53 B4C wheels

[tanda62]

I am looking for some wheels for my 1953 B4C 3/4 ton truck.  The stock wheels are 15 inch diameter, 5.5 inch wide, bolt pattern is 5x5, -1 offset and center-bore 3.75 inches.  Has anyone found a source for these stock wheels?  Has anyone found a replacement wheel with these specs?  I have searched the forum and come up empty from previous threads. 

Thanks for any help!

Tom

 

[billrigsby]

 

These are the three wheel vendors I have on my list.....

Wheels Now	https://www.wheelsnowinc.com/	Wheels Now is a manufacturer and distributor of wheels, rims, and parts for highway, off-road, specialty vehicles, custom applications and more
Wheelsmith	http://thewheelsmith.net/	Wheelsmith has over 50 years of experience in Custom & Standard Sized Wire, Rallye, Billet, Smoothie, Steel, Artillery, Vintage and OEM Wheels
Wheel Vintiques	https://www.wheelvintiques.com/	Wheels; Truck, Muscle Car, Hot Rod, Classic, Front Wheel Drive, Accessories

[JBNeal]

these come up on eBay occasionally...I found a set of five near mint 16" rims for my '48, but it took over a year to find them from 3 different sellers.

[John-T-53]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144894789938?hash=item21bc670932:g:pEwAAOSwkCxjvXvL&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8K46ECVzoDdcYNvmyiavXPMB12rzu6Pk2ak70BR%2FO57dFwMAtOvfjaPXdKKtzBAM9bLNKxnJKIM4qf1XmO6ddLnARhDpqrO%2Fd%2BrVo%2F4JQw1LdChiBB38P2iLG335TNwA8gcvxWN0UMCKOI8l%2F0TKjmfD3w4tdJ5BB16a2xW1Zlrhnzy0H7g4294dTf7rpkixBUhgVzME8MZpkjfH9kpWkKkr9D7tRKqWyXo2TYOxB2pvQ06GbGhLjPAmqZ37OIDmG1x3HiBpl%2BD089jn58ESbt%2BC1fZY%2B35b0EXqm07pdRa9mufUicowWA302TfgBi%2F8qg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR56tppiEYg

 

Like this?

[John-T-53]

Here's another overpriced 16" on feebay. 

 

I think I would avoid feebay and shop at swap meets. Some sellers think that they're selling rusty gold....

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304855666638?hash=item46fad04fce:g:hywAAOSwNhpkIBmQ&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0DvI44xghPzsgTaEu51ZPdCP7AzlwI0xYiF2lvPqktHYSk3vHnT6Z4ZwEM4oBfZMvcwDMBKE9vqwxkUpP%2B1BxN9%2FLOWGBCfDRwNVWhMLnuD0Vpxlj5Lt5kPb1gZ9UdwW9oJplhY0aNwt8GFPx27Gn6yxReielRi7dSjy8lu05aKvu6BEyQ6uq%2F%2BHncaPHbxr1iIeObZsAtgKviep%2BpwbpRqJHTh0NIZUDstJ8MI2xU3BnC9jEnWcbSSoh7sF1LDfwLHOm5Ck2qQZiOz%2BuKg%2FbBg%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-LVw5iEYg

 

A more lower priced 15" wheel but I don't like the heavy pitting - it's more or less junk and probably unsafe. No telling how sound the rivets are with all that corrosion elsewhere....

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144789221505?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D249388%26meid%3Dbc4c8f9c6e9e4a3fa81887f7842612ea%26pid%3D101111%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D144894789938%26itm%3D144789221505%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D3458402%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRanker%26brand%3DPlymouth&_trksid=p3458402.c101111.m2109

Edited May 15, 2023 by John-T-53

[Los_Control]

I'm going to wish you luck @tanda62 Not saying impossible, but not a easy task.

 

The 1/2 ton trucks all used a 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern with a 16" rim.

The 3/4 ton used a 5 on 5" with a 15" rim. At that time, the 15" tires were more stout then the available 16" tires.

 

I'm just suggesting these old 3/4 ton trucks were built for farm use.

Not real common to find lots of spare wheels 5 on 5 @ 15" lying around.

Not saying finding one on ebay  at $80 is a great price ..... having one built from scratch .... you might prefer the $80.

 

My 1991 chebby truck uses the same bolt pattern as your truck .... you have choices, it may take time to find stock replacements.

[tanda62]

Thanks everyone for the replies and it is as I suspected, a difficult find.  I have been checking on ebay for several years now and have never seen any wheels for the 3/4 tons show up - maybe some will in the future.

I did find this wheel (https://www.wheelvintiques.com/catalog/product/view/id/9776/s/15x6-o-e-5-5bp-bare-3-3-4-quot-b-s/category/1175/) which has possibilities but they don't list the offset or the center bore.  I have asked the question but no reply as of today.

If I find something that works I will post it here for everyone's information.

Tom

[kencombs]

I know nothing about 3/4 ton wheels.   If you are wanting to stay stock, ignore me. 

