Gentlemen,
I have a '49 Chevy 3600 3/4 ton longbed pickup with the 8-bolt "widowmaker"
split rims. I had a flat tire and none of the truck or farm tire service
people around Baltimore would touch this split rim. I subsequently found the
rim pieces were virtually rust-welded together and I doubt if anyone could
have gotten them apart.
After much research and scrounging through junkyardsI found a low-cost
bolt-on modern rim replacement that I'm passing on to anyone interested: it
is the 16 x 6" 8-bolt rim that according to Chesapeake Rim and Wheel (or CRW)
here in Baltimore, MD (phone 410 866-3300) was used on Ford F150 pickups from
1967 to 1999 and F250 pickups and E250 Econoline vans from 1967 to 1991.
Their part number is X45304.
This Ford rim has the same 6 1/2 inch bolt circle as the 1949 Chevy 8-bolt.
The backspacing is about 4 inches compared to about 3 1/2 inches on my old
Chevy rims, but when I trial-fitted them to the truck I had about 1/4 inch of
daylight between the rim and the tie rod ends. Thus there are no clearance
problems, and contrary to what I had been told, no spacers are required to
mount them on the old Chevy truck.
Note these are 16 x 6 inch rims that in the case of the F250's and E250's
were used only up through 1991. I believe the later F250 and E250 pickups and
vans from 1992 on have 16 x 7" inch rims that have about 4 1/2 inches of
backspacing. On my truck the later wider wheels definitely would foul the tie
rod ends.
After being quoted $50 or so by junkyards for used wheels, CRW charges $34.92
for a brand new wheel, their part number X45304.
The only downside I've found is that the Ford wheels have outside knobs to
retain the hubcaps, and the distance across the knobs (corresponding to the
inside diameter of the hubcap) is approx 11 1/2". I'm still looking for the
classic 1950's "baby moons" that will fit this rim, and every baby moon I've
found to date is for 14 or 15 inch wheels and has an inside diameter of
approx. 10 1/8". If anyone out there knows where I can found 16" wheel baby
moon hubcaps I'd sure appreciate your letting me know.
My understanding is these early Chevy 3/4 ton trucks came with either 15" or
17" wheels. My truck had 15" rims with 7.00 x 15" tires, which had an outside
diameter of 29.9 inches. A friend who owns a local tire shop gave me four
excellent 16 inch "take-off" tires that have an outside diameter of 29.7
inches, so visually I can't tell any difference in the wheel size compared to
the original tires.
It's great to have brand new modern rims on my old '49 to replace the rusted
split rims, and never have to worry about getting a flat tire fixed or
replaced in the future, and all for $35 a wheel.
Hope this helps someone in a similar situation,
John Doak in Baltimore, MD
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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