22.5'' Alum. Wheel Blanks from Ebay

[phantom309]

Hello Folks of the Heavy Haulers forum
Alright recently I was given a 1969 chevy c50 with a 292 and a 4 speed
it has the T150 2 speed rear, runs and drives awesome but...
this truck has had many years of sitting, the tires are pretty bad from the AZ sun as well as being recaps they are pretty rotten it also has brake issues (typical)

knowing that these trucks wheels are pretty scarce I set out to find my self a solution to the issue after exstensive searches on here and other sights i wasnt finding much

a couple of the ideas I came up with were:
#1 find a set of wheels from a bigger truck and have them redrilled to the 10 on 8.75 pattern (problem being: most of those rims have a huge center bore and the C50 pattern would interfere with that)
#2 was to locate a set of wheels for a ford F450 or F550 they use a 10 lug pattern that is only 1/8" bigger... (problem with these is the center bore is a half inch bigger and they come in 19.5 only (you cant really get a very tall tire on a 19.5 rim)
#3 have wheel adapters made to adapt the big 10 lug (10 on 11.25) to my hubs, this could work and very nicely but that would be pretty spendy
at least thats what my local machin shop said...
#4 is the most important one and the one I'll go with:
looking on Ebay under wheel Blanks I found a tiwain company that sells wheels that are completely solid aluminum (forged) and have an 80MM center hole, they come in a 22.5x12.25 or a 22.5x8.25 PERFECT!!!
the 8.25's sell for 209.00 a wheel
the 12.25s sell for 230.00 a wheel

For a guy on a budget (me) thats pretty awesome I plan to buy 2 of each and run super singles on my 69 i plan to make it a pickup and I think running a super single on the rear will look pretty cool.

I am planning to run a 445/65r22.5 out back and a 285/65R22.5 on the front
i want a taller tire in the rear to help with top speed.

Now as far as machine work goes thats the question that I have.
What would be a decent price to have 4 of these wheel blanks drilled to my lug pattern and center bore?

My other concern is brake parts for that axle I know it needs wheel cylinders and pads in the rear anyone have a source for these?

link for the 12.25 super singles:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181111803868
link for the 8.25 super singles:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181277587905

[4x4toy]

That is cool. I would leave the wheel solid and not have hand holes. If could afford the super single tires I would put four of the wide wheels on my 1961 C60.

[phantom309]

I think if I could afford it I would do the same!
and you're right I think I will leave them smooth!
retreads for the supers are only $250ish each on Ebay

[colgad]

Changed my rearend to TopKick so I can use 445/50/22.5 super singles and have rear disk brakes.

[phantom309]

That looks freakin sweet!

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by colgad

Changed my rearend to TopKick so I can use 445/50/22.5 super singles and have rear disk brakes.

What is the hub size and bolt circle on the Topkick rear? It looks a lot larger than stock.

[colgad]

It's just like the 10 bolt Semi's, Bolt circle size 285 mm I believe.
Hub centric

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by colgad

It's just like the 10 bolt Semi's, Bolt circle size 285 mm I believe.
Hub centric

That is good to know. What year model Topkick was the donor?

[colgad]

A 92, there are a bunch out there but a lot have 8 lug 19.5's. They did make 22.5's to fit the 8 lug but they are not common. Most of the heavy TopKicks and Kodiaks had the standard 10 lug Hub centric 22.5's.

[63chevyll]

*****en. Love the rear end choice

[4x4toy]

colgad. Nice, we need more info on your build.

[colgad]

Not much to tell really it's a 67 C50.
I cut most all of the frame off of just past the rear cab mount
I used the rear frame of the 92 Topkick so I would have a more modern suspension. I removed two spring leafs, leaving only one really thick leaf.
A large swaybar and disk brakes.

The original 327 is still running with the granny 4 speed. Normally you would not have to use 1st gear but with the rear end changing from a two speed 8.22-1 to 4.11-1 first gear is needed.

This will not be a rocket even after I remove the 327 to the 454 I have in the shop. But will roll down the highway at 2400 at 70.

My biggest challenge now is to find a C60 83-88 front axle so I can run 22.5's with disk brakes. Currently I have the brakes bleed and are working but I do not trust the front drums and as you all know they are the 20" widow makers
The TopKick front axle is to wide and the tires would stick out.
thanks for asking about my C50 pickup project.

[beck-529]

Originally Posted by phantom309

looking on Ebay under wheel Blanks I found a tiwain company that sells wheels that are completely solid aluminum (forged) and have an 80MM center hole, they come in a 22.5x12.25 or a 22.5x8.25 PERFECT!!!
the 8.25's sell for 209.00 a wheel
the 12.25s sell for 230.00 a wheel

For a guy on a budget (me) thats pretty awesome I plan to buy 2 of each and run super singles on my 69 i plan to make it a pickup and I think running a super single on the rear will look pretty cool.

I am planning to run a 445/65r22.5 out back and a 285/65R22.5 on the front
i want a taller tire in the rear to help with top speed.

Now as far as machine work goes thats the question that I have.
What would be a decent price to have 4 of these wheel blanks drilled to my lug pattern and center bore?

link for the 12.25 super singles:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181111803868
link for the 8.25 super singles:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181277587905

It appears the 8.25 blanks are still available. There are no 12.25 blanks currently on ebay.

Has anyone tried these?
I don't think any one answered the OP's queston of having them machined. They would need the center bored and the bolt holes drilled. I don't know if I would have holes machined into the face or let them smooth as suggested here.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by beck-529

It appears the 8.25 blanks are still available. There are no 12.25 blanks currently on ebay.

Has anyone tried these?
I don't think any one answered the OP's queston of having them machined. They would need the center bored and the bolt holes drilled. I don't know if I would have holes machined into the face or let them smooth as suggested here.

I spoke to the guy at my machine shop and he estimated 35 dollars per wheel. Keep in mind he estimated my axle at 120.00 to 180.00 and it came out to 300.00. In his defense the axle turned out to have to be done by hand and he said he can put the wheels on a machine so I would assume that would be far more accurate.

If anyone has or does try these I'd love to see pictures!

-Richard

[Swiftshifter68]

In the same vein, would these work for these big trucks? (Set of 12x, so guys could go halfsies?)


http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-22-5-x-7-...3D181111803868

[rkn463]

Those will not fit the trucks I have - 67c50, 68c50, 89c60. All of them have a 6.25 hub diameter and an 8.75 bolt circle. I think some of the larger tucks may have used what you found but I don't know for sure.

-Richard

[mrolds88]

Colgad, I was looking over your pics a couple of posts up and noticed a couple of things. First is the driveshaft. It's not in phase. Looks to be off about an eighth of a turn. You should get vibration this way. And second, is the splitter block for the rear brakes mounted to the frame? If it is, you need to remount it onto the rear. The way it is set up now (if it is mounted on the frame) will fatigue the hardlines and something will fail. Not busting on you, just want the truck safe and whoever rides in it too.