Back again, cuz, well, I got some wheels.

[Werewolf]

I've been lurking for a couple of years now, and don't often post. Just too many irons in the fire. And my poor '68 has been suffering for it. But, finally, I gathered up enough funds to throw a good chunk at the truck, and get it on the road again.

The Carter AFB carb finally took a dump; float or seat got stuck, I'm not sure what happened. Gas gets to the carb, but not through it at all. So I pulled it and will probably just sell it as rebuildable. It ran okay beforehand, but never *great.*

Picked up a Holley 4175 spread bore to stick right on the stock manifold. No adapter plates here! I hate the things, and the PO of this truck had one .. mounted *upside down* for the Carter. That fact and CA emissions are probably the reasons it never ran well.

And I got a set of new wheels finally. It really looks like a different truck now. I learned some interesting things while doing a wheel search, too. It's not so easy to find a nice looking wheel for a 3/4 ton truck...

First, newer wheels with a 4.5" backspace will probably work on these. I know that now, but was worried before. On my specific truck, I was more worried about that deep a wheel on the rear of the truck, rather than the front. For whatever reason, my rear axle seems to stick out a bit more on the driver's side than the passenger's. The wheels that were on the truck were, like 3.25" backspaced, so it wasn't an issue. I pulled those off and threw them on a Ford van I got for the company I run, and I put the stock steelie Ford wheels on the CST for the winter.

Second, I couldn't find a set of wheels I really liked that were less than 4.5" backspace. Some were 5" or more. They're all built for the newer trucks, of course. I originally wanted a set of 20" wheels to fill out the fenders a bit better, seeing as, well, that's the way to go these days, tires for 20" rims are actually pretty bloody cheap, and I didn't intend to lower the truck to fill in the wheel wells.

Since I couldn't really find what I wanted, and paying almost $2k for a set of wheels and tires was more than I cared to do, I started poking around for a set of 15" or 16" 8 lug wheels. I figured I should be able to find some "old school" type that would make the truck look better while I explored my options. Nope!

I found out that 15" 8 lug wheels are no longer built by any manufacturer (supposedly) as a 15" wheel can't meet the GVWR specs set by the Federal government. According to the guy that sold me the wheels, 15" wheels never met those specs, but the laws were never enforced 'til circa 1996.

I used to have a '67 3/4 truck that had 15" chrome wagon wheels on it, 15x7's in the front and 15x10's in the rear. I liked the look, and I wanted to go with something similar... mostly because of you guys on the board that have the stock 10" wide steelies on your 3/4 trucks. They look pretty badass.

Plus, I find out that BF Goodrich builds a *single* size tire, 285/60R16 that will go on a 16" rim, yet give me that "muscle" look.

So that's what I went with. The wheels are Ions - Mickey Thompson knockoffs that were actually very cheap, and look great. 16x8's with a 4.25" backspacing on the front, 16x10's with a 4" on the rear.

Here's a couple of "before" pics, just after the truck came off the car hauler. Somebody here commented, just after I got it, that it had K-mart Rash. 8P





Got rid of the mirrors - can't fill the holes unfortunately, without repainting. Got rid of the visors, step bars, ugly rusty exhaust pipes, stuff like that. Still have more in mind for the future. But here's how it looks today.









Yes, I know the turn signals are still in the wrong place. I'm going to gut the grille when I get a new bumpers (sport for the rear!) and new chrome.

It's an ongoing project! And worst of all, when I get it all done, I'll probably tear the truck completely down and restore/repaint it. After poking my nose around the suspension checking to see if my new wheels would even fit, I realized that there's 40 years of leaked out grease caked up and rock hard around most of the joints!

Anyway, tell me what you think. Thumbs down comments are as good as thumbs up, although I might get a little 'emo' and cry.

[stllookn]

Beautiful '68!!!! Love the colors and the fact that it is a 3/4 ton. I would change those parking lights...it is easy to do. Great looking ride otherwise...not much I would change.

How about some interior and engine pics?

[Palf70Step]

Very Nice!!

[88JRFAN]

Truck looks really good. The rims are nice looking.

[mikajo39]

those wheels and meats look pretty good! Backspacing always confuses me

[70cst]

Impressive...very impressive.

[Werewolf]

Backspacing is the distance between the inside flange of the rim (where the tire's bead seats) and the mounting surface of the rim (where the rim contacts the drum/rotor.) A higher numerical backspace puts more of the wheel towards the fender well and your suspension parts, while a lower numerical backspace pushes the wheel outwards.

[mikajo39]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

Backspacing is the distance between the inside flange of the rim (where the tire's bead seats) and the mounting surface of the rim (where the rim contacts the drum/rotor.) A higher numerical backspace puts more of the wheel towards the fender well and your suspension parts, while a lower numerical backspace pushes the wheel outwards.

Thanks for the english way of describing things, I can wrap my head around most things mechanical but it's always been a pain in the butt for me haha thanks again!

[Werewolf]

And for stllookn, here's an engine shot. It's pretty ugly now, there's a *lot* want to do with it. And it's old, still showing the Carter carb. But it was cleaner then...



...Ech .. believe it or not, it was cleaner then...

I've never taken pics of the interior. Yet. Which is a pity cuz it looks better than the rest of the truck. Cloth buddy buckets in dark grey and teal... Tomorrow, maybe.

[Werewolf]

Oh, and mikajo39, this is for you: https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html

[chevy_mike]

New wheels look good and the whole truck does as well. Love the color.

Keep up the good work.

[70 shorty]

That is a sweet looking truck. A lot of people go for the shortbed, 1/2 trucks, but I really like longbed 3/4 tons just as much. A lot more of a work truck, which is what I want a truck for in the first place (says the guy who has a shortbed/stepside).

[70k52wd]

That is one great looking truck. I love the colors. Clean...

[old Chevy guy]

Nice looking truck,new sneakers look good too.

[UltraBlue71]

3/4 tons forever!

[ERASER5]

I love the new wheels. I like the peep mirrors. I liked the visors, the are functional. I dig the rear step bumper. I assume you are selling the stuff you are removing here on the board?

[72BlckButy]

Great looking truck!

[Skirkpat]

Truck looked good before , looks great now.

[Werewolf]

I hate the rear bumper. 8P

The visors are in the garbage, the 'original' mirrors are AutoZone rust attractors, and the steps .. well, if somebody wants the steps they can pay for shipping. I think I still have them...

I'm going sport bumper for the rear, in time. I'll sell the stepper off when I get the new bumper.

The truck was in a *very* minor wreck before I got it. If you look close, the front bumper and the right side eyebrow and hood chrome are dinged up. Those will all be replaced. None of that is really salable.

I forgot to take interior pics before I covered the truck back up. Next sunny weekend!

[396 Stock Longhorn]

Love your truck Werewolf. Nice wheels and rubber, too . I've been eyeballing wheels for awhile since my Longhorn rolls on 16.5 wagon wheels, but I hadn't found anything I really liked. Thanks for posting pics of your setup. I may be going with something similar when I can afford it. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait a few years since I'm on a college student's budget.

Nice Motor. It looks better than mine!

[Daves72'GMC]

awhere are the pics?

[BHyatt]

Good job finding a great set of wheels!