Posted by Brian in Oregon on November 04, 1999 at 15:47:01:
In Reply to: Dually studs and nuts info posted by Winget on November 04, 1999 at 13:11:41:
The stock 7.50x16 WC rims can be reversed and used as an outter wheel if you have the dual lug setup. Many WC owners got rid of them because if you are not running duals they are a pain.
You cannot turn the later 3/4 ton rims around, nor will the 1/2 dualies work with 7.50x16 tires, though you can run those tires on the 7.50x16 rim singley.
Only the chassis/cab and the Maintc repair truck came with the dualies from the factory. The tlephone repair trucks did not, though they were sometimes added by field units. As far as I can tell, ALL 1/2 ton WC's had the dualie option (the special nuts).
Note that on 1/2 ton WC's, the front axle has a wider track than the rear axle. That is so the front tire will be centered when the dualies are run. This is common on commercial vehicles and the 1/2 tonners were pretty much just militarized commercial 1 tonners. When the 3/4 tonners came out, it was better to use an identical wheel track with larger tires. This made the vehicle track better since the rear tires ran in the same groove the front tire plowed, and less rubber was needed since you eliminated two tires, even though the tires were larger.
I've seen dualies on WC closed cab pickups. The owner merely put a heavy sheet rubber lip under his fender. Since the fender is a flat curve (not compound) this was easy and it did not look out of place and was damage proof. The truck looked like it was ready for some serious work.