I bought my 87 D100 for $400 with a bad trans, and after fixing that I'm starting to look at some other mods, getting rid of the lean burn, a sliding rear window, maybe a 2nd gen bench seat, etc.
My truck had good tread on all 4 tires, but they were all dryrotted and cracked, so they had to go. As you know, you can spend $600 real easy on tires alone, over $1000 if you get new wheels. I'm not that guy, so I looked around quite a bit and here's what I came up with. Ford full size vans from 1970 to 2006 have our 5x139.7 bolt pattern with 1/2" 20 thread studs.....the same as us if you have a 1986 to 1993 1/2 ton truck. I looked and found a set of really ugly Ford van aluminum wheels 16x7, with good Firestones for $100. They were hideous, and the owner told me he basically gave up on keeping them polished. The tires were all good, two of which have over half the tread. Sold. I told myself I could polish them up, but after 2 hours I understood what he was talking about, so I ditched that idea and painted them. Wheels and Tires $100, spray paint and primer $9, new chrome lug nuts $12 (ebay). Total investment $121 and a few hours.
I would never go buy these wheels new, but I wanted to let you know you can think outside the box and get a great deal. I think the 16's fill up the wheel well pretty well compared to the old 15's. Has anyone else found a great deal on some wheels? If so please share...
Soryy man, I have no idea why my pictures are sideways...
My truck had good tread on all 4 tires, but they were all dryrotted and cracked, so they had to go. As you know, you can spend $600 real easy on tires alone, over $1000 if you get new wheels. I'm not that guy, so I looked around quite a bit and here's what I came up with. Ford full size vans from 1970 to 2006 have our 5x139.7 bolt pattern with 1/2" 20 thread studs.....the same as us if you have a 1986 to 1993 1/2 ton truck. I looked and found a set of really ugly Ford van aluminum wheels 16x7, with good Firestones for $100. They were hideous, and the owner told me he basically gave up on keeping them polished. The tires were all good, two of which have over half the tread. Sold. I told myself I could polish them up, but after 2 hours I understood what he was talking about, so I ditched that idea and painted them. Wheels and Tires $100, spray paint and primer $9, new chrome lug nuts $12 (ebay). Total investment $121 and a few hours.
I would never go buy these wheels new, but I wanted to let you know you can think outside the box and get a great deal. I think the 16's fill up the wheel well pretty well compared to the old 15's. Has anyone else found a great deal on some wheels? If so please share...
Soryy man, I have no idea why my pictures are sideways...