Smoothie wheels for 1949 Mercury M68
 

We're at that stage of having to source wheels and tires having made the decision to jettison the widowmakers. I'm wondering if anyone has found a good Canadian source of wheels - specifically we're looking for 17X7 5-bolt steel wheels - as vanilla as possible to support the "old farm truck look".

We've looked at the usual US suspects (Coker, US Wheel, Vintique) and I'm hoping to save a couple of dollars from those if possible. If not, well, we can source from one of those companies.

You want to find 19.5 wheels. These are not that common but look right. There have been a few threads with pictures of these.
New wheels are available according to this thread: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...tern-fits.html

Wheels that look pretty much stock and accept the stock hubcap are Budd part number 71410 as described in this thread: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...1410-rims.html

But Fred, the 71410s are ideal for a stock 8 lug upgrade but of no help on a modified 5 lug application. Unless the 5 is a typo. If not a typo we need to know whether the truck has been converted to half ton spec with 5 x 5 1/2" pattern or some more modern pattern. Stu

You're correct, I missed the five lug reference in the original post. We need pictures!

Thanks for replying 38coupe and truckdog 62653 - the conversion is a 5 hole, 5.5 inch wheel so moving away from the truck 8-bolt pattern. It's based on a bronco rear-end and matching front end wheels. The wheels were 31" high originally, and with a 17x7 wheel and a tall skinny tire we will end up close to that height. The truck is dropped about 3" so that is the tallest we want to go.

Just headed out on vacation so pics will be a while.

We decided to go with a modern-ish transmission and rear end, and then it was disk and drum brakes, and then 6v to 12v...and now I'm just trying to stop the madness with some simple wheels and tires.

Short of having wheels custom made, I fear you're SOL on this. I've looked through my old wheel company catalogs, and old Keystone summaries, and find nothing. You might check with a Keystone dealer for more current listings, mine only go up to September 2000. Only potential source I see for a wheel that tall and wide would be a Dodge half ton pickup or van. They retained the 5 x 5 1/2" pattern later than Ford. Stu

The 17x7s are available from a number of companies (e.g. Vintiques, US wheel and Coker) so those are quite findable. I just re-read my response and to be clear the original wheel and tire were 31" and that what I'm working to match with the combo I decribed.

My big issue is that although I've found a number of wheel manufacturers I'd like to get them or something less costly through a Canadian shop instead of ordering them myself. I actually got a good response on a Facebook group today so now have several Canadian shops to call. I was not finding any online prior to posting the discussions.

Sounds like you're on the right path. When I said custom wheels in my above comment I probably should have said aftermarket. My references are all oem type wheels. Stu

Thanks Stu - appreciate the input. Stuff you learn after you start....I could write A BOOK.

I'm not sure what your price point is but wheels are not a place to risk quality and safety for price. I couldn't find what I wanted either so I had steel wheels made by Wheelsmith. They can make a large variety of different wheels including smoothies for a reasonable price. Wheels really are important to the look of the vehicle.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fe5f3886e9.jpg
Wheelsmith '34 Ford-style artillery wheel

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5e9767df50.jpg
I converted from 8 lug wheels on my F2 to 5 lug.

Thanks petemcl. Safety is one of the reasons I'm looking at known after-market manufacturers, I do appreciate the advice on that. I guess I'm assuming going with one of them provides some assurance - maybe that's a little too optimistic? That's a nice look you've achieved there - what size did you end up getting for the F2?

Try... detroitsteelwheel.com

6" x 15" in the front with P235R60s and 8" x 15" in the rear with P255R60s. Jim was able to increase the offset in the rear due to the size of the rear fenders.

Thanks - I will do that - nice looking stuff in their website