The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 16.5” wheels??? DON’T DO IT!!!

All the asking, pleading etc, didn’t do me any good this time. I’ve been asking everyone for a couple of months now about 16.5” tires, buddies, tire guys, dealers, forums and the subject of 16.5 tires was just casually passed off. So now that I have committed and have eight or ten wheels and invested in blasting and expensive paint and I’m finally getting serious about finding tires I’m finding that they are almost non-existent. Cooper only has one 16.5” tubeless radial tire in their catalog, SRM II Radial LT, 8.75R16.5LT, that will work with these wheels and come close to the original tires. The aspect ratio is all wrong as close as I can figure somewhere in the 60series, so they are gonna look fat on the truck but the overall diameter is close to the originals. I’ve been looking online for several days now for some other choices but I can’t find anything else.
So just for you guys that are thinking about using 16.5” wheels, STAY AWAY FROM THEM they’ve gone the way of the Bata, and eight track, etc!!!!

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I am fastly approaching the need for wheels. You have said enough. Thanks for the advice. I will stay away from 16.5 and go for 16 or 17.

Denny,

Are you saying your original tires were 27 inches in diameter? That would be the diameter of a 60 series 8.75R16.5 tire and normally LTs don't have that low a ratio. What was the width of the original tire, 7.60?

The 8.75R 16.5" Cooper tire that I have coming is 29.42" dia., with a 6.75" tread width. Here is my mistake, 16.5" rim gives you ...Oops %^$#&* , I forgot to divide by two. I get 12.92"/2=6.46"(side wall ht)and the over all width is 8.4". So 6.4"/8.6"=.751 or I guess it's really a series 75 after all, my mistake.

My bias plies were 29.5" with a tread width of 6" and over all width of around 8", I guess they are somewhere around 85 series.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

16.5 ,s are hard to mount true & hard to balance.

I wish you hadn't said that! I'm waiting on spacer/adapters, tires, spent money on blasting and paint not to mention the four wheels with tires that I have here.
They sure come off the rim easy, why would they be hard to mount and any harder to balance than any other tubless wheel????

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I didn't know that they were; I really liked them on my 68 Ford truck.

I'll be running them on my 63 4X4, but they will be 35" mud style tires. I've already bought some 8 bolt aluminum slots to run on it,
Scott

you might want to check with Coker tires.
DJ

Denny with those "FAT" tires we're going to see more of you on the HI PO.

I ran 16.5's on the rear of my 59 Burb with a Dana 60 8-lug rear end. Once the beads are seated on the rims, they really don't give any problems, but getting that tapered bead to take air and seal up is a real adventure. I used a can of starting fluid and a match, like we did on the 14.5" mobile home tires and the 18-wheeler 22.5" and 24.5" tires. Give the inside of the tire a short squirt of starting fluid, wait about 10 seconds, and toss a lit match at it. Stand back, or get ready to lose most of the hair on your forearm. As soon as the bead seats from the bang, put air pressure to the valve stem.

A safer way to inflate tapered-bead tires involves a 10-gallon air tank with a 2" ball valve attached. Fill the tank to 100 PSI, aim the nozzle at the gap between the tire and the rim, and yank the ball valve open. Wear ear protection; the noise of the rush of air is impressive!

Tapered bead tires were developed to aid on-the-road tire changing, as they don't require any sort of machine to break down the beads. Just deflate the tire, and the bead separates from the rim. A couple of long pry bars are all that's needed to do a change on the shoulder of the road.
Jerry

Ok, Ok, so I'm not the purest that I thought I was! See Big, now that ya got to know me, I’m not so normal after all am I? But if I want to keep my “big old wife” happy and get her to go for a ride once in awhile I have to do something. Those square tires are shaking both our dentures out of place not to mention what it’s doing to the suspension and light bulbs.

I gonna keep my set of split rims and new bias plies hangin’ on the wall for those days I want to impress the VCCA judges. Of course I’ve had the truck for a tad over a year and I haven’t seen a VCCA judge yet, they’re bout as scarce as a Shmoo. You would think that after having one whole summer under my belt that I would have been able to find a VCCA sanctioned event somewhere around the Chicago area.

Enough of that, now to keep the wheels turning, Scott, how ya doin? There seems to be a lot more 16.5” tires available in the flotation tires. I don’t understand that, I would think that because with the shallow angled bead that the 16.5 tires would have more of a problem off road. I would expect the deeper straight-sided bead seats to be more popular, but what do I know.

Dana, guys like you are the main reason that I bother to spend all this time writing about the stuff that I find. Hopefully it will save you some of the same headaches that I’m going through. I gotta say, that my hats off to anyone that attemps a 3/4 ton AD restoration. And I’ve said it before, you guys with the 1/2 ton trucks got it made.

So at this point we have; Rear has Wheels from a 1980 Chevy C20, with 9.50R 16.5”, 30.43” tall by 7.15” tread width with adequate clearance, around one inch. The original hubcaps will fit flush and inside the lip with clips added. The crown on Repro caps is too shallow and hits on the axle flange.
Fronts are the same 1980 Chevy C20, with 8.50R 16.5”, 29.42” tall by 6.75” tread width using 1.25” thick Skulte hubcentric/lugcentric 6061 billet adapters with 1/2”-20 lugs. These can remain mounted on the hub if the original split rims are used. And the original or reproduction hub caps will fit the fronts with clips installed.
That’s about it. Other than to say that the 16.5” rims I got off of a ’77 Chevy 4x4 will not take the stock hubcaps. The center is just a little to small and capture ring in the hub cap will not fit inside.
Oh, and one other thing, this has been the most expensive task that I have undertaken on this truck sofar. But I still haven't painted it!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I'm doing good if being too busy is good (which it is). I'm very deep into this 48 Fleetmaster that I'm building. I have the entire drivetrain fitted and installed and am working on the steering and pedal placement inside the car. A lot of trial and error fitting, but going alright I guess.

My 16.5 tires are of the mudder and off road style. I love the look of the old school aluminum slots and B.F. Goodrich makes the exact sized tire I need for these rims, 35 x 10 x 16.5. The price is comparable to other sizes and I know I won't actually be off-roading my restored truck so the 16.5's will do me just fine. This thing will be more of a towing rig than anything, probably will never see incliment weather again. It's the "look" more than anything.

What is normal with truck guys anyway? We're the most anal group there is! You fit right in.
Scott