I'm looking for options to the 5 bolt widowmakers on my 51 F5 and I'm getting confused. I had a 49 Merc 135 and the rims on that were 6 bolt, I looked at some of the galleries and see a F5's with 8 bolt rims!! Yet the talk on the forums pretty much sticks to the 5 bolts. Can anyone list in short form what all of my options are for replacing the widowmaker rims?

 

Option #1 I think is to do a junkyard search to find replacement 20s that have the "lock ring" style mount. Your truck has the stud piloted 5 lug x 8" circle pattern that was used by Ford, Dodge/Fargo, IH, Studebaker (40s era), and others of the big truck brands. Make sure you avoid the ones from GM and 50s era Studebakers that are hub piloted. And make sure you find wheel and ring sets that are still mounted to help avoid mix matching rim and ring combos. That would be as deadly as your widowmakers.

A better option is the find a used set of the tubeless 22.5 x 6.75" Budd (#89810) or Accuride (#27759) rims that were made through the early '80s. Ford started using them in 1956, but I don't really have a record of when they stopped using them. IH used them up into the 70s that I've seen. Your challenge with them is greater because yards and tire shops are today well aware of their value. With 22.5s, I'd suggest avoiding if you can the earliest ones that were only 5.25" wide. Finding narrow tires is the problem.

Another option on your yard searchs is to find old Budd tubeless 19.5" x 5.25" (#72070) or 19.5" x 6.00" motor home wheels (#89340). They'll fit but don't have the weight ratings of the 22.5s or 20s. A stock 20, depending on width, has a weight rating of 3200 to 3500 pounds. The same would apply to 22.5s. The 19.5s, however, are rated at about 2500 pounds each.

Your next option is to go to a company that will sell you wheels that have old centers that they've remounted in new tubeless or lock ring rims. The most well known of these companies are American Wheel Specialist in Pasco, WA, and Stockton Wheel in CA. I'll see if I can do an archive search here and find old threads about these companies and the services they provide. I've visited AWS and think highly of them, FWIW.

You can also buy brand new 19.5s that American Wheel Specialist sells. They are motor home wheels that have a little different appearance than your old wheels but work just fine. They have round vent/hand holes rather than your oval ones, and have a wider face we think to accommodate disc brake calipers on motor homes. Our member Eric has a set and is happy with them. I'll see if I can find threads from him too.

I'll come back after I've done a thread search. Stu

 

Thanks Stu, that's exactly what I was looking for.

 

Here's some of the more comprehensive threads on the subject. I think also that there links to other threads within one or two of these threads. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ck-wheels.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ew-22-5-a.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ck-wheels.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...ml#post5470496

 

I went through the same considerations. Couple thoughts
- An important consideration to me was the overall look of the truck. Especially with the M-H being higher off the ground, I did not want to go with smaller diameter tires, and if anything would prefer slightly larger. Other point being smaller tires mean slower top speed of the truck on the roda-perhaps minor point. Based on that, I eliminated the 19.5s, because it looked to me like tires for those would be smaller outside diam.
- I would like to find a set of the 5-hole 22.5s, as Stu mentioned. I've had no luck with those so far.
- If you pay attention to craigslist and ebay, you may luck out and find a set of the lock ring 20 inch rims. Folks here on FTE sometimes point such deals out and in fact I beleive Stu posted about a set on ebay that I ended up buying. That's the route I'm going, at least for now. I ended up buying 6 used tires for $250, plus a fair amount of fuel to go get them, and then about the same price (I forget right now) for a set of rims that came off an F-4, but are the correct width for the F-5, and look proper. I'm in the process of removing rust, etc, and dismounting the tires from poor rims. To me this is the cost-effective route, unless/until I know for sure what I'm doing with my truck and decide to put more $$ into it.

Duane.

 

Duane - Good information. Glad I was able to help with the ebay listing. How long ago was that? There was a guy from the Chgo area that had a set listed a few weeks, or maybe it's been a month or more, ago. Normally I save the ebay listings a while, but I think I've dumped that one by now. Stu

 

Thanks Duane,

I was thinking the exact same thing concerning going to the 22.5's. It'll lower my rpm's and increase my top end. The gears in this thing are amazing! 1st gear, low range is barely a crawl and apparently 4th gear high range will barely get me to 60 mph. So any gains will be a big improvement.
I understand that older buses are a good place to start looking for 22.5's.
Thanks

 

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news on this, but 9 x 22.5s are no taller than 8.25 x 20s. The rim profile of a 22.5" has a drop center and 15° lip while the 20" has a flat center and a 5° lip profile. The bead profiles and side wall designs consequently yield just about the same outside diameter for a 20" as a 22.5" tire. Here's a Budd chart that shows the comparative profiles. Back before radial truck tires it was accepted practice as I understand to mount a 20" and a 22.5" on the same side rear dual wheel combo.

 

It's no big deal, it's still one bitchin looking truck! Has anyone out there actually gone 4 wheelin with theirs? The P.O. said it was a pretty capable 4x4. I'm not looking for a hardcore 4 wheeler, I've got a pair of Landcruisers for that but its got to be competent. Any power steering swaps out there that work?

 

I've driven my 215 truck around the lot, but no insurance so no roads/off roads. The V8 truck is in pieces. It was winched onto the trailer, and rolled off of the trailer. That's it.

 

Stu, The wheels were from a guy down in southern Virginia, maybe in March this year. Tires were from a guy in upstate New York, longer ago than that (probably winter). One or the other was one you had referred, I believe.

I did not know about the 22.5 tires being same diameter as 20s. I was originally wanting the 22.5s because I thought tires would be easier to get in the future (thinking/speculating that 20s are going to get scarce). Any thoughts on that?

51MHF5--I have only driven my truck once so far, for a couple hundred yards in the driveway. It has no brakes, and is now on blocks waiting for me to have time to work on the brakes, wheels, etc. based on the transmission and rear specs, I'm sure the truck will be slow, as you said. I guess I don't know the diameters on the 19.5s for sure, but I recall, hopefully correctly, them being a couple inches smaller than 20s.

Duane.

 

Duane - I can't believe that 20s will be gone soon. Companies still sell new lock ring rims for Dayton demountable applications. Here's the Accuride catalog link that shows them - http://www.accuridewheels.com/rimspacerband.pdf. And companies like Yokohama now make tube type radials in 20" sizes. Here's their link - http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires_co...usRefGuide.pdf. Scrolling through this on-line catalog just now I see that in one of their tire lines the 9R22.5 is the same outside diameter as their 8.25R20. Both are 38.1 inches.

You're right that 19.5s will have a shorter outside diameter. The same concept that applies to the 20" and 22.5" combo also applies to the 17" and 19.5". I've got both 17s and 19.5s for my trucks and have measured the wheel center on each. They're exactly the same. Here's a link to the Universal Tire catalog that lets you see that a 7.50 x 17 bias ply is about the same outside diameter as an 8 x 19.5 bias tubeless. One is 34.5", the other is 34.6". Link - http://www.universaltire.com/cart.ph...ategory_id=343.

Something else to consider with the 22.5s. You could go with a wider tire, like a 10R22.5 or 11R22.5 to yield a greater outside diameter. The risk, though, is rubbing. Stu

 

I have a couple of 20 inch Budd 5 lug one piece wheels for sale if anyone is interested.

 

Hmmm? Do you mean 22.5" one piece? By definition a 20" will be multi-part. If they are 20" they are worth having if not the widow maker split rims. And if 22.5s they are real valuable if not the early narrow type. Stu

 

I really don't know enough about these, maybe a pic will help.