The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk New wheels, tires, and hubcaps for a 1953 3600

This is a description of my project to replace the PO wheels and tires on my 1953 3600. I wanted a very retro look, complete with old school rims and hubcaps. You can see pics of “before” which are 225/75 15s, and just did not look right to me. I want to say that I never would have attempted the project without the being able to rely on this great Forum for advice and shared experiences.

To begin with, I read all the old threads. It did seem like there was a trailer wheel out there that would work for me, but I had a hard time finding it. Finally I did locate the wheels, which are very reasonably priced at Nuera Trailer Parts. They were about $53 when I bought them in February, and they now are $57.30 each. When I bought, shipping was free, as a promotion, and it would not hurt to ask. They are very nice people, and were pleased that the wheels would end up on a retro truck. Here is the link and the description:
http://www.nueratrailerparts.com/en...s/Trailer-Wheels-Tires/293/page-1/ALL/0/
Description: Dexstar Wheel - 25-105. Gray power coated, 16" steel wheel features a 8 on 6.5 bolt pattern.

I had hoped to find a wheel with no offset, but that was not possible. These have a modest half inch or so, and I decided to use 8 lug 3/16 aluminum spacers that I bought online from Rims and Wheels for about $12 for the pair. I find that with the original studs, I am getting 8+ turns, and I feel OK with this, but I do check the nuts every couple of weeks.

The next step was to drill the holes and mount the clips. This turned out to be much easier than I thought. Very little precision measuring was needed. You can see my drill press angles so the holes are perpendicular to the flat spots on the wheel. I found that with a ½ nylon spacer, you could mark the hole so the clip would just about touch the rim – no need to get any fancier than that. Please see [pics for details. My first one was drilled and tapped. Then I decided that was too much work, and not necessary. So the rest use a 10-24 round head bolt, inserted from the inside out, so it will not protrude into the drum. The bolt passes through a split lock washer, the wheel, the nylon collar (you could use aluminum or steel) the clip, and is topped by a nyloc nut. I don’t think vibration will be a problem.

The clips were bought from one the many on-line sources. They go for about $1.50 – 1.75, and I feel that four is just right. You could use more, but I these hold the hubcap very firmly without being too hard to remove. With spacer, they grab at just the right place without any modification.

Next came the paint. I had some left over from the PO paint job, and I wanted to use it to accent the wheels. First I used a spray self-etching primer. Then I used a wonderful product that you may know about – the PreVal sprayer which, for $6.99 at Ace Hardware, includes your sprayer, power cartridge, and your paint bottle. One cartridge will handle 16 oz. of paint, and you can buy replacements. Can’t beat that with a stick. Cheap, simple, and very good results.

Final step was the ¾ ton hubcaps for about $50 each from several online sources. I am delighted with the results. Right now I am working on the driver’s side spare mount bracket, so a fifth hubcap and wheel will go on display.

The tires were on sale – they are just about the biggest you can get away with. They are 215/85 16, and have about a 30” diameter. With this change, I gained 4-5 mph at the same engine speed. I already had done a gear swap from 4.56 to 4.10, but that’s another story. I now run just under 2400 rpm at 50 mph. Not bad for a highway driving.

Here is the link to the pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=b0c7092c179e7bce&sid=8AZOGLNu0bMmOV

I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have. Good luck!

Harry

Pretty sharp, Harry!
A good rule to follow when dealing with lug nuts is to have a minimum of the thread diameter worth of threads going throuhg the nut. For example, a 1/2-20 lug nut should thread on to at least 1/2" worth of threads on the stud.

Looks like they belong on there. Thanks for the write-up.

Can "trailer wheels" be used safely on a truck? The stresses put on the wheels of a truck are higher than those on a trailer. Anybody have any thoughts on this ?

The trailer wheels are not spec'd to be used on anything but trailers, as far as I know. Having said that, they appear to be a little heavier in construction.

By the way Harry, that is a nice writeup and they look great on your truck. I had read that the newly made hubcaps don't fit over the rear hubs but apparently they did on your truck.

Thanks, guys. Actually, I breathed a sigh of relief when they did fit the rear, because I had forgotten to measure. Spent most of my time worrying about the front, with offsets and clearances, and so on. Anyway, they do fit!

I am very happy with the results. I spent a lot of time on this project (and $) but it was 100% worth it. This is exactly the look I wanted.

As to the issue of "trailer wheels," I am not really concerned. These wheels are rated for loads far in excess of what I will ever put on them. Also, I know that many other bolters have used trailer wheels, and there has never been a reported problem, to my knowledge.

