The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Duellies

I just rejoined stovebolt after being out of touch for a few years. I'm working on my late son's 58 Panel as a tribute to him and others who have lost their lives in the military. I got a wild idea the other day and I am wondering if these panels and/or trucks ever came with duellies in the rear? If so does anyone have a source for the rims? I know this may bring up a lot of "WHY" questions but humor me would ya?

What size/model 1958 Chevrolet Panel Truck do you have?

Most people will not question "why" (unless you ask for opinions) - it is your truck.

Your reason, however, is admirable.

You might want to also post this question in the Driveline forum?

Mike, where in Wa are you? I have seen pictures of one, but not sure it came that way!

I feel as tho I should add some details. It's a 3100 Panel. But it's not stock. The engine is a 350 block built as a 327 developing 400 ft/lbs of torque at 400 hp that was built by DC racing engines in Denver who was the original engine builder for Furniture Row racing, the Nascar team out of Denver. . I'm Frenching in turbos in each of the rear quarter panels and fabricated reverse scoops to hide the intake filters from the weather. The wild hair idea that I had was to put duelies in the rear and just extend the scoops over the outer tires.

69Cuda, I'm up in Sedro Woolley




[img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...4087/filename/IMG_20190718_193309424.jpg[/img]

I had a 1957 Chevy 3800 one ton panel and it had duall rear wheels with the split rims and tubes in the tires, also had a winch on the front bumper and the truck was 4WD with the napco in it. It had no power steering, But I loved driving it. It was a daily driver for about ten years, then I got a 59 chevy that drove much easier and ended up selling the panel. That truck sure turned alot of heads.

When I see dualies I think it would be fun to tuck a set of dualies under a truck especially a half-ton. Go for it.

I own a 1958 GMC 250 with a GMC 270 L6, SM-420, and an Eaton H072. I also got a 1957 GMC parts panel with a dual rear wheel axle in my truck purchase, but it was heavily customized (extra frame jacks, tool boxes, and vents welded/cut into the body). Allegedly the 57 was used by some sort of oil drilling company in the Kansas area. Both trucks spent most of their time in the Midwest. Both trucks have inner wheel wells similar to a typical 'tub-kit' as seen on hot rods at a quarter mile drag-strip.

Both trucks were equipped with 19.5 inch 1-piece Kelsey Hayes wheels. They use flat bottomed castle-nut style lug nuts to retain the wheels on the axles/spindles. Between both trucks I was able to create 1 usable set of 6 wheels. Tire size is 8R19.5.
If you have the GMC maintenance manual that covers 55-59 trucks it has a section which details the types of wheels available on these trucks (2-piece, etc...). The Kelsey Hayes wheels are mentioned in there.

My personal experience of strutting around old fields full of these larger 'Big-Bolt' trucks is that the Chevrolet's typically had 5 lug and 6 lug wheels of different bolt patterns. I have not personally seen an 8 lug Chevrolet, but that doesn't mean that they didn't exist from the factory. When I have seen GMC trucks from this time period, they're at least 6 lug or 8 lug.

Below is a picture of my 1958 sitting at original ride height on 8R19.5 tires. The white truck next to it is a 2005ish Chevrolet 2500HD for comparison.
[img]https://postimg.cc/FfNb1VdM[/img]

Ok, so maybe my answer comes a bit late, but since your truck is heavily modified already, why don't you look into using a dually axle from a modern 3500 truck: sturdy, easy to find parts for, easy to find...

It's all fun until you need to buy tires ...

Yep, what John said. Had several duallies over the past 25 years. They all worked for their keep and used up rear tires quicker than you'd like. That extra many hundreds of dollars at tire time does get old. And with most states requiring tires be no older than 5 years (to be legal anyway) it's an expensive additional hobby expense for sure.

RonR

Funny, I go through more front tires than anything, but I think I solved that problem. Then again, I don't put a ton of miles on it.

My local tire shop fed me that line of crap too. When I researched it I learned that there was no such law in my state. The whole thing was a scam by my tire dealer to avoid liability and sell more new tires!

There is no definitive amount of time that tires became unsafe; there are just too many variables. Generally 5-6 years is the RECOMMENDED time, but there was no actual law in my state, only individual businesses policies. If the rubber still appears pliable and there are no visible cracks, tires should still be safe. Thanks to my research I found a local company that would install some 25-year-old Goodyear Invictas off a classic Corvette onto my daily driver. With the donor car locked away in a garage, the tires had minimal mileage and had never seen any sun. They've been great tires for about 40,000 miles now and counting.