Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

I have a 72' suburban that I am trying to keep as stock as possible, or at least in appearance. Although the tires that I have now are getting the job done I would like to buy new ones. When I went to Discount Tire to get a quote on a new set of 16.5" tires they said it would be about $1,050 for a set of four, and they could only get them in Bias Ply.

Since I don't want to pay that much for what is essentially trailer tires I was curious if there were any 16" 8 lug 3/4 ton rims from the mid to late 70s that would hold the 72' 3/4 ton hubcap. I am hoping so because I know that the 73 up style 3/4 ton hubcaps are just like ours except they are painted yellow. However I dont know if they were still 16.5 or 16" rims in 1973 and later. If there were 16" rims that will hold the stock 72' 3/4 ton hubcap please let me know what years to look for. Thanks.

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

According to TireRack you can get some Firestone radials for $138 each:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...=1&RunFlat=All

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

i would make the move to 16 inch... well, I would, and I have on 3 trucks.
sometime in the mid 70's they went to 16 inch, and your original 69 - 72 hub caps will fit.
In 88, they went to the silver wheels that took a center cap and trim ring, those will fit, but no hub caps. Anything after that and the back spacing gets funny.
Don't forget to look on vans too, although they generally had slightly too much back spacing. Not enough to prevent running them, but enough to tuck them in the fenders a tad too much and look a little funny.

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

I do not know when GM stopped offering 16.5" wheels, but I do know they were available until 1985 as we had a one ton with 16.5" wheels stock (these were offered along with 16" wheels as my uncle had a '85 3/4T with 16" wheels).

Pretty much any GM truck until 1988 will have the correct wheel and from '88-'91 in the "old body-style" trucks. Pretty much any GM wheel with the "nubs" for the hubcap will work. I have even tried our hubcaps on mid-80's Ford wheels and they fit good on those also.

All of my wheels are from mid 80's eight-lug trucks and they hold the stock-type hub caps:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...n/DSC05242.jpg

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

BFG all terrains are also avail. 16.5s I sometime find them cheaper then 16s because of smaller demand for 16.5s

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

Thanks for the input everyone. It looks like I will have no problem finding rims, and even have more options than I thought if I need to get the original 16.5" tires.

Re: Question About 3/4 Ton Suburban Rims
 

I would switch to 16 because the 16.5s do not have the bead locks, at least the stock 16.5s on my burb didn't.