The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Converted a Chevy 1/2 ton 3100 to a Dually?

I have a 1951 1/2 ton 3100 Chevy PU that I am starting to restore. I think I want to convert it to have dual rear wheels by adding to the inside of the rear fenders to widen them and adding the outside wheels. Has anyone done this?

All the dually wheels I have seen are made for 8 lug wheels. So you would need a 1 ton rear axle. If you want the axles to match, then a 1 ton front axle would be required. And the frame is wider on the 1 ton. 3/4 ton stuff might work though. You can tub the bed like hot rodders do for wider wheels.

The problem is that trucks are already light in the back and unless you are doing it for looks or to add a load, you will end up with less traction.

I had rims widened once to 18" at a shop that specalized in that sort of thing.If all you wanted was wide rims you could do that or take your rims and have the centers turned out and dualie ones put into other rims.

I remember seeing an add in J.C. Whitney in their turcks section about an adapter for adding dual wheels to the rear of a truck. They even sell dualie fenders to go with this adapter. I'm thinking it was between $200 to $300 for the adapters alone.
larry