just cant win

well heck! a month ago i started a project thats turned into a nitemare, the goal was to get the split rims and bias ply tires off my ford f350 bucket truck, i used to not mind them as i grew up fixing split rim wheels, but now im too old and stove up to keep fighting them, and i dont get any miles out of the tires either broken cords after 5 to 6 thousand miles, so i went to the salvage yard, the yard hand with about a 3rd grade education had put all the dually wheels in a huge pile, all brands and sizes in 1 big pile, nice, so we spent the day digging thru them and finding 6 tubeless ford pre 89 wheels, [ the truck is a '71] got them back to the farm, then managed to buy 4, 16 inch radial tires for the rear all alike and ordered 2 for the front, i thought i did good considering that in this area the scrap metal kick a few years ago got rid of everything that wasnt actually still moving, yesterday, i started to put the tires on the wheels after painting them the nice ford silver , the tires wont fit, huh? after serious sanding off it turns out 4 of the dang wheels are 16.5's ! when have you even seen 16.5 dually wheels! maybe the 1970's? so now what, is 16.5 tires even made anymore? im about to just abandon the project i cant just buy 4 more wheels, things are a 100 bucks each

A lot can be said for knowing what you're buying when you buy it.

$100 each? You're paying way too much.

Can't take 'em back and exchange 'em?

Go back and blame the yard man for giving you the wrong rims, if he is any kind of human being he will help find four the correct size and exchange them. Maybe in his down time he could sort and arrange his rim pile into rowa of Dodge Ford Gm , 15 16 17 20's etc.

Wow- a few years ago i got a pair of 16.5 wheels with nearly new tires for $18.00. They fit our 1981 Ford motorhome.

16.5 dually rims came on motorhomes for one, I had them on my 87 GMC, got rid of them and put on 16 Ford dually rims.

I have run a lot of 1 ton dually Fords. I had one with 16.5s. Several things to be careful of, older Fords had coined rims. DO NOT mix coined and uncoined rims! bad things happen, like wheels falling off, sheared lug studs and loads scattered across highways. One truck had coined rims one side, uncoined on the other, no problem. What size tire you install will be another issue. I wanted a high load rating, so went with 235-16s. With a heavy load, the duals rub, so it was necessary to put spacers between the tires.
As I understand it, the 16.5s were used where brake drum clearance was a problem. Chevy dump I had needed 16.5s. 16.5s are still around, but you may have to order them. Last set I got went on a 56 Ford 3/4 ton. When I got it, it had all tires different. The spare was a 14, one 15, one 16, one 16.5 and one 19 iirc. Took it to the local Coop for tires. Tire guy had a fit. I didn't know they were unmatched until he had them off. Found a set of 16.5 rims that day for it.
Best of luck.

Kansas, what does "coined" rims mean?

Same here what does it mean?

(quoted from post at 14:43:28 01/04/18) Kansas, what does "coined" rims mean?

Click to expand...

Here's a copy and paste from another forum. I had to look it up.

Coined hubs are hubs that have a recess every other lug for a "coined" area. Since the Hubs are "coined" the wheels and lugs are also "coined".

An explanation of "coined":
A concave recess to accommodate an equally convex mechanical fitment.

ALL COINED RIMS/HUBS HAVE LOCATER PINS

ALL COINED RIMS (should) HAVE COINED LUGS

going to take the 4 rims back, its a 60 mile one way trip but thats where the yard is, none closer, he should trade me 4 16's heck hes getting 4 nicley painted ones back lol i never even thought of the old 16.5's i havent seen any since the early 80's tires are available if i want to pay 240 each , i dont, and the added problem of having a blown tire and no replacement quickly, is enough to not do the 16.5 rims. the truck came on 16's and im sticking with them, all of these are coined rims, im just wanting to get the split rims off it and also run radial tires