The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 49 chevy one ton

I have single wheels on my one ton. Yep 17 inch tube tires . Spit rims . I'm thinking 15 inch wheels would look good. So what's a guy to do short of changing front and rear axles??? Anybody ever do this on their one ton?? It's a pickup w/9ft bed .I have enough steel in my bed sides to make three small cars. Oh, I'm new here too. I love this place! Jerry

Do you have a problem with the rims/tires that are on your truck? I am not as well versed as others in the 3 pc rim arena, but I know people are still driving on them.

My rims were rusting out so I bought 17" wheel/tires (radials) for my 48 1-Ton SRW, and they have just enough room up front to clear the steering components. I would be skeptical on going smaller than that on a radial rim.

What part of Indiana?

I'm from Elkhart In. My wheels and tires are pretty good I just wanted to come down 2 inches to 15 inch . I think that would be lots of trouble though. I appreciate the response Redlegs. Cinci , I use to go there a lot when I was driving truck.

If you think it is slow now with that stock rear end just put smaller diameter tires on it.

I have a 41 1 ton with stock split rims and tube type tires. I changed the rearend to a 3.73 being pushed by a 700R4 overdrive transmission.

I would stay with a 17" rim and run tubeless tires if the split rims make you nervous.

If you think it drives too slow with the 17 inch rims, think about how much slower it will be with 15's. Jerry

Jerry -- It also depends on your opinion of "looking good."

I'm running 17" multi-piece wheels with tubed bias plys on my stock '49 3800. The tall tires (7.50 x 17 to be exact) give good speed (about 50 mph if I push it) and look right on the truck (to me). IMO, 15 inchers would look silly on the big pickup and, as the others have said, would rob you of top-end speed.

Note: My truck is NOT a daily driver and if I take it out of the County, it goes on a trailer (Not that it's a pristine show queen, which it is most certainly NOT but I'd rather keep the miles off it and I don't have a lot of spare time to waste traveling).

Going down to a 15" wouldn't look all that bad if you stuck with a 7.00 or 7.5-15 tires. My 3600 had 15's, but the 3800's sit a little higher in the air. The problem may come with the 15" wheels clearing your brake drums. Don't the 3800's have a 15" drum? I recently purchased a 3800 long bed, but haven't had the wheel off yet.

If you are up for an axle swap; you could go to a lower ratio rear end with a 5 lug set up. You would get the smaller tire you are looking for but the a 4.10 or 3.73/3.53 rear end would more than make up for the loss of speed.

Need to be careful about the brakes if you do that though. There is a lot of weight you need to stop.