I could go with a 16" rim on that same center.

 

15" wheels? Do dually wheels even exist in 15"..?
I'm no tire expert, but are there even any tires in 15" that are heavy duty enough to handle being under a dually truck-like 6,000 lbs unloaded...and up to like 12k pounds...i think i'd go for the 16" wheel to keep a good heavy duty tire selection

 

Some compacts (Toyota, Nissan, etc) run 15" duals. (However, the wheels that I checked on weren't Ford wheels, they were stock 15" Volkswagen type 1.)

Your tire selection in high-capacity 15s is definitely limited when compared to the selection in 16s, but I can tell you with certainty that at one time GM outfit 3/4 and one ton trucks with 15" locking-ring wheels (trucks with GVWRs of 7000 - 9000lbs).

As an example: http://www.denmantire.com/catalog/p20.pdf

The green F350 in my avatar (running 16s) had a GVWR of about 10,000lbs.

My point was simply that other choices were available, not that one would want to run 15" duals.

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Welcome to the Clunker Farm

 

I guess I should drop in up here too. I spend my time on the 48-60 page.

That Stovebolt tech page is a real good source of info. The guy that wrote it is named Grigg Mullen. Some of my info and some from our Bob Jones is in there too from letters we wrote to Vintage Truck magazine. Plus Bob has a truck wheel tech page on his own web site that discusses widow makers and multi-part wheels in general. Here's his link:

Welcome to Fat Fendered Trucks

We've discussed the 6 lug x 7.25" bolt circle rims a lot on the 48-60 page. Stockton Wheel sells rims they call their Power Wagon series. They'll set them up with your bolt pattern and dish requirements. Be aware though that Stockton has taken severe flaming in recent years for their service. Otherwise you're left with having your centers pulled, as has been suggested, and mounted in new tubeless rims. Another good source for having it done is American Wheel Specialist in Pasco, WA. If you live on the west coast, you'd have to get to AWS through their master contract with the big Les Schwab Tire chain. But if you live east of the Schwab service area you can work directly with AWS. I visited them last year and bought a set of their 19.5s for my trucks. Real nice folks. I asked them whether they have old rims in stock to allow guys to avoid having to send in their old centers. They did not on the 6 lug x 7.25"s. On the old 5 lug x 8" they do. Stu

 

Here's a trick for finding dually wheels for a '61 to '66 Ford F-350 that worked for me...

First, a little background...

I bought an Arizona, rust-free 1962 Ford F-350 Class C Motorhome a couple of years ago. It came with LT 7.50-16LT Kelly Springfield bias-ply tires on 6 on 7.25 16" retainer-ring dually rims. When I went to get new radial tires put on my '62 dually at my local tire shop, the proprietor of that shop said he could recommend a shop that might put tires on a retainer-ring wheel, but that his insurance policies forbid his shop for working with anything except solid, tubless wheels. He told me that if I was ever on the highway in need of tire service that I'd be hard-pressed to find a shop that would work with anything but solid wheels, mainly because of insurance issues.

So I did a little research on Google, which led me to this site, and to these pages ('61 to '66 Ford Trucks). I asked for advice, and I was told by some knowledeable folks here that there are tubeless wheels for '61 through '66 F-350s, which take the 8R17.5LT tires (sometimes listed as "8R_17.5" or "8R17.5"). The lug pattern for the '61-'66 duallies is "6 on 7.25" (sometimes written as "6 x 7 1/4" or "6x7.25"). So I set out to find me a set of them.

I actually found an entire set of 17.5" dually wheels right here on this page, courtesy of Grigg, one of the regular visitors here. Unfortunately though two out of the six wheels I got from Grigg were too out of round to balance well. I've since found replacements for those out of round ones, so now I have a complete set of seven 17.5 wheels that now all have new Bridgestone 8R17.5LT tires on them.

Anyway, if you are looking for either the 16" or 17.5" early six-lug Ford Bud dually wheels, my suggestion is to try Craigslist via Google.

