NEWER WHEEL SIZES FOR 48 F-3
 

I put wheels from an '88 ford E-350 van years ago, think they may be 16.5's, & am wondering if anyone knows if any other taller wheels would fit the 48 f-3 bolt pattern. I didnt use the truck at all last year but now with spring around the corner the truck bug has bit once again!

your gonna need to talk to Truckdog, aka Stu. he has forgotten more about wheels than most people will ever know. I'm not even sure if the 88 van wheels will work on your f3 as they may be metric. someone will clue you in on that to.

Think it was an 86 ford van,one of my delivery vans that was shot. that was 12 years ago & they fit right on but i think the truck would look better with taller wheels. maybe like 17.5's

You are the second guy I've heard say that 16.5s fit. It sorta surprises me because a 16.5 has a 14" center. With your 14" rear drums there can't be much clearance.

A better option would be 17.5s from a 1956 or later F-250. Described in the below thread. Also, this below thread describes 17" custom wheels that a member got from Stockton Wheel that used his original widowmaker centers mounted in new tubeless outer rims. Either option is a good fix, but finding the 17.5s would be cheaper if you can do the leg work to find them. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...questions.html

Thanks Stu ! Would you know up to what year f 250 wheels would fit?

I doubt they were 16.5's. I know at least 84 up were 16's. I know they fit F2's but understand that F3 used bigger drums in the rear.

Paul

F-250s through 1997 used your 8 lug x 6.5" bolt circle in a 16" wheel. The issue, though, on your truck is its 14" rear drums which won't accept all such wheels.

As for the run dates of the 17.5s listed in the other thread, I'm not perfectly sure when those were phased out by Ford. They are Budd #73240 which cross refers to National Wheel and Rim Association (NWRA) number X-45048. Budd lists the wheel for sale through 1979, but that could simply mean that they were still available as replacement parts. The last NWRA reference that I have showing it in use on production vehicles is 1969, then I have a gap in NWRA references until 1984 at which point the wheel is no longer listed. So, it's safe to say that these wheels were available on production F-250s probably into the 1970s. Our friend Number Dummy would be the person to tell us when Ford stopped using them. Stu

[IMG]https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal.../41886.520.390[/IMG]

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal.../41884.520.390Thanks for the imput! Checked tire size last night & the fronts are 16.5 & the rear 4, duellys, are the four 16's i took of my old van. I got my truck from my aunt in CT. 15 years ago & she had bought it from a gas station in the 1960's. The truck is unique because somewhere along the line someone installed a hydrolic dump bed & deul rear wheels using a spacer to seperate them. not the traditional deully set up. I think the rear end was changed because on mine the yoke is off center & im not sure if thats how f-3 rears were. Anyway, I'll have to measure the drums & do some research.

Hold on here! There I go assuming you have a stock '48 F-3. And, my bad, I didn't look closely at your avatar. That DRW axle looks a lot like a Dana 60 which says most of what I posted above isn't helpful. With this new understanding, you can use any 16" dually wheels having the 8 x 6.5" pattern. They were used up through the 1997 model year. A 16" tire will be taller than a 16.5" because of the different bead and side wall profiles of each design. If you really want taller than that, 19.5" wheels are available from places like Rickson Wheel. Here's their link. Stu

Rickson Wheel Manufacturing

Edit - Now I'm unclear on what you're after since you added the second picture. Are you wanting to keep the truck as a dually, or go back to a single wheel? Since you say you have spacers on the rear you'd have to continue use of them rather than find traditional deeply dished dually wheels. The rear hubs probably are not dually hubs which means the wheel mounting surfaces (WMS) would be too narrow to allow use of dually wheels. Whichever way you go, regular 16" F-250 or F-350 single rear wheels will work for you. Stu

Wow Stu, you really know your stuff!! thanks for the help. Im gonna keep it as a deully with the spacers. 19.5 would probably look good in a plain steel wheel but front clearence may be a problam. Do you think any 17.5 wheels would fit.Otherwise i may just keep the wheels that i have & get new tires. My tires are shot!

First, I checked the Accuride on-line catalog, and checked my newest Motor Wheel Corporation 2002 catalog, to see if any taller wheels might be out there having your bolt pattern. All I found were wheels having the new metric bolt pattern sizing and wheels that are "hub piloted". Yours are "stud piloted". I have, however, heard that Dodge continued use of the 8 x 6.5" pattern longer than did Ford but I find no reference to show they had a taller outside diameter.

Next, the stock tires on you F-3 were 7.50 x 17" tube type which would have had an outside tire diameter of about 34.5". A tubeless 8 x 19.5" truck wheel tire combo will today be nearly a perfect match for that. Here's a link to the Universal Tire on-line catalog to let you see that for yourself. Truck - Truck and Military.

The reason for this is found in the design differences between each rim and tire's respective profile. The below chart shows the tube type on the left, having what is called a 5° rim and bead profile with a flat rim base, compared to a tubeless one piece truck wheel on the right having what is called a 15° profile and a "drop center" rim base. While the chart compares 20" and 22.5", the same concept applies to the 17" and 19.5" truck wheels/tires. The chart also shows the tube type to be a multi-part, but the same 5° concept applies to a tubeless one piece car/light truck wheel. So, bottom line, if you decided to have custom wheels made you could go with a 19.5".

There were 19.5" single wheel style made back in the '50s/60s that have the 8 x 6.5" pattern but I've never seen any, nor heard of anybody that has them. They were offered by both Ford and Dodge and are Budd #71410. A true needle in the haystack. Stu

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...comparison.jpg

I would like to see detailed pictures of that dual wheel spacer set up. If you get a chance, please take some picture and measurement and post them.

Will do, maybe this weekend as its finally starting to warm up here in NY