The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts New 20" wheels for my '50 two ton

My tire dealer won't mount new tires on my 1950 GMC two ton chassis. They don't like the split rim or all the corrosion. I want to retain the five bolt front and ten bolt rears. They told me rims are available and that I could weld my hubs to them. Any ideas? Also, radial or bias ply 8.25 x 20's? I hope to drive it a lot with decent loads on the flat bed and a trailer.

Hy BigBolt Bancroft, if you go to "Tech Tips" then go to 1.5 ton and larger, there is quite a lot of info on wheels for the big trucks, hope that helps.

I suggest you check with an other tire dealer. If the rims can be cleaned up, they might be used and save you a ton of money.

When this tire dealer said rims were available, did he mean rims without centers.
When you say hubs can be welded I take it you mean the wheel centers from your old wheels could be welded to new rims. yes/no
He didn't happen to tell you where you can get new rims did he ?

I did that trick with 26 in tractor wheels last year. It's a bunch of work but I'd do it again to replace my widow makers on my 2ton.
Got any idea where rims can be had ?
Dan

I have the same dilemma with a GMC 2 ton. I keep thinking I will find some wheels other than the Firestone because I can still remember when they were on most of the trucks that brought grain into country elevators. But suddenly they are all gone. Open center wheels are still available in both tube type and tubeless. If I don't find some pretty soon, I will probably weld some up. It shouldn't be too hard because I have a large brake drum lathe.

Thanks. I will try that. They don't look that bad.
Mark

I hope to find some too if mine are conclusively deemed unsafe.

I did mean remove my centers and weld them to new wheels. If I find them I will post the source here.
Mark

THank you for the link! As usual, Grigg gave me more to think about than I knew I didn't know! I am heading down several paths now. Does anyone have six '56 to '59 22.5 inch wheels they want to sell?
Mark

With the cost of shipping, it would make sense to look locally first.

John

I think universal tire offers new lock ring type 20" wheels You have to weld your centers in. I haven't checked their widths or prices.

As far as switching old centers to new rims the welding part is easy the hard part is taking the centers out of the wheel.
I've looked for almost a year now for those 56-59 wheels and only came up with one set and they were promised to another guy.
If you guys know where there are some please let me know because they don't seem easy to find.
I've made numerous phone calls searching for them and some guys have no idea what I'm taking about and would need a picture to understand which makes the search more difficult.

Dan

I have been exploring all options for months trying to determine if there are tubeless rim blanks available to weld onto stock centers. The problem I incurred was that the
tubeless rims have a recess in the center to allow for the tire to sit in that recess while the bead is being pulled onto the rim.
The brakes on these trucks are so big that the recess will not fit over the rear drums. I finally found a truck with decent stock rims, and I'll mount them myself. A few heavy straps around the wheel will prevent any disasters while inflating them. The biggest key to success with split ring wheels is checking and cleaning very carefully for any corrosion or defects in the slot or on the ring.

I posted about a year ago about my experience with Stockton Wheels. My 2 ton 1950 COE had 8.25x20 tires on the true widow maker wheels (Firestone RH5). From my research this is the one type of split rim you don't want to mess with. The others, if in good condition, can be used, if handled properly. Stockton took 22.5 radial rims and fabricated new centers with the proper hub diameter and bolt pattern. With 9R22.5 tires, the diameter is exactly the same as the old bias ply. It cost me $275 per wheel to have them fabricated and then you have to add the cost of the new tire. Kind of pricey, but I will have (when the truck is finished) a radial ride that is safe. The wheels have Budd style handholds and look period (OK, I know, not to all you experts) These wheels fit just fine over those big drums, despite the center recess. Call the owner, he knows what you need. I recall his name is Frank.

Kent

Hey LHD, can you post pictures of Stockton Wheels' work. I'd like to see your wheels if it isn't too much trouble.

I also have heard some nightmares about the amount of time Stockton Wheel takes. There are quite a few guys that will never use them again. Personally, if you aren't in a hurry, then I think it is worth it, but someone had a 4 or 5 month carnival ride with them. I can't remember the details. My suggestion is just handle business carefully with them, get a time estimate and don't pay in advance and check their work when completed.

