Tires.17 inch truck
 

ok guy's I have gone through corker tires and other on line places,taken my 54 one ton to tire shops ,and gotten no where ,all I want are 4 ROUND tires.my 20 year old goodyears are hard lumpy ,cracked,the widowmaker rims scare most of the tire guys so all I want is tires that I will mount myself...but where can you find 7.50 17" tires ?? is it safe ..to run radials on the old rims ??the new tires look good and will keep me on the road ..any ideas??

Lucas Classic & Vintage Tires, wide white wall, Pirelli Cinturato, Goodyear, Denman, Lester, Universal ..lists a 750x17 light truck tire..for $145 ea and 25 per tube... i've used them for years as my classic tire supplier..

Ken - You might check with this Montana yard to see if he'd part with the six lug rear dual wheels off this Dodge. They are probably the 17.5" x 5.25", Budd #79120, that I've suggested to you before. I've bought wheels from Neal Freeman before and know that he's a straight shooter. If he won't separate the wheels from the truck, he might have others. If you contact him, have him confirm they are 17.5s. That's what they look like to me anyway. He's had this truck listed on ebay since last summer with no sale, so he might be willing to part it out. Freeman Wrecking is located right off I-90 in Whitehall, which is between Bozeman and Butte. Stu

1965-1967 Dodge 1 Ton Dually PARTS TRUCK w 6 lug wheels - eBay (item 370407561284 end time Jan-08-11 14:51:50 PST)

well I gave up..thanks for all the advice on rim's and tires..today I phoned stockton wheels and ordered 2 rims in 19.5....tires are available almost anywhere.and cheaper then vintage sizes..and no rust.or cracks ..4 weeks and i will let you know how they work out..

good luck with the stockton wheels, but when i contacted them they told me $250 a wheel then i would have the cost of tires after that. are you gonna run 2 tube type with 2 tubeless?

yah for now that is what I can almost afford..with the good tires up front it will make it easier and hopefully more fun to drive...without the worry of loseing a tire and no way to fix it...a step at a time..

do yourself a favor and take the rims to a tire shop when you get them and make sure they run straight. my buddy Rick bought a pair from stockton for the back of his 33 Ford sedan, had them powder coated and put the new tires on just to find out one was bad. i am pretty sure stockton wouldn't take it back because it had been powder coated. just food for thought, it would have saved Rick a lot of pain!

I'm glad you decided to not work on the WMs yourself. Thank you.

And I hope your decision to go with Stockton works out as well. Like Mark says above, Stockton has gotten a lot of flaming on other sites in recent years for poor workmanship and slow delivery. But then I've also read postings where guys have been happy with them, so it seems to be inconsistent. I assume the wheels you ordered are from their Power Wagon II 24 Series. Please keep us posted on how they meet their delivery promise, and on how happy you are with the product. Since you're going with a total custom wheel, the 19.5" is I agree the best choice. Stu

Hey Stu..how else am i gonna learn with out trying...and the choice came when I pulled off the worst wheel on the front and tried a radial with a tube on the front..the rim isn't all that bad but it is showing it's age and has a warp in it ..so the radial wasn't going to work.. I put it all back together knowing she can't go far with out new wheels and yes P-W 24s are what i will be useing. now for tires...

my new rims are at the express delivery today. and they are closed for the weekend...so monday we will see what they look like and put the tires on ..and after the carb is fixed/replaced ..I can go for a drive... 19.5....with...225 /85....the size just seems wrong for a 50 year old truck...metric an' all...

Keep moving so no one can read the sidewall.:-X22

Also, it's my understanding the older wheels have a different degree angle on the lip that won't hold a radial on as well as an original bias. I've got a similar issue on my KB2.... the wheel is original, but someone put a radial on it.... not sure it's safe without at least a tube inside.

Scott - Ken's new wheels are custom 19.5s from Stockton Wheel. They'll have a 15° lip profile like any other truck tire that is sized in the half inch increments. No tubes in them, and they should stay seated just fine. Stu

Wheels
 

Did 49 one ton pickup have split wheels on them. Widow maker?

First I'll answer - Yes. Unlike your nice 1947 tonner, that has 5 x 6 7/8" pattern 17" two part locking ring wheels, Ford changed to an 8 lug x 6.5" pattern in 1948. They fitted the F-3 and larger models with what at the time was a new "Advanced Design" Firestone rim that in the trade was called an RH-5°. This rim has come to be termed the widow maker. The F-3 wheels are 17" x 5.50", Budd #49340 / Ford #7RY 1015. The 17" wheel was specified because, like your '47, the F-3 (heavy 3/4 model) had 14" rear brake drums that needed the 17s for clearance. The light duty 3/4 ton F-2 got 12" rear drums and 16" one piece wheels.

I'm focusing here on the F-3 because it is most similar to your '47 tonner. In the US beginning in 1948 (through 1952) the F-4 model was called a one ton and could have been fitted with either four 20" wheels or six 18" wheels. Those were widow makers too and have the big truck 5 lug x 8" pattern. Stu

split wheel
 

Stu,


Thanks for the info. I am having a hard time finding anyone that will even mess with these. I am going to put new tires on truck but have not found anyone that will mess with them. wonder if there is a one piece option available.