The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 15" vs. 16" Wheels on 1953 Chevy 1/2 ton 3100 Panel Truck

Hello all, I have a 1953 Chevy 1/2 ton 3100 series Panel Truck. Originally it had 16 inch diameter, 6 bolt wheels on it. I want to put 15 inch 6 bolt Aluminum Slotted Mags (a very popular and common wheel) on front and rear of my truck. So by going from 16 inch wheels down to 15 inch wheels what all is that going to affect on my truck ?? It would make it a little lower ,but how much would it affect on the speedometer ?? any other things I should know before I buy these ?? Thanks for any help on this.

You need to tell us the tire size you intend to use on the new rims.

There are at least a couple of answers to your question. Let me do my best here:
1. the steering angles and geometry of your truck is mostly set and not adjustable. In fact only caster angle and toe-in/toe-out are adjustable. If you go to a 15 inch wheel and keep a more thin tire on it, you won't notice the changes too much. (edit...thin meaning thinner tire section width). If you go to a wide tire, you will notice changes. Things like scrub angle, camber angle and a few other things won't like a wider wheel which has a center point different than your stock wheels had. Driving in town or in a parking lot with wide wheels will not be as easy. The closer you can stay to a narrow tire that is 28" in diameter the happier your steering will be.
2. your speedometer won't be as correct as before, but honestly it won't be off by much and not enough to worry about. Your original 600 x 16 inch tires were 28 inches in diameter. If you stay close to that, you'll be ok. If you go with one of the wide, low rubber-band looking tires a whole lot of things will change.
3. If you use tires that are much too wide, please make absolutely certain you don't have interference with tie rod ends or any other steering components. A friend did this against much advice and ruined two tires very quickly. Also be certain you don't have fender clearance issues.

I've used 15 inch 6 lug wheels for decades. Nowadays I use 205/75 R15 Hankook Optimo tires which are about 7.5" wide. It all works well, but even the added 1.5" is noticeable in turning effort. I wish it wasn't, but I have to be honest about that. That tire is about 27" in diameter. A friend of mine used a 235 15 inch tire and there's noticeably more effort in steering with those...in town. Not quite as much at 55 mph.

Hope this helps.

the guy has 2 -275/60R15 tires on 6 bolt 15 inch Aluminum slotted wheels - That would be for the back, and 2 -235/60R15 tires on 6 bolt 15 inch wheels for the front, and as Jon G said that would be a problem for that wide of a tire for the front. So would it be OK to use the 275/60R15 on the rear and just get 2 -narrow height matching with the rear for the front ??I really want to make sure these aluminum slotted wheels will work on front and back on my Chevy Panel Truck. I can get the right tires later that will match up and work on my truck. Have to know if these wheels will work because thats mostly what im concerned with now. My truck wil not be ready for the road for a few years due to some new metal work.

Im going to look at these wheels at 3:30 today to buy them if the bolt pattern is right.He said the wheels was on a 67-72 2 wd C10 pick-up.

I would suggest going to this web site, https://tiresize.com/, and finding your old tire diameter. Then maybe looking up a tire for a 15" wheel of the same diameter, width, etc. Diameter being the more important for an un-affected speedometer.

In my truck spec. booklet my original 16 inch 6 bolt wheels are 16x4.00E with a 9/16" Rim offset it says. What I dont know yet is the width of the Aluminum Slotted Wheels for the front. If they are 6 inches or 7 inches wide then they will not work on the front but only the back, am I right on that guys ??

6 inch wide rims on the front won't be the problem. As I recall the stock 15 inch 6 bolt rims used on millions of GM pickups is 5.5 inches wide and they're ok. You're correct that the 16 inch wheels were 4 inches wide. You could have a problem mounting a wider tire on that 16 inch wheel...there are limits on what is safe and will work. Ask the people you'll be buying tires from. All the tire width/wheel width charts I have don't go below 5 inches for the wheel.

The back axle isn't the issue if the clearance to the fenders is okay. If not, you can have damage the sidewall of the tires and wreck the fenders at the same time. What you want with a 15 inch wheel is the tallest and thinnest tire you can get. 275/60 15 tires will have a section width of 10.8 inches (very wide) and a diameter of 28". Not good. The diameter is okay but the section width is way too wide. You'll need arms like Bluto to steer with those tires and it will cause your kingpin bushings to wear out very rapidly. Anything over about 7.5" is heading toward too wide for the front end of an AD truck.

One other thing I will add...the front end of a 1967 Chevy pickup was completely different from the front end of a 1953 Chevy pickup. It was built with independent suspension, fully adjustable caster, camber, inclination angle, sway bar, etc and your 1953 truck only has adjustable caster angle. Everything else in your front end is fixed. And unlike the 1967 truck, when one wheel goes up, things change on the other side since you have a straight axle.

If you study all the available tire sizes for a 15 inch wheel with a 6 inch rim, I think you're going to discover a 27" diameter and a 205/75 R15 tire is your best choice. Good luck!

