Yes ;
Happy & Safe is good , you forgot _fast_ =8-) .
Speed in old trucks is a relative thing but taking the time to sort out the
loose front end & spring shackles then fitting a good set of _radial_ LT tires
, makes a world of difference .
I ran 16" 6 lug rims on my '49 with Dayton LT's and it stuck to the road like
glue in spite of way too fast in the canyons . they also wore like iron in
spite of heavy Commercial Service and lots of towing , the boob who bought then
destroyed my old '49 prolly threw out the custom made 4" WWW tires I had on it .
I now have a '69 C/10 and it came to me with FUGLY American Racing steel spoked
wheels from , oh , 1972 I'd guess ~ they still had the original blue & red
painted pinstripes amd crappy 14" tires , it took me a while to find a set of
original 15" steel wheels , sadly in 1969 you could get 15" or _16.5_" wheels &
tires , I went down that horrible 16.5" road once , never again .
Happliy I met a nice young fellow who was building an ' Old School ' Truck , he
was shickled titless to get those worthless wheels & tires.... I even gave him
the original chrome lug nuts after I'd cleaned them up a bit .
I always buy my tires by the outer diameter & tread width and my Son insisted I
try Falcon LT tires , they're very good indeed *but* the biggest O.D. they make
is only 28.9" ~ this means my poor old truck cannot go 65 MPH without buzzing
the crap out of it's tiny little 250 CID InLine 6 Banger......
At least they are proper 6 lug 15" factory wheels and are now white and have
the correct painted " poverty " hub caps like a proper Ranch/Farm/Work Truck
ought .
Hopefully the TH350C lock up torque converter tranny I bought , will raise the
usable Highway speed .
You are correct , most Salesmen are not interested in Servicing the Customer ,
they just want to move the highest profit margin junk or clear out old stock or
worse , sell you what _they_ think is " cool man ! " .
-Nate
Jonas wrote :
>
> I forgot to give Nate credit for the "Jonas' solution"! (Thank you for
> sharing this knowledge, not readily available elsewhere! It's amazing how
> little a lot of the thieves in the tire and wheel business actually now about
> their productsÂ…)
>
> I like my truck better without the hubcaps. The truck is Galway green and
> cream and I painted the wheels fire engine red.
>
> I have read of people who have drilled the 16" wheels and inserted the clips
> without a problem, but I think they are a bit small and weenie for those
> macho 16" wheels. It has more of a factory-yard farm look to it now, which I
> prefer.
>
> This is all about driving on radials. If you want to stay with 15" wheels,
> there is probably a set of bias-ply waiting for you at Coker or somewhere,
> for too much money (IMHO). (Right?) Then she becomes a trailer queen and
> you should never drive her very fast or carry a load.
>
> I don't ever drive my truck fast, but I do like to carry a load now and then.
> I took home a ton of tile the other day which I bought at a discount if I
> could haul it away, which I could.
>
> Happy. That and safe is what counts.
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 2, 2013, at 8:20 AM, "Nate" wrote:
>
> >
> > Look at Jonas' solution , he got back to the 16" wheels , maybe not having
> > original hub cap attachment though .
> >
> > I recently had to find a full set of 6 lug 15" wheels for my '60 C/10 , I
> > kept hitting up various Pick-A-Part yards and found two or three on one
> > older truck , I was surprised but pleased , they looked terrible with many
> > old coats of peeling paint but where solid so I bead blasted & powder
> > coated them , they look fine and work well plus hold the original hub caps
> > fine .
> >
> > I'm still waiting to see the pictures of them .
> >
> > Good luck hunting ! .
> >
> > -Nate
> > Dan wrote :
> > >
> > > Looking for an inexpensive way to get my 58 Apache back to spec tires and
> > > wheels.
> > > Would be great to run across an old set of originals.. I've looked and no
> > > luck yet.
> > >
> > > Any aftermarket that are close? And I was thinking 15x8 but below someone
> > > mentioned 7 or 7.5
> > > Whitewall tires would be nice too but I'm wanting this thing to drive
> > > right, more than just looks.
> > >
> > > Any help appreciated!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: Jonas Thaler
> > > To: old-chevy-truck@yahoogroups.com
> > > Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 1:57 AM
> > > Subject: Re: [old-chevy-truck] Finally -- new wheels and real, manly,
> > > TRUCK TIRES!
> > >
> > > Nate, thanks for the vote of confidence!
> > >
> > > You and a couple of others here inspired me to do my homework. AFTER I
> > > got B-S-'ed by the lying-sack-of-shirt guy at Just Tires, and threw $400
> > > down the crapper, I started reading up on tires and wheels.
> > >
> > > It occurred to me, when I was hauling an entire kitchen of tile and sacks
> > > of cement down from the Valley on tires that were meant for a Mercury
> > > Marauder or a Lincoln Town Car, that I was ACTUALLY USING IT AS A TRUCK
> > > and might be endangering myself and others.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Aug 18, 2012, at 10:46 PM, Nate wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Jonas ;
> > > >
> > > > It sounds to me like you're going to be well pleased .
> > > >
> > > > Few bother to sort out the correct wheels & tires , this means their
> > > > truck looks cool but drives like crap , after a few years they dump it
> > > > and get another project....
> > > >
> > > > These old trucks are extremely nice drivers in spite of no power
> > > > steering , this is no accident ! GM knew exactly what they were doing .
> > > >
> > > > -Nate
> > > > Jonas wrote :
> > > > >
> > > > > I think I might have solved the wheel tire and ride-height problem on
> > > > > my 59 3200. Or at least I have taken a step, maybe a gamble.
> > > > >
> > > > > I found some very solid steel wheels from a 1990's Chevy van or
> > > > > pickup. They are 16" and the wheel-industry part number appears to be
> > > > > 1621. The wheels fit the truck perfectly. I can now stop driving on
> > > > > those car tires (225/75R15) which were way too fat and too low and
> > > > > not properly load rated. These wheels will sport LT215/85R16 tires,
> > > > > which are thinner and taller and much closer to the original 7.0 or
> > > > > 7.5x15 bias ply that the truck might have come with. And boy are the
> > > > > wheels and tires heavier than the car tires that were on there.
> > > > > (Could that cause a problem?)
> > > > >
> > > > > The ride height is going to be 2 inches taller than it is now, and
> > > > > within a half-inch of what it would be with the bias tires. And I
> > > > > think will be happy! For now I have dispensed with hubcaps and have
> > > > > painted the wheels Fire Engine Red. The truck is Galway Green and
> > > > > Cream. So sue me!
> > > > > haveTW none of this cost very much. At one point I was looking at
> > > > > having custom wheels made. I got lost in all the metrics of setback,
> > > > > etc. My 1621 wheels, BTW, have the same setback as the original 15"
> > > > > wheels. They just stiick out a bit more on the outside.
> > > > >
> > > > > I will post pictures next week when I pick the tires up from being
> > > > > mounted and get some new lug nuts. The ones I have now are really
> > > > > chewed up.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks for listening. Any comments? Am I creating a monster?
> > > > >
> > > > > jonas
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule!
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email),
> > > to: old-chevy-truck-unsubscribe@! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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