The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 15 inch 8 lug one piece wheels?

I have a 1954 Chevy 3600. It currently has the split rims on it, 15", 8-lug. Does anybody know if there are 15", 8-lug one piece wheels available for my truck?

I've got a couple in the white spoke style, so I know there's something out there. The one piece rims take a different tire than the splits do,
Scott

Millions. All eight lug wheels have the same bolt pattern but some have differant size pilot(center) holes.

They were the same pattern until about 2000 and they all went metric. With the AD trucks, backset clearance is a big issue.

So I guess that there is no specific wheel that you can use, it is all trial and error?

I'm trying to find a wheel shop that can punch the center out of my 15" splits and stick in in a non split outer rim. I want the center to keep my stock caps. Anyone done this???

That sounds like something Stockton Wheel or someone like them might do. I'm planning to do something similar with some bigger wheels, but haven't collected the pieces yet.

OldSub beat me to it. Yeah, Stockton Wheel. I researched this a few months ago. There's a bunch of ugly, retarded looking wheels in 15" for 8 lug at places like Summit. Stockton Wheel is about the only place that has a traditional stock steel wheel in varying sizes.
Are you not interested in 16 or 16.5? Those are plentiful in the boneyards.
I wanted a 15" so I could do some L78-15 wide whitewalls but, have since decided to do bias blackwalls in 16 or 16.5 because of 8 lug availability in this size.

I had this done on my truck . I had a place called The Wheel Smith do mine. However, shortly after I had them done, they closed up shop. They had been around for some time.

Stockton Wheel is one the most popular places. But I have heard both good and bad about them.

http://www.stocktonwheel.com/

You might try these guys. I haven't used them, but someone awhile back told me about them.

http://www.custombuiltsteelwheels.com/
Good luck!

bolt54,
what you will probably find with replacement wheels is some difficulty finding ones that clear the front tie rod ends. For the earlier AD trucks, usually the backset cannot be larger than about 4 1/4". Backset is usually defined using the surface where the bead meets the rim but in this case you have to consider the extra 1/2" of lip that sticks out beyond that point. When you get the old centers mounted in the newer style rims, Stockton may only be able to do this within a very specific range of backset on the rim. This is because of the flare of the center piece. As they trim the diameter to fit the new rim, the effective backset changes. I have seen this mentioned on another site. I think the 15" split rim centers work out well but I don't know about the 17" splitters.

what about these truckandcarshop.com i'm not sure you'd want to go that way IF THEY'D Work on an A.D but the fellow bolters would know more. IMO they'd be unique on an A.D but thas jus me

ooooppps sorry you said 8luggers nevmind me i wasn't payin attention ...... as usual

I am sorry to hear that The Wheel Smith has closed shop. They made a set of 16" smoothies for my 54. They did good work. I watched them do some wheels while I was there.

Jim it sounds like Wheels of Steel is your answer. Don't you live in the Visalia area?

The set-back issue is important. I've tried several from the boneyards on mine and had problems. Bought 4 Hayes-Lemerz trailer wheels that fit fine, 16". Plenty of tie-rod clearance (at least 1/4"), look almost stock, but they have bumps for the hubcaps and the stock ones won't fit without mods. Wheels were about $95 cdn each.

Forgot to add, use the Stovebolt search for 8-lug wheels, you'll find several threads on the subject.

I hate to lose the originals, but I don't know if anyone can mount new tires on the splits and I have heard some horror stories about them.

Ok, now that I had a chance to do a search on this, I have a question. For 1954, 3/4 ton, do I have split rims or two piece lock ring style rims? From what I have read, it makes a big difference. In any event, I plan on going to visit the truck this weekend, so, if the door is not frozen to the ground (very likely), I will bring the one with no tire on it home and see if any local shop can do anything with it.

It gets even easier. I have a 59 1 ton and tried a bunch of take offs. What I should have done first, and did do, was go to my local wheel shop. Turns out steel wheels are pretty easy to get and most of them made for old trucks fit all old trucks. I got mine with used tires for like $450. Follow the link to see my truck. Go to the local part of town that has wheels and services older vehicles and you'll have no problems.

