Wheel replacement, yes or no?

[RallyBus]

I'm thinking I need to replace these wheels. I have used a metal thickness gauge and they measure .250-.270". It was tough to get a good repeatable measurement on a rust round surface. They are .300" nominal thickness. That is about 10-15% loss of material. How much is too much?

I thought these would be a dime a dozen but I'm not having much luck finding used ones in my area middle GA. These are stud centric, hub centric seems to be the most common as well as the 8.25 width that semi's use.

These are 22.5 x 7.5.

What would be involved in switching to hub centric? Just a stud and nut change I'm assuming. If I went this route would I need to do the front as well so they are interchangeable or am I ok doing just the rear?

Thanks for your help.
Richard

[Booyah45828]

Those look pretty rusty. A truck tire shop will have a set of calipers that can measure them and be sure.

I'd also have them try and source your wheels for you. They should be able to find you something that's affordable.

How do the tires look? If they're not in great shape, it may be time to upgrade to larger rims and tires.

You'll have to change the hubs out to upgrade to a hub-centric rim.

[cadillackid]

you may have to drive a little to get some Stud-pilot rims used.. I know there are plenty up here in ohio from older school busses that are scrapped.. or look for a Trailer scrap-yard for big-rig trailers.. often times older trailers had stud pilot still.. they arent as easy as hub pilot but i do find them.

[EastCoastCB]

https://vanderhaags.com/detailview.p...SABEgLIHfD_BwE

$75

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Buy a cheap auction bus, swap wheels/tires, then sell it.

possibly but most everything at auction these days is hub-pilot and he needs stud pilot

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

possibly but most everything at auction these days is hub-pilot and he needs stud pilot

I've only had 1 of 5 come with hub piloted, but all have been Amtran/IC or on Daytons till I got this Thomas.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

You should be able to swap to 8.25" wheels with no problem, which should be easily found at truck junkyards. The wheel width really determines what size tire you can run (and vice versa) so you wouldn't be able to run anything smaller than a 10R22.5, and if you moved to an 11R22.5 you'd be better off with the 8.25's anyway.


Swapping to hub piloted wheels involves actually changing the hubs, which will have (on the front) alignment "tabs" to center the wheel, the rear will have something similar around the outer wheel bearing, so it's not just a simple stud and nut swap. It's a rather complicated and expensive solution to an otherwise simple problem.


You could go on and find some nice aluminum wheels while you're at it. No reason not to. If you mix and match steel & aluminum on the rear (yes, it's a common thing in the trucking world), be sure to get the plastic spacers that go between the wheels to prevent galvanic corrosion.

[WIbluebird]

My marketplace has plenty of people selling Budd wheels, both steelies and aluminium ones. Probably depends on your part of the country.

[EastCoastCB]

I think they're stud piloted accurides.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I think they're stud piloted accurides.

No, I can tell the difference between Budd and hub pilot wheels. With the Budds if you zoom in enough you see the tapered stud holes.

[RallyBus]

Sounds like everyone is in agreement they should be replaced and converting to hub centric is not an option.

The tires are still good so no need for them and just swap them over. I did consider getting a whole nother b7s but don't wNt to tie up the funds.

Brad - good to know that I can put my 10R's on 8.25 wheels as they are much more plentiful and cheaper. Blue Bird doesn't recommend this but if others have done it without issue. I know manufacturers can be conservative.

Thanks all, the hunt will continue with even more ammo now.
Richard