The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk rim size

Good day Bolters, picked up the coker classic 650R16 to try to match the front tires on 1953 3100 1/2 ton, now trying to match back tires,6.5x 16 with STA Traxion 6.5x16- hauled a lot of wood out of the timber and sold to bait shops for our allowance in the 70's. tire guy said the rim measured 3 1/2 ", i thought they would be 4. so if i went with anything more than the 6.50x16, he said they would wear and bulge in center. The old tires on front and back were 7+" wide. Traxion spec states rim width of 4.5-5.0- is the rim on the back wider? everything is stock on truck.

thanks,

lynn

At 70ish years old, it is hard to say if what is currently installed is actually original. Someone might have changed the wheels 20 years after it was built and they would have been installed for 50 years by now.

That said, the GM Information Kit says that the original wheel should have been a 16x4.5.

I am not super clear what you are asking, so if this doesn't help maybe you can clarify your question?

Lynn,

If the wheels you have measure 3-1/2" wide, they are not original to your 1953 3100. According to the 1953 Chevy Truck data your wheels should be 4-1/2" wide (both front and rear).

I included a screenshot of the tire/wheel data below for easy reference.

It's very possible that you had some old bias ply tires on your truck and they stayed put even though probably too wide for the wheels.

I would suggest remeasuring your wheels to confirm width and if they are 3-1/2, recommend you find a correct 4-1/2" width set to mount the desired STA tires to.

I also checked the STA Tire site and that indicates a recommended rim width for the 6.5X16 tire as 4-1/2". A good measurement to follow, especially if you are planning on driving regularly.

EDIT: My reply took way too long to put together (haha). Fibonachu beat me to the punch.

Two spot on answers with documentation to back them up. This may be one of those deals where someone took wheels and tires off another vehicle and stuck them on the truck at one time because they bolted on and the tires had tread rather than being correct for the truck.