The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Thinking of going with radial tires ... what need?

We are thinking we should go with a radial tire. What do you recommend? Also do we have to get a different kind of rim to run radial tires? This stuff is all new to me so any advice is appreciated.



Thanks

We need more info, please.

year of truck
size of truck
size of wheel

Try a search on: +radial +tire +size

We have 915-15 Tires on the truck now, it is a 41 (maybe 46) 3/4 Ton Chevy.

You'll want to consider getting single peice wheels for it, later Econoline 250 wheels might work, possible with a small spacer. That will bump it up to a 16" tire, but that opens up available tire sizes with the correct load range. A 215/85/16 would be good, keeps the proper tall and narrow look.

From a van?


Are the bolt patterns the same?

I looked at your pics, it appears that you have an 8 lug truck. The Econoline wheels will be the same pattern, as will most 8 lug truck wheels. I only specfically mention the Econoline because they are so dirt common, finding wheels from one should be relatively easy.

You need '98 or older Econoline wheels

Econoline wheels are the same up to at least '08. The F250/350 truck did change the bolt pattern in '99, though.

I could get steelies and possibly install the original moonshape hubcaps somehow... Has anyone else done this?

Thanks for that info. I just assumed they changed to metric when the F-250s did.

You can get hubcap clips and install them on the new steelies. They should work and look pretty good. I believe Denny Graham did this on his 3604. He'd be more than glad to share pictures. Another option is to cut out your old rim centers and weld them into a 1 piece rim blank. Just food for thought.

“Econoline wheels are the same up to at least '08. The F250/350 truck did change the bolt
pattern in '99, though.”
Bill, isn’t the F250 a ¾-ton 8 lug truck and if the were the same up to 2008 then how
could they have changed the bolt pattern in 1999???? That would make them the same up
to 1999 right????
ksullivan, if you’re not interested in scrounging thru junk yards looking for used wheels which
might be bent and probably will need to be blasted and painted or powder coated then
new ones are readily available
By “Steelies” I assume you mean the steel artillery style wheel? If originality isn’t your
goal then there are a ton of options open. If you were going to buy new wheels then there
are several wheel manufactures that can make wheels with the proper back space and
your choice of wheel centers. I wouldn't even attempt changing the wheel centers
my self unless I only planned on driving the truck across the yard.
Attaching the original style “baby moon” hub caps can be done on most wheel centers
using the clips that are carried by most of the vendors. You will probably need to make
some sort of spacer between the clip and wheel to make them work though.
Finding wheels that fit your truck and your fancy without using adaptors or spacers is not
as simple as just opening the book and ordering them. You will have to sift thru a bunch
of suggestions and do some leg work in order to find a set.
DG

I know that the wheels I had for my 1994 F350 will not fit my 2006 F350. My understanding, not backed by working on both types, is that the Econoline (or E series) stayed with the 8 on 6.5 pattern for several years after the F series went to 8 on 170(I think that is the current size).
The link below shows some bolt patterns but doesn't mention the E series.
http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse.com/Ford___Vehicle_Bolt_Pattern_Reference.cfm

Denny, I hope I wasn't stepping on any toes by my suggestion. I found an old link where you shared some pictures. I couldn't get them to come back up, that's why I threw your name out there.

On cutting out the rim centers, I've been contemplating this for a while. The centers on my 54 are riveted on. I'm hoping with a grinding wheel and an air hammer, I can get them off without too much damage. I found some rim blanks that should work. I'm planning on making a jig that sits over the top of the rim and I can adjust it at 4 different points and tack the centers in place. Then I'll put them on the spin balancer at my Dad's shop to check to see how true they are. After that It's the final weld in.

No problem here guy, that’s why I don’t hide my name or lock people out of my
photo albums.
A lot of different things enter into fitting a rim with new wheel centers. I gathered up
a full set of 15” 3600 split rims a few years back and did just about what you are contemplating.
The rivets are flush rivets so I drilled part way thru the center then used an air hammer
with a punch end to drive them out. They would have to be machined to fit in the rim.
Then, it would take a pretty sophisticated jig to position them for welding. Also the welding would
have to be very high quality because of the stresses imposed on the wheels. After which I’m
sure you would have to do a straightening operation to true them up. Good rims run true within
a few thousands of an inch also I believe they would have to be balanced after the retrofit.
The wheel makers have the capability to do all of this.

I was planning to blast the original centers and send them off to have them mounted in
a 15” or 16” single piece tubeless rim. I was gong to go thru all of this to have wheels that
were hub-centric, the proper back spacing and would accept the original hubcaps and clear the
full floating axle hub on my stock Eaton HO52 rear axle.
Denny G

Denny, Ford, for whatever reason, changed the bolt pattern on the pickups to an 8x170mm (8x6.7). The vans stayed with the 8x6.5. I would say that the vans didn't change simply because so many companies use them in their fleets, if cetain components that could easily be swapped, like wheels, became non-interchangable, fleet buyers might look elsewhere.

Oh, I think I'm seeing the light now, I'm not a Ford guy so I guess I’m getting the ‘E’
series mixed up with the ‘F’ series.

So I guess the 8 bolt rims we should be looking for are from late 80’s thru ‘08 E-250/350
and F-250/350 thru ‘99, do that sound correct????

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I went with the Ford Econoline 8 lug rims/radials on my 53 3/4 ton, huge improvement. And I used some repro hub cap clips from Chevs of the 40s to install the original hub caps on these rims.
The hard part was locating the correct rim to accept the large 3/4 ton cap.

Had to space out the rear wheels a little as the caps hit the hub
itself. On front it was close, tie rod hit the rim. Later learned that a 1 ton tie rod would work and does not have that long end.
Here's a link to some pics of these rims.

Best of luck
http://rides.webshots.com/album/577391609MmVRIU

F250/350 up to '97. There were no '98s and the '99s were metric.

I am fine with using the van wheels as long as I can utilize the original hubcaps. Like the look of the original but want something that will be safe to run radial tires... But is it necessary to change the tie rod's to accommodate the new one piece rims?


Yes by steelies I mean Artillery style wheels.

I would not try to cut out the wheel centers either, let alone trust myself to weld it into a new wheel blank....

Thanks for everyone's input!!!

bueller?

I have located 4 new 97 e-250 steel wheels but I dont want to order them until I know if I have to change the tie rod ends or not. I would like to order tomorrow if possible.

Have the seller measure the backspacing for you. Then you can be sure.