Kardude67, are you sure you measured right? 22.5 is the tubeless replacement for a 20" tube required. We run all 22.5 drop center wheels on our fleet and they will fit over a GMC 2 ton drum. We still have a few 22.5 open center wheels (Dayton type) laying and they fit right over the drum.

Tomcoe, you are embarassing me, I haven't figured out how to post pictures on a link, but if you PM me with your email I can get one off of my digital camera and send it you. Like I said, they look period, but an expert will pick up on the drop center and know they are not original.

And as Crenwelge has emphasized, the wheels fit nicely over my 2 ton drums with no problem. Regarding Stockton, they took a little longer than they said, maybe 2 months total, but I am so used to delays from vendors, I didn't notice. The workmanship looks very good. The price included powder coating them.

PM sent...no way...the only reason I know is my wife taught me....and powder coated included seems like a good deal.

I'll just say that I had some wheels made by Stockton... They looked nice, took forever longer than all the promised delivery dates they gave me (one accurate one at however long would have been fine, lies are not). Wheels were not made to the backspacing I had requested (off close to an inch) which was correctly noted on the packing slip, no question they were wrong. They offered to make me new ones if I shipped the old ones back to CA at my expense and waited months and months again.
They just fit as they were, I used them. Did stop by and visit on a round the country trip in same truck, seem to be nice folks, but I'll never deal with them over the phone again if at all.

Grigg

I contacted Stockton for a quote on wheels, asking for a 22.5 tubeless wheel,10 bolt,7.25 bolt circle, 4.75 center hole.
Finally a solution to the wheel problem, well kinda, if the cost is not factored in, and baring any other problem as Grigg pointed out.

Six wheels in bare metal at over 1500 bucks plus freight, then 6 tires,valve stems,mounting and some tax.
That figure is twice what I paid for the truck and then some.
Does anyone have Santa's cell number cause my Piggy Bank is a little lean right now !
But, it does provide a possible solution to the wheel dilemma.

Dan

I think these are the pics of LHD's truck IIRC. I'd run the other way from Stockton. I drop in at several sites and the horror stories about them are pretty wide spread. One guy quizzed Frank at length about their method of changing the bolt circle. Sounds like they take a standard Accuride wheel, weld a blank plate to the face, machine out the original wheel's center, weld the inner seam, then machine the needed new bolt pattern and center bore. It sort of looks like that's what was done with LHD's wheels to me. Stu

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll89/truckdog62563/wheels/Stockton225x.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll89/truckdog62563/wheels/Stockton225.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll89/truckdog62563/wheels/Stockton225xx.jpg

Those look like regular 22.5 steel wheels that you can buy at a salvage yard for $25 each. They either took the center out of a Firestone wheel or made a center. That is something that would be rather simple using a large brake drum lathe. And how much did they cost?

My guess when we first saw the pictures was they took a 22.5" probably 6 lug Budd because they're often narrow rims (or possibly 10 lug), torched the center and made and welded in new plates/center with the right bolt circle.
Certainly functional.

Grigg

The donor wheels really only had to be the correct width. Could have been any bolt pattern, and either new or used. Remember somebody counted LHD's hand holes. The flatness of the face suggests there's really no other likely explanation for the technique used to do them. If the donor wheels were new to start with, and like Grigg says probably a bolt pattern that wasn't in big demand, it's reasonable that they could be priced at $200+ retail per wheel before the custom work was even started.

I bought a set of remanufactured 19.5s (5 lug x 8") a while back from a different company that had been returned by another customer. The customer didn't think they were balanced well enough for motor home highway use, but for my slow old rigs they're fine. On these they'd remounted old centers in new tubeless outer rims. I paid what I was told were the material costs of $85 each. Assuming that's close to correct, there's a fair amount of profit beyond labor costs in any of these custom wheels. Stu

I just noticed that the fronts are 6 hole, and the rear pictured is 5 hole. I hope that isn't the way they came from stockton or I'duve been po'd.

Truckdog, Thanks for the pics of those wheels.
They might function well but I'm not looking for a wheel that looks like that.
That wheel just won't make it past QC here at my place. I've got better looking wheels on my tractors.
Dan

Try a truck stop at the edge of town, there is always a truck stop at the edge of town. They more than likely will have the proper equipment to do the job. Most "tire shops" just don't have the equipment or experience to change a split rim. Bob