What are 16.5 good for?

[Furno68C20]

I'm sure many of us have these wheels laying around and not sure what to do with. Scrap them? Maybe, but will tire manufactures bring them back?

I've got few sets and was thinking to mount 16" tires on them just for roller purposes around the properly. No road use since they aren't safe.

What else are you using them for?

Grant

[jocko]

I dunno, maybe powder coat them, mount 16.5 tires on them, and drive around a little bit.
EDIT: sorry, forgot to include a link! While the selection isn't as huge as for 16s - the 16.5s are still out there.

[best view]

Why don’t you like them have them on all my trucks

[Steeveedee]

It's going to be pretty tough to get a 16" tire on a 16.5" wheel. 16.5" wheels are sized to ensure that the proper load rating tire will be installed. I've seen people put 15" car tires on trucks and when they carry a load they get broken down really quickly. I was going to go to a different size wheel because of concern about scarcity, but 16.5" tires are still available, and I can't see dropping a pile of scratch on new wheels.

[Dieselwrencher]

My 72 has 33 12.5 16.5 BFG's on it. They have discontinued the tire and I may have to go to a mud off road tire maker to keep these wheels on this truck. Or go down grade to bias ply traction kings. When I built this truck no one was making 16x10 steel wheels to retain the stock hub cap. They do now but even 16" tires are even getting harder to find. Who would have ever thought that would be a probelem?

[special-K]

I have one stock GM wheel left. I can't decide if I want to inflate the tire to use as a roller or dismount and sandblast/prime to preserve for someone looking for one on a restoration. Who knows, I may be the one looking for the rest to make a set. Tire selection his declined to a narrowed field, but tires are out there

[Caddylackn]

They are good for long smoky burnouts or

They make a good spare that nobody will bother stealing.....

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by jocko

I dunno, maybe powder coat them, mount 16.5 tires on them, and drive around a little bit.
EDIT: sorry, forgot to include a link! While the selection isn't as huge as for 16s - the 16.5s are still out there.

Right, we mount 16.5" tires on 16.5" wheels because new tires are still available! There's something about original wheels on an original truck, they go together! Lets enjoy them while they last!

[mr.mud1]

I have 4 new Firestone Transforce 10 ply 16.5's on my 72 Cheyenne Super.i did consider 16's and rounded up 2 sets of wheels and a new set of 16 inch tires but sold it all to keep the original wheels on my truck.very happy with the tires and it looks right.

[GMC71k20]

Thanks for sharing the Firestone transformer, great option

I am currently mounting a set of humvee surplus wheels and think they look great

I saw some people on this board or maybe facebook discuss having a wheel shop insert the centers into a 17" outer rim

[steves1967]

I'm looking for new wheels simply because there aren't very many sizes available in 16.5". Detroit Steel Wheels has a few wheels that look similar. I emailed them today to see if any of them would accept the stock hubcap. A 20" steel wheel with our hubcaps would look great!

[Killer Bee]

the great debate continues

Firestone Transforce HT 9.50R16.5LT on 16.5 x 6.5 steel

[Steeveedee]

Yup, had a set of those put on last Friday. Good for 6 more years, or 5000 miles, whichever comes first. I should fix the AC in the truck and sell my econobox. I'd get 25k miles out of these new tires.