Hello Forum, I am a new member with a question. This may have been addressed on here before but my situation is a little different. While I think the majority of AD owners have pickup trucks mine is a 54 3600 stake bed truck with dual wheels. It has the dreaded split ring wheels that I would like to replace with newer one piece wheels but I need wheels that can be used as duals on the back. I have measured the wheels and have what I believe to be the width, offset, and backspace of the OEM wheels which is needed to order new wheels. I would like to know where others have gotten their wheels and any help you can give me to find some. Also if do my measurements sound reasonable? Thanks in advance
16" 8 lug Width or wheel: 7" (center of wheel 3.5") Positive offset: 4.25" (Backspace of 7.75" -3.5" (center of wheel) = 4.25 Backspace: 7.75" (measured from the backside of the mounting surface to the rim of the wheel)
This truck was purchased new by my dad and is a one (family) owner. He used it in his masonry business until he retired then it was used on his 5 acre farm. It has it's share of bumps and bruises but has always been garaged and is a solid truck. After 35 years of storage I am trying to get it back on the road.
I believe your wheels will not actually be "split ring" wheels as used on some trucks, but will in fact be 2 piece wheels with a "solid ring", which will come apart the same way as mine on a 1946 3/4 ton. I certainly don't believe you have the "widow maker" RH-5 type of wheel. As long as they aren't badly rusted, your wheels are actually quite safe if the person working on them knows what they are doing and takes proper precautions.
Where I live, any tire shop that services larger trucks will gladly work on your wheels (again, providing they are in decent shape and not rusted too badly).
If your wheels are in decent shape, you should be able to keep your truck original, and save yourself some trouble and quite a bit of money at the same time.
Brillo, Welcome to our site and "Atta Boy" to you for bringing your family truck back to life. While I am no expert on trucks like yours, (I'm no expert on anything else either) I am surprised to know that your truck has 16" wheels and that as a 3600, it has dual rear wheels. 3600 denotes a 3/4 ton truck which were typically fitted with single wheels. I have seen both 15" and 17" wheels on trucks of this vintage. The 3800 trucks are 1 ton models and those which were equipped with duals usually had 18 " wheels. All this aside, there were many trucks from the 1970s through the 1990s that came equipped with 16", drop center, dual type wheels. Any 8 bolt wheel will have the correct bolt pattern but the size of the bolt hole and center pilot hole might vary. Look for Chevy/GMC 3500, Dodge 3500, or Ford F350 trucks in your local auto salvage yards. Take measurements or take one of your wheels with you for comparison. I think you will find a suitable, one piece, wheel for your application. For me, the family connection always adds an extra layer of COOLNESS to any vehicle. Let us know how your wheel search goes. Good luck.
Thanks for your reply Mike. From what I have been able to research 16" and dual wheels were an option on 54 stake beds. I was 1 year old when he bought it but my older brother went with dad to pick it up and from my earliest memory it has always had the 16" and duals and these are the original wheels. Guess that makes it a bit more unique. With the stake bed it is actually a 3609 even though it says 3600 on the truck. This truck is truly a part of our family.
Thanks for the info on the newer wheels now I know what I'm looking for. Unless I can find someone to service the originals I will be buying new ones. The main concern is finding some with the proper clearance between the wheel and the tie rod.
Thanks for your reply Ole. You are correct, my truck does have a solid ring. We would probably be willing to use the originals but have yet to find anyone who will service them. I will keep searching for someone to do them and for new wheels and see which I find first. I like the idea of using the originals and saving money since I'm going to have to buy 6 new tires.
Do you just pry up that ring on your 46 after deflating it? I was just curious how these come apart since the ring is not split.
Thanks Rusty, I have tried to find someplace that will service them but so far have come up empty. The wheels are in good shape for their age and my brother-in-law has a sand blaster so I could always clean them up and paint them.