But,If the studs are 1/2" there are a lot of 5 on 5 wheels.  Widely used from the 50s to late on bigger cars and light trucks.  Best bet may be mid 50s big GM cars.  Center hole can be enlarged or shimmed to fit, Width and offset could be hard to match though.

 

Somewhere I have an old Hollander wheel only booklet.  I'll look for it Wednesday and see what info it may have.

[tanda62]

Finally got new wheels and tires for my truck.  US Wheel part number 455-5615 fits. They are a 15 by 6 wheel with both a 5x5 and 5x5.5 bolt pattern.  The offset is 6 and the backspacing is 3.75 with a bore of 95.25.  The wheel fit nicely and have allowed me to switch to radial tires from the bias ply I was running.  World of difference in the ride and the amount of vibration I was experiencing.  I was using the original wheels with the 700-15 bias ply tires.  Now I have 205/75 R15 tires which also lowered the truck a little over 2 inches - something I needed in order to get the truck in my garage - there is a slope and such making it a challenge.  The wheels can be ordered with beauty rings and hubcaps.  The original hubcaps will not fit so new ones are a must, I will be putting the ones I ordered on after I apply some Doge lettering to them. 

So, here ya go for any B4C 3/4 ton truck owners looking for wheels.

Tom

 

 

[Merle Coggins]

The tires look small in the wheel opening, to my eye, but if it works for you then go for it. I run 235/75R-15's on the 15 X 5.5 original wheels on my B2C and haven't had any issues yet. 

[John-T-53]

4 hours ago, tanda62 said:

Finally got new wheels and tires for my truck.  US Wheel part number 455-5615 fits. They are a 15 by 6 wheel with both a 5x5 and 5x5.5 bolt pattern.  The offset is 6 and the backspacing is 3.75 with a bore of 95.25.  The wheel fit nicely and have allowed me to switch to radial tires from the bias ply I was running.  World of difference in the ride and the amount of vibration I was experiencing.  I was using the original wheels with the 700-15 bias ply tires.  Now I have 205/75 R15 tires which also lowered the truck a little over 2 inches - something I needed in order to get the truck in my garage - there is a slope and such making it a challenge.  The wheels can be ordered with beauty rings and hubcaps.  The original hubcaps will not fit so new ones are a must, I will be putting the ones I ordered on after I apply some Doge lettering to them. 

So, here ya go for any B4C 3/4 ton truck owners looking for wheels.

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I'm wondering why the need to replace the wheels in the first place, if only the tire size changed?

 

It's hard to tell from the photos what the new wheels look like up close but you may be able to transfer the hub cap clips from the original wheels to the new. They were riveted on. 

 

Offset and backspacing are basically two ways of measuring the same thing. With a (positive) 6 offset, that would mean that the mounting surface is 6 inches outward from the centerline of the wheel. If the wheels are 6" wide then this would place it even with the outer edge of the wheel but the pics don't appear to show that. A 3.75 backspacing would mean that the mounting surface is 3.75 inches from the inside edge of the wheel. A bore of 95.25 must be in mm because that equals roughly 3-7/8"

[Los_Control]

Just saying, one reason to replace Dodge B1C wheels ..... sure there may be more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16 by Los_Control

[tanda62]

Merle - the tires are smaller than the bias ply, by two inches so they do look smaller in the wheel opening.  I needed those inches to fit in my garage and can live with the way they look.

 

John - The wheels needed replacing as they would never balance and were getting worse judging by the increase in vibration.  I also wanted to replace the bias ply tires for a better ride and now there is no vibration.  The other mission here was to lower the truck a couple of inches so it will now fit in my garage.  I purchased hubcaps from US Wheels for these wheels and got Dodge script from Graphic Express to place on them.  I think they look pretty good even though they are not an exact match to the original and the only people who would know are the ones very familiar with our trucks.  Not taking the truck to any shows to win some sort of originality award anyway. 😂

[John-T-53]

3 hours ago, tanda62 said:

Merle - the tires are smaller than the bias ply, by two inches so they do look smaller in the wheel opening.  I needed those inches to fit in my garage and can live with the way they look.

 

John - The wheels needed replacing as they would never balance and were getting worse judging by the increase in vibration.  I also wanted to replace the bias ply tires for a better ride and now there is no vibration.  The other mission here was to lower the truck a couple of inches so it will now fit in my garage.  I purchased hubcaps from US Wheels for these wheels and got Dodge script from Graphic Express to place on them.  I think they look pretty good even though they are not an exact match to the original and the only people who would know are the ones very familiar with our trucks.  Not taking the truck to any shows to win some sort of originality award anyway. 😂

 

That's intriguing. So the tire shop took the tires off the wheels, and tried to balance just the wheels themselves? I could definitely see those big bias ply tires being tuff to balance though. Besides any issues with the wheels themselves, one could install radials on original wheels no problem. 

 

Well, hope you can save your old wheels in case you want to go back someday, or offer them up for sale on here unless they look like the photo in @Los_Control 's post above. They are getting scarce.