16" wheels

[KAILUAZ]

Were 16" wheels factory installed on 1970 GMC 3/4 ton's? I have 16" steel wheels but dont know if they are aftermarket or not. Thanks,,,,,,,, a bizillion more questions to come,,,,,,,,,

[Yukon Jack]

My 69 K20 had 16 inch split rims on it.

[Longhorn Man]

16 inch split rims were avalible, those look like late 80's early 90's GM wheels to me.

[Fred T]

There should be a date of manufacture on them, but the location can vary. You're looking for numbers stamped into the steel. There should be a size and date. Might be on the inner or outer side, I've also seen some inside, where the tire has to be removed. As far as I know, the only stock rims on the 3/4 ton & above before 73 were two or three piece rims.

[RPOZ11]

16's should look like these:

[Longhorn Man]

Originally Posted by Fred T

...As far as I know, the only stock rims on the 3/4 ton & above before 73 were two or three piece rims.

naaa, you could get one piece 16.5's 67 - 72.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

here's an original rim from my '70 C20:

edit: the service manual shows a bunch of different optional sizes: 16, 16.5, 17.5, 18, and 19.5 rims for 3/4 and 1 tons. the 16.5, 17.5, and 19.5's are listed as one piece rims.

[Longhorn Man]

You know rob, the interesting thing, I have never seen a truck optioned for 16.5 X 6 inch rims, nor optioned for 16 inch split rims... yet, between the two sizes here, that covers 90% of the 3/4 ton, and SRW one ton trucks.

[RPOZ11]

Define what you mean in : OPTIONED.....

[Longhorn Man]

Listed on the SPID label in the glove box.

[RPOZ11]

Well, my C30 has 16.5's...let me go look


Damn! My Glove Box Door Tag is GONE!
The VIN label I have here is from my C20

[Longhorn Man]

so did 2 of my longhorns, (the third had no cab, so no idea what it woulda said) but neither the cst/20 npr the c/30 longhorn had an optional wheel listing, andy they both had 16.5 tubeless as stock per tire option.


Hmmmm, I wonder if the wheel came automaticly with the tires option, and if no tire option checked off, you ended up with the splits rims....

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

My truck had four splits on it when Grandpaw bought it in '78 and one spare in the bed and they all have date codes for '69 on 'em, so that sounds like they're original to the truck since most of these trucks were built a year before they were sold. It never left the farm, but sometime in the mid 70's somebody did a complete body swap as it was originally a cab/chassis truck, and now it's a longbed fleetside disguised as a 71-72 truck.

[RPOZ11]

Hi Robert! I believe the way to read these is as follows: K-1-1 10 being K for Kelsey-Hayes, 1 might be GM or Chevrolet, and the last 1 is for the year:1971, and the 10 being the 10'th month....
Any support on reading these is very helpful! Thanx!

[Longhorn Man]

so your 16.5's are not original...never seen split rims listed as an option....like I said though, I've never seen any rim listed onles it was a wide wheel.

[RPOZ11]

They are! That VIN label is off of my C/20 not my Longhorn
I have 2 trucks

[Longhorn Man]

oops, my fault, you even said that already. (I been up since 5:00 yesterday morning)

[RPOZ11]

I have 2 sets of these rims.
My Truck I think is a May 72 delivery...The guy special ordered it way back then; is the original owner and I am the 2nd

[KAILUAZ]

Here is the inside and stampings;