Brillo, I predate you by about 5 years. I grew up on a small Missouri farm where we did almost every repair ourselves. This included tire repairs on our 1946 Chevy Cab Over Engine, 2 ton truck. (I still have it) My Dad knew what he was doing but always gave due respect to those wheels. Our truck had the 3 piece wheels which were the safest of the common types. While the COE has 20 inch wheels, it is possible that your truck could have a 16" version of this wheel. In any case, you can manage any of the wheels yourself by just being observant and careful. The most important thing is to make sure the wheels are in good and safe condition. I mounted the tires for my 1936 1-1/2 ton Chevy and also did so for my Fruehauf semi trailer and Model AA Ford trucks. I do not fear them, but I do respect them. There is no danger in deflating the tires and removing the ring(s) and tires to inspect the wheels. If there is any question about the condition of the wheels, sand blasting would be MY next step. If you are lucky enough to have a 3 piece wheel, the endless flange knocks inboard to reveal a square profile key that is split. This ring must be removed to allow the endless flange to come off. After all these years, rust will be the main factor in both the disassembly and future safety of your wheels. Feel free to call me at 573 864 6539 if you think I can be of additional help. Be careful. If your wheel is the 2 piece type with endless ring, the hook part of the ring has two cutout areas that allow you to remove the ring. It is possible to bend the ring so be as gentle as possible removing them. An owners manual will usually have instructions for proper removal of this ring.
Pull out the valve core to be sure the tire is fully deflated. Knock the bead loose by whatever method you have (a simple old tire iron and large hammer works) and drive the bead down and away from the outer ring. Lightly tap on the ring until it comes loose and falls down into the "gutter" area of the rim. Look around the now exposed inner edge of the ring until you find the notch and use a pry bar in the notch to pry the edge of the ring up over the edge of the rim while making sure the opposite side of the ring is as deep in the gutter area as possible. There are 2 longer cut out areas along the inner diameter of the ring (one of which is located very close to the aforementioned notch) which will allow you to sort of spiral the ring out from under the outer edge of the rim.
I used 2 bars to get the ring started, one in the notch and one in the cut out area next to it. The first one you do will probably be pretty frustrating and the bars will slip out just when you think you are about to be successful. Once you've done one and get the hang of it, the rest will seem easier.
As Mike said, be careful not to stretch the rings any more than necessary to get them over the edge of the rim. They will bend. However, they can also be straightened if necessary, by strategically clamping the right spot in a vise and pushing/pulling on the other side of the ring. The rings need not be "perfectly" flat to lock solid in the rims, but they do need to be nearly perfectly round.
Be careful not to get too much paint on the area of the rim that you slide the tire/tube/liner over. Modern tires seem to have a tight inner bead diameter and I had a lot of trouble getting them on the rims. Even when I used LOTS of tire lube.
When reassembling, just spiral the ring back on using a good sized hammer, starting with one of the cut out areas as a starting point.
Before inflating, wrap a chain around the outside and through the center several times for safety. While inflating a little at a time, tap lightly on the ring to center it on the rim so it catches evenly around the circumference.
Try the tire shops that specialize on changing tires on large trucks and semi's. You should be able to find one that will do the work. At the very least they may knock the beads loose for you.
My rings appear to have originally been plated and left unpainted. I think they were actually cadmium plated, but almost no one will cadmium plate any more. So, when I was lucky enough to find wheels that matched one cracked wheel on my truck exactly, I had mine rings zinc plated.
Thanks Mike for the great info and help. There's allot to learn about these trucks and I have barely scratched the surface. And thanks for giving me your phone number, I will keep it handy, I'm sure I will have more questions as time goes on.
The plating on objects subject to contact with water need to be zinc plated and not cadmium. Cadmium can protect from moisture in the air but doesn't do as well as zinc. Just ask yourself why do they galvanize steel that is subject to the weather? Galvanize is a zinc coating.
The platers I used said zinc plating without chromate or dichromate plated on top would be inadequate for the rings and short lived. And they said cadmium would be better yet, but no one here would or could do it anymore because of toxicity issues.
The color and texture of the original plating definitely suggested cadmium as opposed to zinc. I do know for sure that Chevrolet was using cadmium plated bolts and other hardware for corrosion resistance as per the attachment below.
That, and the color and texture of the replated rings, still leaves me thinking the originals were cadmium.
By the way, the people I spoke to said galvanizing is a little different than plating and is more of a dipping than a pure electrolytic process and the zinc layer deposited is much much thicker. As the zinc is sacrificial in the resistance to corrosion, the heavy layer is necessary, but would likely cause problems with the fit between the ring and the rim.
