Finally get to ask some noob questions...

[vegestar]

So I know a lot about the inner workings of engines and diesel fuel systems. And I know my way around most of the other mechanical and electrical systems on a Scout or any other vehicle for that matter. But two things I know nothing about are tires/wheels and suspension. With that being said I have exhausted and confused myself trying to research these topics and could use some help from my IH bretheren.

So here's my situation: I just got my Traveler on the road from it's 18 year hibernation. Over the time I've owned it I have gone through the brakes (including a hydraboost conversion), front wheel bearings, changed the oil in the diffs, re-sealed the T-19 and 300 T/C, replaced the u-joints, and updated the electrical a bit. All these things are working beautifully and I only have two major things on my list to make my truck truly roadworthy: Tires and Shocks.

I have a set of nearly new wheels I bought from a guy who traded them up for chromies on his Scout but I can't remember what size they are supposed to be (17" seems to be stuck in my head). I would like to know 2 things: 1) How do I properly measure the wheels to determine what size they are and 2) What size tire would I need to find to fit the wheels and my stock suspended truck? I realize u guys can't help me with the second question until I answer the 1st one so we'll start there.

Now onto the shocks. I don't want to spend a ton of money on the suspension at this point as I plan to go SOA at some point and a front shackle reversal in the closer future. According to my LST my truck came equipped with heavy duty springs so I'm looking for some opinions on ride quality with these springs and some decent but relatively inexpensive shock options to improve the ride quality. The shocks on the truck now are completely hosed so I have nothing to compare to. FWIW... I removed the shocks and plan to test drive it to see the difference but the front springs seem way stiffer than the rears. Not sure if that's normal or not, like I said I am out of my comfort zone with this stuff. So any help would be appreciated.

[guidolyons]

Got a tape measure?



It's probably a 15" or 16" rim as those were most popular sizes for <1/2 ton, the 16.5" rim was used for 8 lug 1 ton trucks to clear the larger brakes. 17" did not get real popular until about 5-10 years ago. Check the back side of the rim, it's usually stamped on the back. If you don't see anything stamped on the rim, measure the diameter and width at the inner mounting lip.

Since you are planning on changing/upgrading, I agree don't waste a bunch of money on shocks, get some cheapo shocks (gabriel, monroe, etc) from the auto parts store or maybe some Rancho RS 5000 (summit racing usually has specials running on Ranchos).

They probably won't have a listing for an old IH, so you might have to shop by extended and collasped length to find what you need.

[vegestar]

Thanks Guido, I had a feeling about them being measured from the mounting bead so I just dragged the wheels out from their storage place and slapped them around with a tape measure. So how does 17x8 sound to everybody? Then I turned around and noticed that my parts truck has the same wheels so I took a quick look at those too. They are currently wearing a 31x10.5x15 tire and they indeed measure 15" at the mounting bead (not sure of the width) so obviously the same style wheel but not the same size.

So if that rim size of 17x8 sounds like a good number what size tires should I be looking for to fit a stock Scout? Of course I would prefer to use the largest tire possible which I understand should be in the 30-31" range?

[Ray-Dean]

Were you measuring the OD? The actual wheel size is not the OD. You have to subtract the bead seal lip from the OD. 17" sounds typical for the OD of a stock wheel, however many after market manufacturers made the bead area of their rim deeper to better seal the tire.

[vegestar]

I measured from where the bead would seal.

[vegestar]

Kinda answered my own question, found this cool tire size calculator and plugged in some tire size numbers I found on CL and compared them to the stock tire size (acc to my LST). Still would like to hear if anyone has 17" wheels with stock suspension and what tires you are running and how you like it. Also looking for opinions on less expensive shock options, particularly some arguments for gas vs hydro. I hear there has been lots of advances in both types, now I'm even more lost...