I'm not sure the stresses on a trailer are less than a truck... Many 8-lug trailers haul in excess of 20,000lb. I know they are tandems and duals, but the weight is still there. The side-loads while cornering will be little different than the rear wheels of the truck, and the fronts would only be much higher if you are throwing your truck into the corners doing a slalom course. I would suspect an upgraded suspension would be in place if that was the case.
Example: a tandem axle, single wheel trailer hauling a 1954 3/4ton on the deck. The loads on those wheels would be the same as the load on the truck wheels if it was carrying the trailer!

Now... we need pictures.



-W

The link to the pix is in the initial post.

So these trailer wheels fit over the 3/4 ton rear hub? I have been looking for a replacement for my original split wheels on my 52 GMC 3/4 ton and I think I may have just found them. The free shipping on over $99 orders is still going on now.

Does anyone know if these trailer wheels will fit on a 1949 3/4 ton? I'm not familiar with the similarities/differences between the years. Were tubeless tires used?

Just curious, how did they balance out? I had to replace a set of wheels on my Dodge Dually because I slid into a curb and broke one of the mags. The steel wheels I chose were junk, wouldn't stay balanced.

Vern, new tires were mounted and balanced about two months ago. I've driven maybe 400 miles on them, and I don't sense any problem. Course, I don't go real fast. But I do get up to 50 or 55 once in a while. These trailer wheeels have been excellent in all respects.

Harry

Another thought I just had is this. A trailer does not put power torque or steering torque on the wheels. Maybe that is why I couldn't keep those cheap rims balanced, metal was too soft and bent too easy.

They should fit fine. As far as I am aware the lug pattern is same for all 3/4 AD's.

I have put 2,500 miles on mine with Firestone Destination LE 225/75-R16 tires and they have been fine. I didn't even have to use spacers. I swapped over to 1 ton tie rod + ends to give me clearance for the front wheels. I still have to install the clips for the hub caps though. Given how expensive repop 3/4 hub caps are I think it'll be a while.

Since I couldn't find the 25-105 trailer wheels on Neura's website without using the search box, I sent an inquiry to them. Their response is:

"Yes we still carry that product [25-105 wheels]. Price is $57.30 each plus freight from our Cookeville, TN warehouse. These are not, as you are probably aware, NOT recommended for automotive use however. Though some have used them they are only rated and recommended for trailer usage."

Their website lists free shipping on orders greater than $199. The specs on the wheel: Bolt Pattern: 8 x 6.5"; Rim Capacity: 3700lbs; Offset: .50; Pilot Diameter: 4.89"

Hard to image you could go wrong with a wheel rated at 3700 pounds.

Hilary Smith

Hilary, I have no concern whatsoever about the wheels. One of the bolters recently observed that if you put a 3600 on a tandem trailer with four of the same trailer wheels, you would be carrying the same weight as the truck wheels carry. Granted, some of the forces are different, but when you look at the 3700# ratinmg, the construction, and the welds, it is hard to imagine there would be a problem. That said, I do inspect the wheels regularly, and I would be the first to go in another direction at the slightest indication of a problem. The truck is not subjected to a whole lot of stress. Back in the day, if you loaded up a ton of stuff and went bouncing along the rutted roads, maybe that would be a different story. Your call.

Regarding the trailer wheels on a '49 3/4 ton, is it necessary to swap over to a 1 ton tie rod and end for front wheel clearance, or were you just taking a precaution?

I had to make the swap. With the wheels near full lock to either side the tie rod end would hit the wheel. With the 1 ton ends there is plenty of clearance. 1 ton tie rods (NOS) are fairly easy to come by and new tie rod ends are available for $20 each at AutoZone.

Heres a picture of my truck with those wheels. I thinned down some Rustoleum gloss black and sprayed them. They look pretty close to stock which since I don't have hubcaps is nice.

http://i56.tinypic.com/30ti4qq.jpg

That's a great looking pickup and the wheels look really good!

Anyone know of a similarly original-looking 6-lug trailer wheel that would work for an AD 1/2-ton?

Emailed Neuro and they do have a 6-lug version of this wheel, which looks really similar to the original, but it's a 6.5" lug pattern, unfortunately. If anyone has a link to a new, relatively inexpensive 5.5" lug pattern 16" wheel that would work as a replacement for the 3100 originals, let me know!

I have 55 2nd 3600 and think Dexstar wheels will work.

Thanks

As far as 6 lug go, Try a 70's/80's Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 truck.

On the 8 lugs, I'm using late 80's Ford rims. From my research they used the same wheel from the late 60's up till they changed the bolt pattern in the late 90's and into the new millenium on vans. The Dextar wheels have a little less backspacing than the Ford, so they should fit just fine.

Wheel spacers, try EBay. Hubcaps, good luck on that one. I was lucky and my truck came with them. If you upgrade to new wheels, you'll have to install new hubcap clips too. Most vendors sell them.

What do you ask for at autozone? 1949 chevy 3600 1 ton tie rod ends?

Question are the spacers needed to run these wheels or was this just something you chose to do?