Hey folks,

New user here and glad to be a part of the community.

I have a 62' Econoline with some old dinged up rims that don't hold air too well anymore. The van has 13" wheels with 175 80/r13 tires.

I'm looking for replacements that are OEM, but most of the ones online, like from Coker Tire, are 14" wheels.

I've read in some forums that the van can take a 14" wheel, but I don't know how to verify this and I don't want to purchase (and ship) some rims if they won't fit.

Can anyone offer some advice about this?

Thanks for your time and answers.

Brian
Dallas TX

 

p.s. will the hub caps fit on new OEM rims?

thanks.

 

If you want to keep the hubcaps, then you need to find some original rims. It's possible that the Econoline was the only vehicle that had 5-bolt 13" rims.

If you are thinking about converting to disc brakes, you need a 14" or larger rim. A low profile tire on a 14" rim can even be a smaller diameter than the stock 13" tire.

You can run 14" or 15" tires with no problem. It's a 5 x 4.5" bolt pattern, which was popular for many Fords in the 60s and 70s. Mustang, Maverick, Fairlane, Falcon, Comet, etc. Modern vehicles are the Aerostar and Ranger.

You want zero offset wheels. That means the mounting surface where the lug nuts tighten up is half way between the front of the rim and the rear of the rim. Modern rims are offset towards the outside of the vehicle to accommodate larger modern brakes. Your wheel bearings will appreciate the zero (or close to it) offset rims.

Be sure to drain and replace the brake fluid once a year.

 

Great stuff to know. THanks for the reply.
Disc brake replacement might be a future endeavor, but I'll be happy with a new set of wheels at this point.
Thanks again.

Brian

 

A goodly number of these vans & pickups were originally equipped with 14's. My understanding is that only really cheapskate fleet purchasers ordered the 13s (Bell Hydro etc.) and oft times with lowest gear ratio rear ends. Talking to guys who used to use these particular trucks & vans for work was that the small tires and screaming engines led to an early demise of many of these units.
My 64 p/u was factory equipped with the 14's, I still have em' in good shape if I ever wanna go back to factory original look but currently am riding on a set of 4 early to mid 90's ford ranger 2wd aluminum modular type, look good and also slightly improve the ride. Also with these particular wheels, there were sooooo many ranger's sold with these wheels they quite often pop up @ flea mkt's for pretty reasonable $$.
But on another note Emil didn't mention that may Chryslers also used the 5x4.5 bolt pattern too.
Just some other options to look @
Mikie
near Ottawa Canada
64 econo p/u & 58 Merc 100 paneltruck

 

A goodly number of these vans & pickups were originally equipped with 14's. My understanding is that only really cheapskate fleet purchasers ordered the 13s (Bell Hydro etc.) and oft times with lowest gear ratio rear ends. Talking to guys who used to use these particular trucks & vans for work was that the small tires and screaming engines led to an early demise of many of these units.
My 64 p/u was factory equipped with the 14's, I still have em' in good shape if I ever wanna go back to factory original look but currently am riding on a set of 4 early to mid 90's ford ranger 2wd aluminum modular type, look good and also slightly improve the ride. Also with these particular wheels, there were sooooo many ranger's sold with these wheels they quite often pop up @ flea mkt's for pretty reasonable $$.
But on another note Emil didn't mention that may Chryslers also used the 5x4.5 bolt pattern too.
Just some other options to look @
Mikie
near Ottawa Canada
64 econo p/u & 58 Merc 100 paneltruck

 

Thanks economan,

So good to see other enthusiasts out there.
Discount Tire had some 13s, but they look terrible.
The issue I had was one of the rims leaking air (being dinged up a little).
I might just take the old tires off and clean and polish the rims. Get all of the fix-o-flat that I've put in over the years. Coker Tires has a 14in OEM 5x4.5 for the fords, but I don't know if it will fit the lugs or if I can put my Ford hub caps back on. Might just take my chances with cleaning the rims.

Thanks so much for your reply.

Brian

 

'Nuther thing too came to mind when u said the 13's looked terrible, is the weight carrying capacity of the 13s compared to the 14's, it's possible that the capacity is a bit higher on the 14s
Mikie
near Ottawa Canada
64 econoline p/u & 58 M-100 panel

 

The weight carrying capacity of the 14s is greater than the 13s. In fact, by putting on 14" tires, Ford raised the gross weight rating of the Econolines.

You can get small diameter 14" tires that are smaller in diameter than standard 13" tires. That's what I have done.

 

There are even some some LT spec 14 inch tires out there, mostly shipped in from Europe. They are the only tires that are safe to run on VW vanogons which are so solidly heavily built & framed in order to cut the roofs off of them to make westfalia pop top campers and remain rigid.
A bit of a buzz gets generated in the VW community whenever a supplier is getting a shipment in from Europe and they usually get snapped up pretty fast.
not really on topic but just an interesting little tire story.
Mikie
near Ottawa Canada
64 econo p/u &58 merc panel truck

 

What did you ever decide for tires or rims. I've got 14" on my '66 supervan. One thing to remember is that 13" tires are getting harder to find along with whitewall tires, so 14" may be the way to go as far as larger selection out there. Later.

 

Hi, Thanks for asking. I've found a few 13" tires out there. But I'm not sure what the differences are. Like I posted, I've got 175 80/r13s on there now, but Firestone and other online places only have 185 70/r13s. I don't understand the difference, but they say they'll fit. My only issue is my one rim that seems to bee too dinged up to hold air forever. It has a slow leak. I'm sure the old tires don't help with that, but if I could find some good oem rims that took that hub caps that I have, I'd buy 'em. B

 

p.s. how can I tell which 14" rims will fit my van? Its a 5 x 4 and 1/2 lug pattern.

 

Well cool that you can find 13" tires, you could always put a tube in your leaky rim.
The 185 tire is slightly wider but lower profile so your speedo will be off just under 4% so it will work just spins a little faster.
The 14" rims off my van are 5 1/2 " wide and I really don't know what other car rim would work (maybe small mid 60's v8 cars). Later.

 

Oh forgot to mention that a 185/70-14 tire has almost exact dimensions as a 175/80-13 tire. Just a thought. Later.