I had the same problem, finally solved by a local tire dealer. I bought Ultra type 62 wheels and went from a 17 inch 8 bolt wheels to a 16 inch 8 bolt. The dealer set me up with 16 x 7- 8 bolt wheels with a 6.50 inch lug spacing. I put P245/75R16 tires on and the truck sets very close to the same height as with the original split rims and tires. Do a Google search with "Ultra type 62 wheels' to see what they look like or send me an message and I will email you some pictures of how they look on my partly finished truck. The back space is about 3 1/2 inches and clears the tie rods easily when you crank the steering wheels to lock either way. The dealer I worked with actually gave me a couple of different wheels to test fit before I got one that worked with plenty of clearance. I was not trying to keep everything original, so hope this is not a problem.

1949 GMC 3/4-ton pickup