The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Big Bolt Tire Economics?

ShopRag...love that name ... the answer is there really is no answer. It comes down to as you said economics. There are many ways to address this, spend the money to replace the tires (if you can find them) or spend the money on a more modern combination.

A lot of owners have swapped to newer drop center wheels using the widely available 22.5 tire. Others yet have modified wheels to work with the older bolt patterns.

For me it came down to money and how I was going to use the Truck. Thor hauled it's last ,load of grain long before I got it. I made the decision to swap to 19.5 wheels and tires. My reasoning was that I planned to drive the Truck more often and re-gearing the drive train was part of that. I changed from a 6.17 to a 4.88. The 19.5 tires are considerably shorter than the original 20's, for me that was alright.

As for the economics, I have just over $1200.00 in wheels and tires. I found a set of used wheels from a 90's Motorhome, I gave $400.00 for 6 wheels. I searched the web and found steer tires for $110.00 each, the rears came in at $600.00 for 4.

I have the means to mount and balance the tires myself, that was a huge savings as well.

This was just the route I decided to take, for many it's not what they would want. For what it worth I have put almost 1500 miles on the Truck in 3 years.