I have a 1954 3800 series Wayne school bus. You can see a pix of in the gallery. It has 17" pickup style wheels on the front axle and 17" budd wheels (duals) on the rear axle.
Today I drove down to Tom Myers truck store in Miami, OK. and bought two 'dually' type hubs for the front wheels of my bus.
I heartily recommend Tom and his crew. He was friendly, helpful, had the parts I wanted and invited me to walk around his yard. He even asked if I brought a camera! Thanks Tom.
Several years ago I sold a 1949 GMC one ton to a guy who didn't want the tires and wheels. I ended up with a set of six budd type wheels with eight hole and eight lug bolts. They are 18" wheels. I had put brand new tires on the wheels and they never left my driveway.
I saw a 53 3600 on ebay a while back that had 17" wheels on it. It was the same color as my pickup (I painted it last month). I thought, gee, I got these 18" tires and wheels that will fit on the bus, I can use the 17" tires on my 53 3/4. I got a one ton parts truck that will supply the needed 17" wheels.
So, I take the front wheels off the bus, put the new hubs and new tires on the front and move to the back of the bus.
It was only then I noticed that the 17" wheels on the back of the bus have 6 lug bolts, not eight. I take the wheels off the bus and notice a spacer that converts from eight lugs to six lugs on the rear wheel.
The space was made in St. Charles MO by some manufacturing company (I couldn't make out the name).
I take spacer off and put the new 18" wheels and tires on the bus. Without the spacer the wheels set inside the wheelwell 8.5"
I went across town to my 1954 3800 series one ton with duals to see how it was set up. It too has 18" wheels. It measured the same as the 18" wheels on the bus. The bus just didn't look right with the wheels so far inside the body. I think Wayne made one width of body and adjusted the length to suit the chassis.
My neighbor (1959 fleetside, 1955 fodor sedan and 2004 Suburban and whole bunch of volvos) and I decided the truck looked better with the 17" wheels and spacer. So I switched them back.
Now, I got 18" on the front and 17" inch on the rear. I never drive the bus out of town (mainly use it on Thursday and Friday to pick my grandsons up from school). I would like to use the 18" wheels and tires as they are brand new. (With the 17" back on the bus, I only got two tires for my pickup.)
Can I hurt anything using 18" on the front and 17" on the rear?
Does anybody know if a spacer is made for 8 lug wheels?
Were 18" pickup style wheels available?
Is a 6 lug budd type wheel available in 18"?
Oh yeah, one last thing, I could never bust loose the lugs on the left rear wheels, so I'll have to go to a tire shop tomorrow. Yea, and the left front wheel was flat!
I tried telling this all to my wife and she got that glazed look in her eyes and went back to watching designed to sell.
Jim
