Dually Rims

[custodian]

What newer model year rims will fit my 86 dually?

 

[Scruffy49]

As long as it is an 8 on 6.5” with an appropriately sized center/register hole… You can run whatever you think looks good.
I have Eagle bullet holes on my 99 (gmt400) K3500 cab & chassis dually. Honestly, they look fine, but have a maximum 60psi rating. Fine for an old C20 or K20, or for a C30/K30 that no longer gets worked hard.
I’d straight swap them for Squarebody, gmt400 or gmt800 steels w/o a second thought. My K3500 needs to be on “farm truck” tires, like a 7.50-16LT Deestone 503, that don’t play well with alloys.

 

[Grit dog]

Like he said any OE 8x6.5 from any of the big 3. Fords thru 97, GM thru 2012? Ish, Dodge through 2018 I believe.
Ram wheels will be 17” from 3rd and 4th gen trucks

 

[bucket]

Ford and Dodge wheels have a slightly larger center bore, iirc. The GM dually wheels are hub centric, so you would need center bore spacers with the Ford or Dodge wheels.

 

[Grit dog]

^Great point.

 

[Scruffy49]

Ford and Dodge wheels have a slightly larger center bore, iirc. The GM dually wheels are hub centric, so you would need center bore spacers with the Ford or Dodge wheels.

If you run alloys, the shanked lug nuts and washers make the lug centric. But, you have to retorque them every couple days for 2-3 WEEKS before they settle in and stay tight. Tire size does play a role, as does tread style. A 31” mudder will basically shake the entire front end apart on an ifs truck, 2wd or later 4wd. A 29” HT is smooth as melted butter in a hot toddy based on 100 year old single barrel single malt whiskey.
Aftermarket 8 on 6.5 dually wheels are built to fit bullnose Fords. Or gooseneck trailers, which normally use Ford style hubs.

 

[fast 99]

Ford and Dodge wheels have a slightly larger center bore, iirc. The GM dually wheels are hub centric, so you would need center bore spacers with the Ford or Dodge wheels.

Very true, had one customer that installed aluminum wheels that were not hub centric. He wasn't paying attention and did not inspect the wheels. Snapped the studs off dropping the backing plate/brk drum on the ground at 35 mph. Did lots of damage.

 

[Dejure]

When I was putting tires and rims on my Twinkie Mobile (Hostess step-side van, which had split 15-1/2" rims and I was going to 16" standard rims), it boiled down to a couple things:

(1) Wheel or hub centric. That is, did the rim center on the hub or via the lug nuts. The Twinkie Mobile was hub centric (those fun ones you have to try to kick to death, to get the rim started moving.

(2) I could use any 8 lug Ford rims, and they'd fit on Chevrolets/GMC's and Mopars too (Ford, with a few exceptions, had the larges hubs). Chevy would fit Chevys and Mopars, but Mopars would only fit Mopars, because they had the smallest hub diameters.

(3) Once all set with rims, it was just a matter of running one of the calculators on the Net to get the right 16" profile to keep the speedometer where it should be.

 

[bucket]

If you run alloys, the shanked lug nuts and washers make the lug centric. But, you have to retorque them every couple days for 2-3 WEEKS before they settle in and stay tight. Tire size does play a role, as does tread style. A 31” mudder will basically shake the entire front end apart on an ifs truck, 2wd or later 4wd. A 29” HT is smooth as melted butter in a hot toddy based on 100 year old single barrel single malt whiskey.
Aftermarket 8 on 6.5 dually wheels are built to fit bullnose Fords. Or gooseneck trailers, which normally use Ford style hubs.

Sure, using aluminum wheels that are lug-centric will work... but only on 4 of the wheels. The inside duals will still not have anything to properly center them.

 

[Scruffy49]

Sure, using aluminum wheels that are lug-centric will work... but only on 4 of the wheels. The inside duals will still not have anything to properly center them.

I don’t know about other owners, but stock steel inners, 2” spacers, then the alloys on my K3500. On a stock 14b ff. Seems to work okay, not like anybody can see the inners courtesy of the mudflaps.