1950 Ford F5 Rims
 

Hey everyone! I've been on this site for quite some time but this is my first post. Before I get to my question, let me introduce my truck. As stated, its a 1950 F5. It was bought brand new by my grandfather and was actually the only farm truck he ever bought new. 'Blue Death,' as its always been called, never left the family and is still a part of our farming operation as a water/chemical truck when we are spraying crops. It still has the original flathead v-8 and runs pretty darn good!

We are looking to put new front tires on it (one is still the original) and, after searching this site, I am afraid we have the 'widow maker' rims. Am I correct in this? Ideally we would like to upgrade the rims to a solid one piece rim. Does anyone make a rim for these trucks? What other rim replacement options are out there? Thanks in advance!

Attachment 292277

Attachment 292278

Attachment 292279

Attachment 292280

Welcome! Stu will be here soon to let you know of the options and maybe find you a set.

Welcome. What a beautiful old truck. Amazing, an original 64 year old tire still in use. How many miles on the truck? Yeah, replacement wheels are available. We'll let Stu tell you.

Wow, you've been a member longer than I have. Anyway, glad to hear from you. Great looking truck, and great history.

You are correct that your pictured wheels are widow makers having the Firestone RH-5° outer rims. Replacement options exist in either 19.5" or 22.5" sizes and, I think unlike in past years, there are enough guys who know what to look for in yards that replacements are readily available. If you go to the 48-60 classified section you'll find several of us have for sale ads, mine included. Or, if you have interest in factory new wheels, Chuck Mantiglia of Chuck's Trucks now has new 22.5" x 6.75" wheels available at his CT restoration company. Below is a link to his site. If you have specific questions please say. Stu

Chucks Trucks LLC., Chuck's Trucks, Chucks Trucks

Welcome to FTE! :-wink

It's great that you still have the F5 in the family. What size wheels are on there? Stu McMillan is our resident expert on widow maker replacements. He found the wheels I put on my F4 to replace my 18" widow makers. The replacements are Budd 89340 19.5" wheels from a 78 Southwind motorhome.

And I see Stu has already responded, so I'll get off.

As Ilya said, Stu, Truckdog, is our resident big truck wheel expert. I'm sure he'll be along some time soon tonight. If not do a search using his name and "widow makers".

There are a few options I can tell you right now that you have. There 20" wheels that are multi-part wheels that aren't Widow Makers, they are the type with outer snap rings and are still worked on by truck shops. They come on '50 through the '60s IH, Studebaker and Dodge trucks. Stu can tell you specifically what the actual years are. You can also search for 22" one piece rims but they are also rare. There are also the 19.5" one piece rims from '70 and '80s RVs with Dodge chassis.

There are also places that will either take the centers of your Widow Makers and weld them into new rims or even make completely new rims. Again, Stu has all of the info on these. One place I can think of is Rickson Wheels, they make new 19.5 rims. I talked to them many years ago and asked about the RV wheels. At that time they said they would make a special order of a large value but recently I have seen they have an old RV on their web site.

Rickson Wheel Manufacturing

Dang, Stu, you beat me while I was typing.

Cool truck great story and it's awesome that it's still being used by the family of the original owner.
I hadn't heard Chuck now has the rims. That has to be great for you big truck guys. I always enjoy reading about the search for widowmaker replacements....I don't tell people outside this group stuff like that. They think I'm strange enough already. :)

If you are strange, what's that say about me? Bob and the others have included detail that I didn't. There's volumes more that has been written, and pictures posted here. If you care to do so you can Google my user name, widow maker, and Firestone RH-5° to read more than you care to know. Stu

Everyone - wow - thanks for the overwhelming responses!! What a great community! I need to read through all this and take it in!

I like lock rings because, if needed, I can change or repair a tire/tube without a machine. Something to consider when it's out working in the fields.

To be 100% honest, I'm not sure what size the factory wheels are on this truck. That is another question I was going to ask! And yes, its pretty good having a truck that history still in the family. We tend to hold on to most of our farm equipment....

VERY interesting! Thanks!

Eh, we're all strange in our own ways! Yea, pop pop would be proud she's still being used. He didn't like stuff sitting around that didn't serve a purpose and this truck has always earned its keep on the farm!

Very true. I'm open to all options. The only thing I really DIDN'T want was to convert to a Dayton style wheel / hub. I guess thats been done?

Not 100% sure on the mileage. The speedo reads 37,XXX but that has not worked in decades. That being said it doesnt get many miles on it at all. I'd venture to say its got around 45-50,000 miles.

Oh boy, do I have questions ha! First off, thanks for all the info. This community is really something else. I looked on this site and only saw the generic 'marketplace' classifieds section - not one for the 48-60. Where is that located?

With regards to Chuck Mantiglia and the 22.5" x 6.75" rims, how does the width compare to that of the factory rim? Are they 6.75" also?

Finally (for now), you mention the replacement wheels people find in yards, ect. Are those most often one piece or locking ring? And most importantly, they will fit on the stock hub with factory style lugs?

I apologize for dumping all these questions on you and thank you in advance for all the help. :-drink

Very nice truck.

Im running goodyear lockring wheels on my 52 f6, mostly just because i already had them with new tires.
Stock tire size would have been 8.25x20" tire. I think an f5 would have been the same?

I also have some 22.5" tubless (single piece) wheels that i have collected that are for sale.

I think the 9r 22.5" tire is really close to the same height as the 8.25x20 tire.

A few years ago i went to an old truck and parts auction and towards the end thier was a couple huge piles of tires and wheels and misc junk. I bought one pile for 0.50 c and another guy got the other one for about the same price. I scrounged through the pile and saved a few sets of lockring wheels, but it was more effort than really worthwhile other than a local farmer is now usimg them on his farm.

The tubless wheels are much more difficult to find.

Good luck with it.

Josh

Your wheels now are most likely 20" x 5". Might be 6" wide. The 5" would likely have 7.50" tires, the 6" wide likely would have 8.25" tires. If you want to stay with multi-part wheels, like one of the guys said IHC and Dodge tended to be equipped with wheels having Goodyear style side ring/lock ring designs. Finding these in yards is still possible. The critical issue with them is the risk of rust damage. Also it is essential that rim/ring components remain as matched sets. Never mix match rims and rings.

The 22.5" is the tubeless replacement for the 20" tube type. They were made in 5.25", 6.00", and 6.75" widths. The caveat here is the fact that the narrowest tire today is a 9R22.5 radial that is spec'd for the 6.00" or 6.75" rim. Guys do mount these tires on the 5.25", but it wasn't recommended. This tire is the tubeless equal of the 8.25" x 20" tube type.

The 19.5" came in either 5.25" or 6.00" widths. The tire of choice on both widths is an 8R19.5". These tires will be shorter in diameter at about 33.5" or 34" as compared to a 7.50" x 20" which is about 37". If the truck is used on the farm this diameter difference won't much matter, but road speed would be reduced. Used 19.5s will be a more economical solution than the 22.5s. Good used 20" two part wheels will be the most economical if you can find them. Stu

Edit - we've been typing on top of each other. Below is a link to the FTE classifieds. I doubt you'll find ads for the 20" lock ring style. They aren't as desireable as tubeless in most instances. All the wheels discussed here will have your 5 lug x 8" bolt pattern and will mount on your truck just fine using stock Budd type fasteners.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/f..._second_pass=1