The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk tires and rims

Fellas, I think I'm going to go with 15" for my tires and rims on my 3100. Any suggestions as to a good workable combo for this occasional driver, and possibly alternate sources for the steel rims? thanks tools 94

I like the 15 in. wheels also. Any wheel on the GM trucks up to 71 will fit & beyond that from a 4 wheel drive. Many custom alum. ones are available. if you want the original look the early models with the older hubcaps are sharp. What really looks good on these old trucks are the rally wheels with the center caps & crome rings.

To add to what Wrenchbender says, '71-'87 (pickup) or '91 (Blazer and Suburban) will work. After '88, the backspace is too deep, and the wheels wil rub the drag link and tie rods. Also, stay away from wheels for japanese trucks. They wil bolt up, and the 7" will clear the tie rods (barely) but they will hit the drag link on a left hand turn.
I also like the Ralley wheels on the older trucks, either the Corvette ('67-'82, available aftermarket in 6 lug) or the Blazer ('73-'91) style. I have the latter.

Hey guys,Thanks for the info. I was wondering about tire profile and I appreciate ypur insight in steering me clear of any potential problems Thanks again,, Jim

The profile will depend on what width tire you run and how you want the truck to sit. Most likely, you'll want to run soemthing like a 235/75/15 or perhaps a 255/70/15, which will fill the wheel wells nicely. I would avaifd anything lower than a '65 series tire on a truck, they just aren't up to carrying the load like the taller tires are.

Hi, I went for the Coker 235/75/15s to replace the original 670s. Went with 15X6 wheels and the result is just great. Improved the ride by roughly 500 percent and I love the look - not original granted, but had to bend for the overall improvement in performance. Per responses here on the site I could have gone even wider with no problem, but these were just fine for me. Got all my advice from fellow Stovebolters right here --- and they were right on. Best of luck on your tires ----
Dale

I went from 16in to 225/70r15 and really like the look/stance. I have rally wheels with beauty rings. I'm trying to figure out how to use the original GMC Hubcap that came on the 51. The rally wheels have 3 holes that the center cap bolted to. I put the clips in these holes but they don't touch the cap. Has anyone got any GMC center caps from the 70's

I run 15x8 Rallye wheels from a K5 Blazer with 31x10,5 tires on my 59 Apache.
They equal about 265/75-15. Works just fine and really helps on the highway rpms, but thats just about the biggest tire you can use. Mine has a couple of leafs added to the springs that combined with the big tires gives it a very tough stance.

You can fit the original style hubcaps to rally wheels here's a picture. http://i103.piczo.com/view/3/h/b/5/2/u/p/w/0/w/z/t/img/i297948060_40856_5.jpg

there's some more detail on this page,
http://millpower-race-engineering.piczo.com/?g=45768718&cr=5
you need to scroll down for the section on hubcaps.

stuart

I seen This combo That a fellow Bolter(Fla54Chevy3100) installed on his truck a few months back and saved it in my favorites I thought he did a great job and they really looked sweet !

I got a awesome deal on a set of 18"s That Im running now, BUT when it's time to replace those Im going to go with a set of the 255/70/15

What was said before is all accurate; I just went through the same thing because my '59 Apache came with wide chrome rims. The only thing is, your era truck had wheels with three metal prongs for holding the hubcap. They stick up about an inch, and you can't miss them. Those may be hard to find; they were for me. Instead, I went with the later 6 lug 15 inch wheel. It takes a different hubcap because there are no prongs - instead, they fit on over a wheel that has four "knuckles" that are part of the rim structure; you've probably seen lots of that kind. Anyway,it works, and it looks as good, and nobody but stovebolters would be likely to know it wasn't original to that year. On the other hand, if you want to go totally stock, then take the trouble to dig up the 3 prong orginal type wheels.