More durable 15" tires

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by special-K

I know for a fact that GM offered 16" wheels for 1/2t 2wd and 4wd in 71/72, maybe later. I think they were 5". They would have been most popular in the mountain states where folks who "need" 4wd and "know" what works best out of necessity. They are like a dozen needles in a haystack to find (a dozen isn't much easier than one). Those black steel wheels will do ya, just not a stock look. But not a boulevard look either. There have been white spokes made in 16" with 12t pattern forever. Back in '82 or 3 my buddy (now brother-in-law) put some on a '77 Bronco with 9.00-16s. It was a beautiful all original brown w/white fancy model and this was back when everyone was hacking the fender wells, slapping flares on (usually just the rear for a halfassed look) to put wide rubber on. 16s are out there if you decide to go that way.

Not sure what to tell you on those wheels with the enlarged centers. I have run non-hub eccentric wheels with no issues, but your needs will put that to the test.

I'm not worried too much about looks. I don't recall ever seeing any 16" on half ton Chevys in the 1970s and later, and I used to live way back up in the mountains of Colorado where we were snowed in five months of the year. Everything was 7.00-15 on the half tons except for a few from Denver that had the 10.00-15 etc "flotation" tires/wheels; 7.50-16 on 3/4 tons.

When I was looking for wheels a couple years ago, I was only looking for used wheels locally, although of course the salvage yard could order from other yards anywhere in the country. After the fiasco with the 88+ pickup wheels, I was in a bind because one of the alloy wheels was busted and so we didn't have a spare since it was holding up one corner of the suburban, and at the time the suburban was our only 4wd. So I jumped on the four used 15" steel wheels and got four brand new LT235s slapped on them.

At this point I'm not sure whether to put another $1200 or more into five new wheels and tires for a vehicle that's probably not worth a whole lot more than that. Of course I could use the four near new LT235s on the jeep, and I don't know what I could get for scrap metal for the four alloy wheels? One is busted and I sure as heck ain't selling the other three to anyone to drive on, although they could be used as a spare in a pinch (though not after converting to 16").