20 inch wheels

[Clint Dixon]

....Do you know if the 5.5" wide wheels with 7:50-16's will dual-up?.....

There are two different 5.5" wide wheels, those found on WWII 1/2-ton trucks, and those found on WDX-WM300 Power-Wagons. They look exactly the same but the offset is slightly different. The W1/2-ton versions have enough offset to be dualed, the Power-Wagon ones do not without using a spacer between the wheels.

I had a 1952 B3PW that had 5.5" wide wheels which were correct for the truck because of the 4.89:1 gearing it had. However, two of the wheels had the correct Power-Wagon offset and two had the 1/2-ton offset. The truck came from a local quarry, so who knows how the older WWII wheels found their way onto it.

I have heard that the earlier wheels should not be used on a Power-Wagon as the increased offset will cause the wheel to contact the larger Power-Wagon brake drum. The ones on my truck cleared just barely.

Also, the 20-inch wheels on my 1948 B1PW came from a Ford AA model truck (Budd wheels with the correct 5 stud bolt pattern). I have seen these wheels in a lot of different widths. Mine were wide and had 8.25 X 20 tires. Before I got the truck, it had 7.50 X 20 tires on it which I believe might have an overall smaller diameter than the 8.25 tires. So you may be able to shop around and find 20-inch tires with a diameter close to the 9.00 X 16 ones you now have. And, the narrower Ford Budds seem to be easier to find than the wider ones if you need them to fit narrow 20-inch tires in the height range of the 9.00 X 16.

[grover26]

Clint, Jonas, et al....Thanks for the wealth of information. It has definitely helped me...hope it has helped others. Now the 'hunt' begins....

[Jonas Smith]

PW axle with 1/2 ton wheels dualed up. 7.50-16 tires..

[rickt4498]

a trailer by a different name...

JONAS...nice pic of your blue trailer...

back in the mid 70's, a body shop tech I worked with bobbed a Datsun 620 truck frame with bed into a trailer.

I had borrowed the Datsun trailer to move some landscaping dirt with my 4x4 Suburban, when I pulled up next to a same colored Bright Blue Datsun pickup at a traffic light. I leaned to my left, out the window and said to the proud owner of the little pickup..." Do you know what I like about your truck ? "the proud driver beamed proudly " NO what ? "

I jerked my left hand with the thumb extended towards the rear, and slowly pulled forward saying " They MAKE great trailers"