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Gargamel's avatar
Gargamel
Explorer
Apr 10, 2014

rim conversion 16.5 to 16?

Hello everyone! I have a 1978 Dodge Jamboree Rallye. It has a 1 ton chassis I believe and I think it's a B350? Anywho it has 8.75R16.5 tires on it and they are very expensive to replace and tough to find so I've decided to replace the rims with 16's for practicality sake.

I've seen from looking around the interwebs that many others have done this and have found some good information about it. I guess what I'm wondering is what models and years of Dodge or Ford vehicles will have the correct rims (8 lug) to go on this beast? I know Chevy/GMC won't work as the center bore hole is too small. I found this out the hard way when my spare wouldn't go on after a blow out far from home.

Also, would regular truck wheels work with a vehicle as heavy as this or will the rims need to be a specific type to handle the load capacity?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have tons of reservations coming up and four old tires on now with no spare so I want to get this figured out as soon as possible.
Thanks!

14 Replies

  • Hi,

    On my 1975 F-350 I was able to buy some 16" rims on Craigslist for them. The bolt pattern was the same.

    Your rear axle is probably built by Dana, and is the same bolt pattern as my 75 Ford was. Chances are that you can find a F-250 - F-350 in a junkyard with 16" rims that will work fine. Look for years 1985 to 1999. It was a few years later when Ford went Metric, and changed it's bolt pattern to something else.

    I would be looking at 6.5" wide rims and if you have single rear wheels then 245 mm wide tires, such as the 245/75R16E that is used on the E-350 vans. In fact vans from 1985 to 1995 should use the same bolt pattern. But buy one first, then try it on your van before buying more.

    By taking a careful measurement from one bolt to one on the other side, you can compare the bolt pattern. If you have 8 holes, then the F-250 - F-350 bolt pattern should be the same. However if it is 6 bolts, then you are pretty much on your own.

    Fred.
  • check "Tirerack.com". I bought two of their 16.5 Firestone tires three years ago, and it was cheaper (even with shipping) than buying locally.
  • Finding 16 inch wheels with that bolt pattern is almost as hard to find as 16.5 tires. Sadly you are probably better off keepjng what you have and paying the price for new tires.