Substitute Wheels

Go to the junkyard and fnd some old Ford 1/2 ton 16" pickup wheels. If you find a 4wd, it will have the 4.25" center hole you need. If not, you can have 2wd wheels bored to 4.25 pretty cheap at a machine shop or do it yourself, as the Jeep isn't a hubcentric fit.

 

If you have the budget, Summit Racing has Wheel Vintiques Series 62... They have the old school look. Also you can order different widths and back spacing.

 

kia sportages also have the desired hub size ID and proper lug pattern. Suzuki x90 and diahatsu/dodges do also.
This helps for CL searches/ bone yard picking....trackers, geo and chevy..

 

Great help, shovelhead. That's an amazing bit of research.

 

JMO - I'd skip modifying Ford 2WD wheels to fit. That was common back in the day, to make very wide wheels for sand tires. When you cut the center out, the web between the lug and the center hole is quite thin, and cracks. Jeep wheels have a raised lip that reinforces the web.

Unless you want a rock-bottom price, Jeep wheels should not be hard to find. Just go to car-part.com and punch in, say, a 15x6 wheel wheel for a 1980 CJ-series. I found several sources near me for $25 each when I did that.

 

Regarding "cheap wheels" I have a friend who bought a set of four new wheels at a discount parts chain.

The tire store then refused to mount/balance his tires because the new wheels were so far out of true.

Me, I'd look for some good originals.

 

Thanks for ALL the advice guys ! I ended up buying Cragar V365 wheels from Summit for a fairly decent price . It's a black 5 spoke that doesn't really take away from the looks of my Heep too much . Thanks again .

 

I found a set of 5 from a Suzuki Samurai. Right bolt pattern, right center hole. Paid $100 for the set of 5. Discount Tire mounted tires on them for me.

 

im not going to take any credit for the spreadsheet, just my googling skills....lol

I found a set with tires mounted from a 1965 F100 balanced and ready to go for....$80 on my local Craigslist...they are chrome, and aftermarket, but they roll about a lot nicer than the 31's filled with who knows what kind of leak sealant and unbalanced....happy hunting

 

I just picked up 5 15 x 6 white steel spoked trailer wheels low offset, will paint them black or body colour, I was looking for OEM one's but tough to find in Canada for a reasonable price, was quoted $180.00 ea + shipping or a 6 hour drive, the trailer wheels were $44.00 ea.

 

As near as I can tell (pictures) I think my 60 has later model CJ 15" steel wheels. They're in good shape, so I.m going to roll with them.

All the blast shops I've talked to want to powder coat after the blast. Down here (Gulf Coast) an immediate prime following blast is a necessity. One tells me he'll powder coat prime if I want to finish myself. Powder coat prime? If I'm powder coating, I would think I'd just get it done in powder coat period. Dimetcote primer with a finish coat would be optimum, but I can't find anybody that speaks that language. Any ideas or am I just too senstitive about PC? I'm concerned about fixing dings.

Here's the last question (and, yes, I've searched the archives - I know I've seen this discussed years back, but I can't find it.): What is the factory off-white color that the old steel rims were painted? The Nellie Belle light cream color. Anyone recall?

 

Thought Nellie Belle ran a light yellow color on her rims. Am I wrong?

Yes, I was wrong.

All the pictures of NellieBelle I can find shows her with black rims. She is painted Battleship Gray.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Nel...Dw#imgrc=_&usg=__fj3_RjvRgbcVizybglMFVqvyA_Y=

 

My daughter (14) thinks I'm weird when I say "Whoah NellieBelle, whoah!!!" at stop signs.

Since it was black-and-white TV, maybe you imagined her with yellow rims.

Although I think NellieBelle was a '46, the show began in 1951, and it happens that my 1951 Jeep pickup was Battleship Gray, OEM from the factory. As was my '51 Pontiac Chief, also.

My dad always thought it was due to materials shortages, being diverted to the Korean War production effort.

 

1960! Yep - I was 100% wrong on Nelliebelle wheels. Thanks for the correction.

In light of actual facts versus my faulty recollection: What's a similar paint code or name for the off-white factory wheel color that (I think) I used to see on Willys Jeeps? It's the wheel color shown on: http://sellajeepstories.blogspot.com/2015/11/time-capsule-cj5-jeep-universal-photos.html

Appreciate the help.

 

Might be you are remembering the gizmoes that mounted outboard of the wheels so you could mount another set of wheels. Some sort of dual wheel setup on all four corners. Also probably the only time any one used them unless it was during the African campaign running around the desert against Rommel.