16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

A fav truck here - 70 GMC 3500 one-ton with single rear wheels - is running factory installed 16.5 inch wheels of two different widths - much wider on rear. The front wheels run 9.50 X 16.5 LT tires, and the rears run 12 X 16.5 LTs,

Soon will need new tires. From the tire type/availability standpoint, would you stay with 16.5" or go to 16" wheels? One idea is to go to 16" wheels of all the same width and run higher load rate tires of the same size all around. This would make the spare tire issue much more simple.

Advantages/disadvantages either way? Is there any market for 16.5 " wheels of such widths?

Thanks for any insights.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I have OEM 16.5 x 8.25 on my 72 K20 and like the deep look. However, if I were to redo my build I'd go with 16" to have an improved tire selection.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I agree - if you don't care about the originality - find some 16s for all the way around. While some tires are available for the 16.5s, more are available for 16s. Firestone TransForce are available for both sizes and look pretty good on our trucks. Or, you could just find two 16.5" wheels that match your fronts and go with the same size 16.5s all the way around. That's perfectly fine also. TransForce tires are available in two load ratings (I think). I swapped to 16s on my 72 and kept 16.5s on my 71. Both looked fine and worked fine. I just prefer 16s for the tire selection - and I think the rim lip profile looks a little nicer. The 16.5 has a bigger curved lip (not sure that's a great description, but you get the idea :))

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Originality not an issue at all - this is a very good looking GMC 3500 but has a utility body and Alaskan camper mounted (about 1500 lbs. each) so when I change tires am thinking I will need to get at least load range E due to weight. Any thoughts on that?

First time I have seen the deep (12" w) 16.5 " wheels like this on a single wheel I ton rear and was wondering about any current advantage with those - can't seem to ID any.

If I were to go to less deep 16.5" wheels on the rear, anyone seen used 16.5s for sale? Is there such a source/site?

Thanks for any info.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

You can have pretty much any kind of wheel made to suit your needs by companies like Wheel Vintiques, Stockton wheel (if they are still around) and a couple of others. Tire size availability is becoming more of a concern these days so why not make it easy on yourself.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I bought my truck to carry a heavy cab-over camper. After the rear tires wore out at 15,000 miles in 1970, I bought some 12.00 x16.5 tires and wheels for the rear from Dick Cepek in L.A. to improve tire longevity and stability. When I started the restoration a few years ago at 118,000 miles, I took off the third set with still like new tread. Not bad for bias ply tires. Those tires are like new tread wise but too old to be safe. It was quite common back then to run those super singles. The dually pickup availability starting in 1973 pretty much eliminated the need for them. I don't think that size is available now.

Here's a pic before I started the resto in 2010.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

If you want traditional tubeless bias ply highway tires STA still makes them in a wide range up through 12-16.5 G/14ply, other wheel sizes too from 14 to 18".

http://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-super-transport/

They also have traction treads up to 12-16.5 E/10ply and more.

http://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-super-traxion/

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I also like the added choices with the 16 inch rims. I have an extra set of them, if you want them let me know and I will purchase my license to sell a few items on here. Admin please don't delete.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I have the same tire size 12-16.5 LT, bigger in the rear and smaller up front, all tires 20+ yrs old and quickly learned here was only one shop in my town that only had 1 of 4 tires i needed. The regular shop i go to for tires said the cheapest for one tire was going to be $200+ (little more than my college budget is) figured i was going to try to get smaller rims with a wider range selection.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Nice truck and color combo FO69! Yes, adding the 12.5-16.5" wide base tire and rim combo on rear was popular on 70's camper haulers. The trick was to run the same diameter front tires just in case you got a flat. The 12-16.5" tire was about the same diameter of the 7.50-16" tire.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

16.5 tires are becoming a thing of the past, like ancient history. I would NOT even consider purchasing them, period.

16 inchers are becoming less popular, but 16's will be in demand for quite a bit longer...

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Thanks for this. Actually, the current tires look almost exactly like that shown on the left.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

I had suspected as much - thank you for this insight. I suppose it also answers my earlier inquiry about current demand for older 16.5 inch rims.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Agree the 12-16.5" wheels are going to be a collector vehicle type tire soon. But for that period classic look of the wide yet somewhat low profile they are hard to beat.
Had a full set of them on a Dodge in 12-16.5 that actually worked well with my horse trailers.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Thanks for the compliment and excellent point. I used to carry one of the original tires under the camper overhang on top of the step bumper extensions as an additional spare. Thankfully, I only needed to use it once and replaced both of the 12/16.5s.

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Thanks for the replies. As a result, I am thinking it best to find some suitable 16" wheels and mount Load Range "E" tires on the truck. Based on the truck/bed/camper combo, what width 16" wheels would you seek - need to deal with the weight - beauty not high priority.

Thanks for any suggestions.

(Know anyone that will need 16.5" wheels - two widths?)

Re: 16.5 inch wheels - useful and sensible?
 

Paul,
We did this about a year and half ago. Since then I have found some interesting commercial 16s that would probably work very well too. But my most basic recommendation is still at the top of my list. Weigh the truck/rig first! As close to your normal "all up" travel weight would be best. Along with actual front and rear axle weights. The truck scales here by my feed store have never charged me just to roll on and look at the numbers as long as I didn't need a printout. Then you will have a good idea as to your GVW and axle weights to make informed wheel and tire choices.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...07&postcount=3