The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1950, 3604 - My old gal is bouncing her back end around!!!

Both are 3/4 tonners. K is a GMC and C is Chevrolet. darn! I wish I was closer so I could try my rim on your truck, Denny. Ought to be the same thing, and my guy said they're everywhere. Clearance to the tie rod is minimal, mind you, but there. I've packed at least one 4,000# payload since I put them on, so I know they work.

Denny, we used two methods, depending on whether the offset needed to be changed or not. I set up a front hub between centers, bearings and all, and used a bolted-on lathe dog and a faceplate to drive it. With the wheel bolted to this fixture, I'd cut off one wheel flange with a parting tool, and prepare another wheel in a similar manner. Then, with the center removed from the second wheel, I'd tack weld the two wide pieces together and check for runout. If everything ran true, we'd TIG weld the seam with the wheel assembly still in the jig. Short passes in several locations would minimize any tendency to warp.

If the offset needed to be changed, I'd remove the wheel center and fit it to another outer wheel, using the same turning fixture.
Jerry

Denny,

Don't look too close. It's only been brush painted by a 6 and 8 year old with some assistance from Dad. This way you can have some fun with different color schemes before you invest in it.

I only have about a 3/4" clearance on my tie rod ends, but it's below the rim top so no buldging tire issues. I think the 5" backspace would rub like yours.

The "K" prefix was for 4WD chassies and the "C" prefix for 2wd. The '73-86 series used the C/K 10/20/30 for 2wd/4wd 1/2,3/4,and 1 ton models. Although 1987 was the same style truck they used different prefixes, I believe because of the new EFI Vortec engines. I think suburbans used the same prefixes, not sure.

The next series from 1988-1998 used C/K 1500/2500/3500 model designations but were metric sizes except for the 3500.

I see, you're using a front hub for a mandrel to hold the patient for the surgery. Split the rim and then align a previously split section of a second rim for tack welding. So you were widening the rims, right? Or using the mandrel to hold the center while resetting the offset on a bare rim. Cool! I have a big old Lodge and Shipley 16” lathe that I am restoring. I have the headstock finally mounted up and am working on a drive reduction now. I had planed to use it for resurfacing a flywheel or drums or maybe now aligning a wheel.
Still gotta find some donor rims to get the centers.
Thanks 641, that clears things up, I’ll print that out and add it to the archive. I was looking at a bunch of C20 vans and they didn’t have the full floating axles under them. Also saw a bunch of K20 carcasses out there, most all had the axles and engines pulled.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yep, we're on the same page, Denny. The class the Tiger was running in the hill climb required "stock-appearing" wheels, no mags, etc., so I used the original 5 1/2" wide wheels and stretched the width out to a little over 8", then we ran some low-profile Bridgestone racing tires. I used a similar procedure to add 4" to the width of a set of wheels for a 4WD tractor-pulling Dodge truck. I rolled a piece of 4" flat stock to match the diameter of the wheel center and inserted it into a cut-apart rim. No speed or balance concerns on those rims because pulling is a low-speed sport. Those wheels ended up 12" wide!
Jerry

Denny, I'm running 16" #%rd wheels from a 99 econoline 150 on my 3/4 ton. These wheels are ubiquitous=$cheap. I have used rubber with decent tread on them. Radials above all else (and i mean adjusting the steering box, new steering box bearings, etc.) made a huge difference in handeling. You need a 3/16" shim on the fronts-thats it. You can use these for the daily driving and then swap the originals with the built in speed bump for showing.

Isn't a 150 series a 1/2 ton?
That wouldn't be an eight lug wheel would it?
And how do the stock 3/4 ton hub caps fit the ford wheels?

I got my other two rear tires back yesterday and I took the old gal out for a ride today. It's the first time I drove it with four all new 7.00x15 bias plies on her. A little thumpin' for a few miles but that cleared up and all I was feeling was the thumpin' from the road bumps, and you feel every one of them in a 1950, 3/4 ton. Took her up to 55 and no more rearend bounce, just the normal bouncing round you would expect from a stiff old timer like her.
So much for those old snow tires!
I'm still gonna keep my eyes open for a set of split rims to get the centers out of.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL