The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Change 18" to 16" wheels?-PLEASE HELP

I have a 46 1-ton truck with dry-rotted 7x18" tires. [One came apart last week.] I have priced 7 x 18 replacement tires from Coker-costing $1100 + $30/tire mounting = about $1400 bucks.

Should I replace with 8 bolt 16" wheels? My studs are 'smaller' than the mounting studs for the later 8 bolt-16" wheels. Are there lug nuts which will fit the smaller studs-and will shim the 'new' 16" wheels to fit the larger studs?

Or do I have to change all the studs? Couldn't find info in Search. PLEASE HELP!

Have you tried anyone else besides Coker? They have a captive market it seems. Try Lucas or Universal. Incidentally it would cost me almost that much for 16" tires up here.

I would recommend you try some 8R19.5 tires.
You can either buy new wheels, or find some old ones, not to hard to find.

I assume you have dual wheels, either way, wheels are available.
Lug nuts should not be a problem. Ford used some big nuts with small holes and a large chamfer, perhaps they can be found in the right size, or you can make or modify some.

Grigg

Tucker tire has cheap imported tires, they may have the 18" ones?
http://www.tuckertire.com/

What are your plans for the truck?
How do you use it, and how often?
How original do you want it to look?

Grigg

The problem I have with swapping to something else is that I love the look of those old 18 inch dually type wheels.

I'm trying to find a way to modify the wheels, probably move the centers to a smaller wheel, to keep the look and run smaller tires.

One of the things I did today was look for 16 inch tires to fit one of my cars. I've pretty much decided the best solution is to buy 17 or 18 inch wheels. Seeing you needing to go the other way made me chuckle. Performance car tires are a whole different game than tires for old trucks...

Thanks for the posts. The truck is a bi-weekly driver, used to move lumber, firewood, and other heavy items. I plan to keep it. The truck is so distinctive, I am unconcerned about the appearance of the tires and wheels.

Am a bit leery of modifying wheels, feeling that rebalancing would be impossible. Anyone got a line on some lug nuts to shim up the larger holes in 16" rims?

Thanks, all.

jones You can get 18 inch bias ply at Specialty Tire of America. And 18's are what look best

http://www.stausaonline.com/index.html . I got mine throught the TIRE FACTORY INC . Look under light truck bias ply. I think i paid abou t $120 and they came with a tube protector

You're going to encounter a major problem with the inside dual wheels on the rear end. The brake drums are too big to fit a 16" wheel over them, especially a drop-center wheel for tubeless tires. The correct tubeless replacement for an 18" wheel is a 19.5", usually found on old 1-ton step-van bread trucks, etc. Check with a local bakery to see where they dispose of their retired delivery vans. They might even have replacement wheels available for a bargain. The 19.5's will be the same height as an 18" tube-type tire. Those tires can be somewhat pricey, too, but they eliminate the hassle with split-ring tube-type tires.
Jerry

Many thanks for the posts. Coker is charging $118 for the tires-which seems about what others are getting.

As I have someone willing to change tires this time-will stay with the 18"s.

Thanks, Jerry. Will shop for a set of 19.5" wheels as later replacements. Will add these to spare engine, etc, in barn.

Pretty soon, will be able to build another truck from spare parts being accumulated.

Thanks again to all.
Jones

I searched for 700-18 and found several listings for Highway tires size 7.00 x 18. They all appear to be the Highway brand and are within a few dollars of the same price. Its time I buy some tires, or give up on my 18 inch wheels.

Lug nuts should not be a problem. I think that yours would be 1/2" so just look for 1/2" bulge nuts and I believe they should be 60 deg. on the bevel. That's what I did with mine and I have plenty of bevel face still showing.