Go to Google. Then go to the Advanced Search Option. Specify the site you want to go to as craisgslist.org. Choose the dates of the postings you are looking for as within the past week (or the past 24 hours once you get into the groove). Choose your searchwords accordingly (like "8R 17.5 tires", "LT 7.50-16LT" tires, "17.5 tires", or whetever), and see if anything pops up. Another thing worth trying is to use searchwords of "F-350 1961 (or 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)" to see if there's anybody selling an old F-350 for cheap. If you can find an old farm truck being sold for $300 or whatever, you can maybe make a deal to just buy the wheels and tires off of it and have the farmer sell what's left for scrap. I actually got a complete set of Yokohama 8R17.5LT mud tires with almost zero miles already mounted on 6 on 7.25 Ford dually wheels shipped to me from California via FedEx for a grand total of $500 from a guy who posted them as for sale on Craigslist for $200 for the entire set (it was the shipping that brought the price up to $500).

I've kind of made it my hobby anymore to see how many early Ford Bud 17.5" dually wheels get posted on craigslist. I've had to play with the searchwords alot in order to find them, but I find them. I don't buy them though, because I don't need any more of them at this point. In the past two years I think I've probably spotted around fifty 17.5" Ford Bud wheels by doing that. My bet is that if I searched for the 16" wheels, I'd have probably found a lot of those too. And sometimes I've even run across folks who've posted that they're looking for Ford Bud duallies and have hooked those folks up with other folks who were selling them and the tires already mounted on them.

I still have those out-of-round Bud wheels I got from Grigg, by the way. I can let these go to a good home for somebody who might be desperate enough to need these. I'd be willing to give them away at this point.

Desertbus sends...

 

There is someone selling what looks like five Bud six-lug dually Ford wheels, purportedly with brand new tires on them, on Dallas Craigslist for cheap. The searchwords to use to find them via search engines like google are DALLAS CRAIGSLIST 8R17.5LT


If I lived near Dallas (I live in Phoenix), they'd have already been long-gone.

 

Better yet, here's a link ...

5 almost new bridgestone 8r17.5LT's

 

I'd suggest you verify the bolt pattern. They look like big truck 6 x 8.75" bolt pattern. Stu

 

Here's an ad for a 64 F-350 near Portland, Oregon for $600 without the tool box ... that equates to $100 per wheel with tire attached ... plus motor, et. al.

1964 ford f-350 with service box



I've been watching for the price of this F-350 on Phoenix's craigslist to go down ... it's been for sale for awhile now ... right now the owner is asking $1500, which comes replete with a Grumman-made cab, and of course those six dually wheels too.

1965 f 350 1ton duelly aluminum body van

 

Do 8R17.5LT tires also fit on some of the big truck wheels too?

 

You bet. Mostly for trailers. Those CL wheels don't look like tonner wheels IMHO. But it's worth having the guy share the measurements. Stu

 

Well, already I can no longer find those wheels and tires with a google word-search of Dallas Craigslist 8r17.5lt . Did somebody here buy them? If the answer is yes, and I helped you to find them, well, that's what this site is for, right?

Meanwhile I'll keep looking for more of them.

Regards to all, desertbus sends ...

 

Good eye, truckdog! I called the fellow and asked him to measure the bolt-hole pattern. He did and he said that these 6-lug wheels' lug-holes are about 8 1/2 inches across from each other, and that the center holes are over six inches across. Early Ford dually-wheel holes are 7 1/4 inches across from each other at center, and the center hole is 5 1/2 inches across, so these wheels in Dallas/Ft. Worth ain't them. A bit further into my conversation with the fellow he shared that he thinks these wheels might have come off of a Volvo box truck. I let him know that the price he's asking for these five almost new Bridgstone 8R17.5LT tires stuck on those Volvo wheels, roughly 25 bucks apiece, would have resulted in my buying them from him right now if only I wouldn't have to drive two days each way to snag 'em. I assured him he'll likely sell them soon (new ones at retail are about $150 or more each).

Anyway, your eye is definitely better than mine, truckdog. Meanwhile though I'll keep looking for more early Ford dually wheels. And when I do find more of them, provided that they're not right here in Phoenix, I'll let all of y'all know about them.