Hello all! Totally new to the forum or how to navigate it. I am sorry if this question has been asked an answered. My 15yr old son has a 1966 GMC truck that was his fathers. He has applied for his hardship and we need to replace the tires and rims so that he can get to driving it. I spoke with a coworker who used to work in a tire shop about what rims and tires to get. After a handful of conversations that probably have me invested 10hrs or more I still have no idea what kind of tires or rims to purchase. I have no idea how to go about deciding or what to even look for. I do know this, we live in a colder climate state and can get copious amounts of snow. My son plays football and does wrestling so will have early morning practices, games and late evening games. He works full time during the summers. We live in the country so he does have a bit of a commute. I need a good all season tire that will make travel on these roads sun, rain or snow manageable and not just look good. I want rims that wont need special maintenance to stay intact, so something that wont chip away or need regular polishing. When we get things figured out and he saves a bit of his own money we can talk about buying something a little more high end. For now we just need functional. Any help will be very much appreciated.
WELCOME KYMBERLY ! . As a Mechanic who actually drives and works his vintage pickup, I suggest going with stock or stock ish, steel wheels of 15" or 16" ~ fairly narrow rides will mean good traction in the snow plus you won't need arms like Popeye to wrestle the steering, it gets heavy when you're moving slowly . I assume this rig still has the original 6 lug drums ? . Unless you're : A. rich B. in zero hurry to drive it for the next three years, I suggest keeping it more or less stock, just get it turned up and brakes fixed then drive and enjoy it . The Instant* you begin to make changes or Hot Rod it, forget about driving it anywhere until you dump $40,000.00 and three years + into it .
Kymberly, Nate's giving you good advice. Keep it simple. But I know from experience that finding oem wheels for these trucks can be a challenge. Many companies still make replacement steel wheels for these trucks. But those new wheels will need painted and some sort of hubcaps. All that starts to add up to $$$. What wheels are on the truck right now? With any luck they'll more than likely work just fine. As for tires, my advice would be to head to the local tire place and tell them what you have told us. You want a good mud/snow tire that's the correct size based on the wheels currently on the truck. Posting your location would help too. Back when I built my 1965 C10 there was a fella here in Southern Colorado that specialized in mid 1960's GM trucks. I haven't talked to him in years but here's his email address rjsisneros@ria.net <rjsisneros@ria.net>; Good luck and post up some photo's of the truck. That will help us to help you. John
Thank you Nate!! That is the kind of response I was hoping for. Simple and straightforward. He still has the original rims and hubs. Lucky guy. We will do as John suggested and take one of the rims to a local shop and ask for the best tire.
You're welcome . I'm old and grew up working on and with these fine old trucks when they were just $250 farm trucks . Always judge my suggestions against what others do and think before $pending your hard earned ca$h . There are old unwanted part out there, you'll have to do the ground works, beat the bushes so to speak but some time spent always gets me what I want for the right price as Hot Rodders and those cleaning out old junk don't put much value to anything not new and shiny . I hope you're not planning to run it in any salt areas.... .
