sandcanyon
Junior Member
Are there any other wheels that will fit on the 1938 1 tonner?
1938 1 tonner wheels
- Thread starter sandcanyon
- Start date
truckdog62563
Well-known member
Short answer, no. The '38 to '47 tonners used 17" wheels having 5 lug x 6 7/8" bolt circle. No other vehicle I've found a reference for used similar wheels. There were two width options, a 17" x 5" (actually 3.75" at inner wheel base), and a 17" x 6" (actual 4.33"). One of my references says the earlier models ('38 to '41) used Budd #41620 (3.75") or Budd #41470 (4.33"). A later 1946 reference says the numbers had been revised to Budd #44620 (3.75") or Budd #44630 (4.33"). The Ford numbers were 11Y 1015B for the 3.75" wheel, and 11Y 1015A for the 4.33" wheel. Importantly, these two different width wheels used different locking rings. All wheel literature cautions to never mix match rims and rings from different designs or width specifications.
In order to replace your wheels with modern one piece tubeless style you'll have to work with a custom wheel builder. Two that are well know are Stockton Wheel in CA, that is in process of ownership change, or American Wheel Specialist of Pasco, WA. American Wheel Specialist is the custom wheel wholesaler to the huge Les Schwab Tire chain that no doubt serves your part of CA. Stu
In order to replace your wheels with modern one piece tubeless style you'll have to work with a custom wheel builder. Two that are well know are Stockton Wheel in CA, that is in process of ownership change, or American Wheel Specialist of Pasco, WA. American Wheel Specialist is the custom wheel wholesaler to the huge Les Schwab Tire chain that no doubt serves your part of CA. Stu
expavr
Well-known member
There is a wheel builder in Ontario, CA that can fabricate a set of tubeless rims with the correct bolt pattern, but you won't be able to use the Ford hubcap. If you have a set of the original 17" rims they can machine out the center section (which has the lugs for the hubcaps) and weld it to a 16" radial rim which allows for the use of a modern 16" truck radial tire with the original hubcap on the rim. I did this on my 40 Tonner. The name of the company and the backset spec I used are in SoCal. If you're interested contact me and I'll make arrangements to get the info to you.
sandcanyon
Junior Member
Thanks truckdog and expavr for your help. As I work in Ontario, that might be a possibility! Expavr how much did it cost and what is their contact info? Thanks again!
Those caps are way too cool to loose em. While restoring the truck my buddy took the ugly wheels to a machinist car guy and along with some 16" late model chevvie truck rims and blended them together and added 265 tires. Works as good as they look.
