16.5 tires

[37 chief]

I have two military dodge D 200 pick ups from my brother, he bought from a military sale. They both have 16.5 tires. I had an 80 ford F350 it also had 16.5 tires. What was the purpose of the 16.5 tires? art they still being used on newer trucks? Stan

 

[2SteveWI]

I have two military dodge D 200 pick ups from my brother, he bought from a military sale. They both have 16.5 tires. I had an 80 ford F350 it also had 16.5 tires. What was the purpose of the 16.5 tires? art they still being used on newer trucks? Stan

I have a gooseneck grain trailer from 1981 that has 9.50-16.5 bias tires. I pick up extra spares as I find them. They were common on 3/4 and 1 ton duallys during the 70's and early 80's. Find quite a few older motorhomes that are being scrapped out with 16.5 tires are 90% tread but 15-20 years old. They were a wide base alternative to the 7.50-16 tires used previously. Dealt with those tires on M880 Dodge 5/4 ton trucks during my time in the Marines 78-82.

 

[Mule Meat]

It was done at the time when tires were letter coded to prevent wide tires from being put on trucks.

 

[MeanGene1]

I have a few to get rid of, tires n rims from a trailer I just converted to 16's
94558

 

[Scott 730]

It was done at the time when tires were letter coded to prevent wide tires from being put on trucks.

Please elaborate.

 

[da.bees]

I have two military dodge D 200 pick ups from my brother, he bought from a military sale. They both have 16.5 tires. I had an 80 ford F350 it also had 16.5 tires. What was the purpose of the 16.5 tires? art they still being used on newer trucks? Stan

I don't know for what purpose factory installed them but from my experience they can make other drivers stay out you way. An old man that hauled trash and scarped had 16.5 tires on his truck. He was continuously patching tubes and installing boots because he wasn't able to salvage tires that size. When front wheel cylinders started leaking he blocked lines off causing rear tires to skid, especially on gravel roads and parking lots. One day he announced to loafers and domino players at the country store he had found a way to use 16 inch tires on his truck. When they went out to look, he had split bike tires then wedged them between tire bead and wheel.

 

[Masseyharrisnut]

I have two military dodge D 200 pick ups from my brother, he bought from a military sale. They both have 16.5 tires. I had an 80 ford F350 it also had 16.5 tires. What was the purpose of the 16.5 tires? art they still being used on newer trucks? Stan

They are getting really hard to find in Alberta. Mostly going on older trailers here.

 

[Stan Coryell]

My dad had a '78 F250 with 16.5" rims. In the late 90's he switched them to 16" rims because the 16.5's were limited and expensive. New 16" rims and tires were cheaper than 4- 16.5 tires. He almost always ran Goodyear Wrangler.

I don’t remember GM using that size at all. Were 16.5" Ford specific?

 

[hoghollow]

My dad had a '78 F250 with 16.5" rims. In the late 90's he switched them to 16" rims because the 16.5's were limited and expensive. New 16" rims and tires were cheaper than 4- 16.5 tires. He almost always ran Goodyear Wrangler.

I don’t remember GM using that size at all. Were 16.5" Ford specific?

no not ford only. My brother had early 70s international pickup with 16.5s also had a 78 dodge 3/4 ton pickup with 16.5s

 

[MarkB_MI]

Here's an article about them. It discusses their use on both military and commercial vehicles.

Autopian

 

[matthies]

My dad had a '78 F250 with 16.5" rims. In the late 90's he switched them to 16" rims because the 16.5's were limited and expensive. New 16" rims and tires were cheaper than 4- 16.5 tires. He almost always ran Goodyear Wrangler.

I don’t remember GM using that size at all. Were 16.5" Ford specific?

GM had them on 1979 models for sure 2WD, quite a few around here back then as we had a GM dealer in town.

 

[NDIHC]

I liked working on pretty much any of the
.5 tires, 14.5, 16.5, 17.5, 19.5 etc. The beads were so easy to break that I could usually break them loose by stomping on the sidewall of the tire. It was the 15° bead taper that made them easy to break. 16.5 was used on Chevy, Ford and Dodge 3/4 and 1 ton. My 56 chevy 3600 came factory with 8-17.5 tires.

 

[Hayfarmer]

I bought my 1976 Chev 3/4 ton new in 1976. It had 9.50 16.5 tires on it when I got it. It was a "camper special" I put several set of the same size on it until they became hard to find. A friend bought identical pickup to mine a couple months later in 1976 and it had 16 inch tires. At that time there was a supposed tire shortage so you got what you could. I never had any problem with the tires and hauled a camper on it as well as some heavy loads.

 

[Alvin 41]

I have two military dodge D 200 pick ups from my brother, he bought from a military sale. They both have 16.5 tires. I had an 80 ford F350 it also had 16.5 tires. What was the purpose of the 16.5 tires? art they still being used on newer trucks? Stan

I buy 37"x16.5 tires from local military supply for $100 each and use them on my skid loader.

 

[NDIHC]

From what I've been led to understand the 15 degree beads of the XX.5 sized tires were designed to better withstand the higher tire pressures of heavier duty tires on heavier duty vehicles and machines.