So if the wheels are anywhere to 6 inches to 7 inches and not over that width would work on my truck ? I just need to know if these wheels will work on my truck and I can buy the right tires later. Right now the wheels are the main concern if they will work on my truck. I also measured the backspacing on my original 16 inch 400 wheel and it measured 4 1/2 inches so anything more than 4 1/2 inches would set the wheel in close on the front and cause problems im betting ??? Whats your thoughts on that guys ? Thanks ,Again.

And one more thing...just for the sake of safety and all. If you use a taller tire on the back and one with a smaller diameter on the front, please make certain to have your caster angle checked and adjusted. It should be 2.5 degrees positive or so. When your truck sits higher in the rear than the front, you reduce your caster angle and a little bit means a lot here. It really truly does. The closer you get to a 0 caster angle the easier it will steer but the more unstable it will be. In fact it may wander around like a drunk billy goat. The higher your caster is, the more stable your truck will be, however there is a limit past which you don't want to go. 3 degrees is about it. Any higher than that and steering becomes quite difficult. Because of the angle of the kingpins you are having to lift the front end every time you turn the wheel and as I said...a little bit means a lot.

Another thing to consider is if you plan on adding disc brakes to the front/rear of your truck in the future. Early wheels, prior to about the 70’s, won’t fit as I recently found out after adding discs to the front of my ‘52. You’ll need to get rims that were specifically designed for disc brakes so the caliper will clear.

6 inches will be okay. I would not suggest using a 7 inch wheel and I'll show you why in just a moment. It is almost twice as wide as what your truck was designed for. Yes...you don't want the wheel moving too close in. Very good point and perceptive on your part! Take a look at your tie rod end and your tire sidewall (image below). I have a 5.5 inch rim. There is 3/4 inch between my wheel rim and the tie rod end. A 7 inch wheel will add 1.5 inches to what I have on my pickup...meaning an additional 3/4" on each side of the rim. You'll be rubbing your tie rod end and we can't be doing that. You could add wheel spacers...some folks will probably suggest doing that but I'm not one of those people. I like as much safety as I can have.

I don’t want to throw a monkey wrench in your wheel but I ran 15x8” rims with 235-70R-15” tires for the last four years before I added disc brakes to the front last fall. The rims had a 3-3/4” back set so the rim stuck out on the front 4-1/4”. There was no issue with the rim hitting the tie rods.

There was an issue with the steering feeling a bit squirmy around turns which I attribute to the rims sticking out too far. The new rims I’m buying are 15x6” with a 3-1/4” set back and plan on using my existing tires for now. I suspect they still be tough to turn when parking but will track much better.

Thank you all for chiming in. Jon G you are EXACTLY right. these wheels I looked at this afternoon where way too wide and came very close to hitting the tie rod ends, We cant have that. Too bad they really looked good on the truck but are way too wide. So bottom line is these 47-54 AD trucks wasnt meant to have these nice aluminum slotted wheels , or any old school mags on it,other than I guess a chrome smoothie or oringinal wheels painted and anice Chevrolet hub cap on it. That is without changing anything on the front ,leaving the original suspention. Thanks everyone . Have a good evening.

Phil, please clarify your wheel dimensions. You mention "back set" and "set back". Neither of those terms is a recognized wheel specification or measurement.

There is "Back Space," which is the distance from the wheel mounting surface to the inboard edge of the rim.

And there is "Offset", which is the distance between the centerline of the wheel and the mounting surface. This measurement is the most crucial of the two because it determines where the weight of the car is carried on the spindle relative to the wheel bearing.

I don't know where you are in PA (nice state by the way) but if you can find common 15 inch 6 lug wheels all will be Jake for you. Good luck and let us know what you find.

Another wheel that will work on the AD pickup and looks nice is the rally style wheel. Those were made in 15 and 16" sizes and some came in 6 inch widths as well. Just a matter of finding them, but they do look nice. Some of them aren't even too expensive and will work on 5 or 6 lug mounts: https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/681205/10002/-1

My apologies Otto , I do mean backspace!

This is a 15 inch "Rally Wheel" from a '77 Chevy 1/2 ton 4wd truck that I put on my '57 GMC (R.I.P.) to clear the disk brakes I installed on the front axle. The "knock off" and the "GMC" sticker were found on line. The beauty rings were found at a swap meet, but are available lots of places.

Tires are 235/70 x 15, although if I still had the truck I would replace those with a taller and thinner tire.

I also like aluminum slotted wheels. I put these on my truck in 1981. I am happy with them, and I like the look. If I knew then what I know now, then I would have bought 6 inch ones and use narrower tires than I have. They do clear the disc brakes that I recently added. The tire size that I have used since radial tires became common are P235/70R/15.

hi garageguy,
here is a pic of my 1953 3100.
235/75/15
i think it fits the wheel well nicely.