Strictly speaking you have 2-piece rims, that is it takes 2 pieces to make a complete wheel: The wheel weldment and a single locking ring which form the outer wheel "rim" or lip. I know most automotive tire shops will not work on them but most truck and tractor tire places will. Just recently I replaced the old tires, tubes and flaps (liners) from 3 of my wheels for my 50 3/4 ton myself. I went to a local Rural King store and bought a "rim" tool. Those locking rings have a notch that the tool is made to go into. It's hard work with lots of prying and hammering, and you'll need another tire tool, or two. Mine were rusted bad. That ring has an inner edge or lip that goes into the wheel gutter, or groove. Part of that inner edge is left off on purpose. It tapers down to nothing about 2" long 2 places 180 degrees apart. The tool notch is 3-4" away from one of those tapers. You insert the tool in the notch and pry the ring up until the tapered places clear the wheel....I could see that back when those wheels were new and didn't have 50 years of rust on them that job was not too bad.
Disclaimer: Always be careful when prying or hammering on rims or wheels - You could get hurt.
Good luck.

I have 5 altogether, 4 mounted on the truck and then just a rim and a ring in the bed of the truck. I am going to bring that one home this weekend and call some tire shops and see what they can do.

i useds a reg. ole tire iron to pry my rings off i found out that the rust helped get them off it made an abrasive surface that the rings could cling to so they wouldn't slip back problem is first one i did i found the tapered spots first and tried prying them of course it wouldn't go so i tired WD-40 and after i lubed er up then i found the square notch and now i still can't get the ring off i've heard that taking them off you can do but airing them up, leave it to a professional or wrap a chain around it that goes throught the center of the rim in 4 spots i busted a finger nail off by trying to pry a ring off that was 4 months ago and my finger nail still ain't fully grown back
Nate

I got to wondering about The Wheel Smith, so I gave them a call. I talked to the owner Bob Sage, he said they are still very much in business and growing every year.

Their web site is www.thewheelsmith.net

Bob is a great guy and easy to work with.

Lonnie,

I am so glad to hear that!! My apologies go out to Bob and his crew. Its good to know they are still at it. The work they did on my wheels are awesome.

Thanks for the correction.

Jim Carter is working on having some new wheels made. 8 lug, 15" one piece with the correct backspacing for the AD truck. Problem is that the wheels of progress turn slowly when you're dealing with Taiwan and US import laws. 6 months ago I was informed of this, and was told it could take 6 months to 2 years before he has them.

As for finding 8 lug wheels, go to your local truck salvage. Ford, GM and Dodge used the same bolt pattern, GM used a smaller hub. On the front the larger hub size won't make a difference on a GM. On the rear it will, because the hub needs a close fit around the axle hub to carry the load.

There are two other issues that you need to address. Backspacing and wheel width. Measure from the edge of the rim to the inner hub face (on the back of the wheel) to get the correct spacing. If it is too deep, the wheel won't clear the tie rod ends. The other issue is rim width. It's tough to find the older, narrower rims.

If you're running original hubcaps, you will need to transfer your clips to the newer wheels. All of the older caps have the same internal diameter for the hubcaps, but they don't all use the same clips. And they don't make new clips for the 3/4 ton.

Some folks mentioned stockton wheel.

Anyway, I remembered reading this long thread from people who have had bad experiences with them:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57747&highlight=stockton+wheel

I personally have not dealt with them, but just sharing some information. In that thread, some folks mention different shops and so forth.

-W

One issue that nobody has addressed is the diameter of the brake drums, particularly in the rear. 1-piece wheels designed for tubeless tires have a drop-center section to allow the tire bead to be pried over the rim, and some 3/4 ton brake drums are too big to allow the small-diameter part of the wheel to fit. If the drop-center section is spaced out far enough to clear the drum, the tread centerline is way too wide to fit under the fenders. 16.5" tubeless tires/rims are the same overall height as 15's, but the inside dimension of the rim is big enough to fit over the brake drums. Finding 15" wheels with the correct ID and offset might be difficult or impossible.
Jerry

Check the threads here. I used 16x6 trailer rims. Look like standard steel rims. Have photos linked (somewhere). No clearance problems on the front. Haven't tried the rear yet, but expect no trouble.

Ford 3/4 ton and 1 ton VAN rims (F150&F250 Econoline) will fit a 3/4 ton AD with 3/16" shims on the front. These rims are very common, but they're 16". I have them on my GMC.