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Im from England and have just purchased a ‘56 4x4 F800 big job. It’s currently in a shipping container on its way over.
I’m looking at getting some small wheel spacers made up but I am unsure of the stud pattern or PCD. I know they are 8 stud wheels as i have a photo of one wheel (attached) and at a guess I think they are 8x10” but can any of you experts confirm this?
You have it right, the 8 x 10” pattern was unique to Ford on these big models. You are VERY fortunate that the pictured wheel is the tubeless 22.5” version. Hoping all the wheels are alike. No reason to replace them or adapt other wheels. Stu
I have bought the truck from only seeing 2 photos, this being one of them.
Are you 100% sure these are the 22.5” wheels?
- only because I’ve based this on having 20” rims as 20” tyres here in the Uk are very cheap as the UK military use them on their trucks, I can pick up new old stock off road tyres for £90 each!
22.5” off road tyres in the UK are very expensive and hard to get!
You don't want the stock 20" rims that are of the Firestone RH-5° style - double check all your rims (not all 20" rims are of this style). That particular design are proven to fail catastrophically and explosively split at any time, either when manipulated for service, by road conditions, or even just sitting static unprovoked due to the nature of their design. There is no way to actually verify that the mating surfaces are properly mated when assembled. Keep in mind NHTSA with their recall recommendation, the various court proceedings with their judgments, OSHA writeups, and the fact that no reputable tire shop will service them is all written in blood and should be respected and not glossed over. Many of us here have chosen to be responsible owners and operators and have addressed the issue for the safety of ourselves, those we share the road with, those who admire our trucks at events, and those who will care for the trucks in the future.
Additionally, let us be reminded that OSHA, Firestone, the NHTSA, and various state bodies (such as Utah) looked at recalls/bans in the 80's and determined that the effort was ultimately unwarranted, not because there wasn't a deserving safety issue, but that because since the introduction of single piece rims decades earlier coupled with the estimated service live of 10-15 years, the remaining population was insignificant and declining and essentially self-regulated out of existence. This leaves us hobbyist to watch out for each other.
The 22.5 tire and rim is a direct replacement for the 20" tire and rim combination and can be mixed and matched on the same vehicle:
The two wheels we can see are 22.5s. No uncertainty there. Hopefully all are alike. Most (probably all) other new owners of this truck would be celebrating their good fortune at this news. As said above, the 20” wheels that were optional in 1956 are no bargain, a p.i.t.a. at best (R-5°), and deadly in the case of the RH-5° widow maker. Be happy. Stu
Edit - if the tire availability is a critical matter, the below set of Dayton adapters is available to buy. These could be fitted with new Dayton style demountable 20” rims. Both Accuride and Maxion produce these rims to the present day. The adapter set has, like all Dayton applications, a 28° mounting lip that will accept either 20” or 22.5” wheel rims. I could speculate that you could resell the 22.5s and ship back to a buyer in the US and recover the purchase cost of the adapter set. Stu
The rear wheels appear to be tubeless also, though appearing to be of an older design. If not rusted or bent, they should be good to run.
If kept in the dry, a decent set of new tires will be good for many years, as I doubt the truck will ever be driven enough to wear out a set of tires.
If they are the Firestone tube type wheels on the rear, stay away from them. Those will explode outward from the truck when they turn loose. The tire and outer part of the wheel will pass you up, if they don't hit anything when they explode.
The outer left rear is a 22.5”. Andy has to check them all and decide what path to follow. If tires are that expensive in the UK those Daytons might be a money saver if a buyer could be found for the 22.5s. I know that Chuck has in the past been one that watches out for them. The truck being a Marmon Herrington, Andy will want to get to know Chuck anyway.
The other consideration is the cost of the Dayton open center rims. I know from having my own set of Dayton adapters that finding narrow rims can be a challenge. But that’s less important on an F-800. I would hope salvage yards still exist in the UK that would have used 20” open center rims. Stu
Good morning, thanks ever so much for all your expertise. It’s amazing to me what you can know about these trucks just from one photo!
Firstly, I had know idea of the explosive nature of these older wheels, the old 20’s here we just have to worry about them rusting out.
After many many phone calls yesterday I have found a 22.5” tyre that may be good enough. I do have plenty of choice for road tyres but nothing that’s good enough for the wet muddy fields we have - hence the reason for purchasing a 4x4. Just for a reference these are the costs in dollars per tyre:
It definitely should have power brakes and thru the driver side inner fender at 11 o'clock on the tire you can see 2 hoses. On the f700-900 trucks the inner fender is cutout from the factory for the hoses. Definitely looks like factory power steering to me
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