Greetings from FLA, need wheel advice

[Screamersusa]

Greetings all.
While I am currently in FLA we are looking to relocate to NE Colorado in the spring of 2010 or so. I'd like to say hello to all you like minded individuals over there.
When the clouds are backlight here at dusk I cant help but imagine being back in the Denver and Rocky mountain area. Those rare moments really calm me down here in stressville usa.
I have just gotten my 1984 GMC Jimmy 4wd with a genuine military 6.2 diesel
moving. Most of its issues are small non drivetrain ones as the engine was installed properly and runs awesome. Tranny shifts very well and 4wd works like warm butter. Lots of little crap like electrical and sticky windows and missing details like....seatbelts (lol). No leaks not bad.

It has Eagle aluminum rims with 32x12 (15" rims) tires on it now. I REALLY want to ditch the aluminum rims in favor of an inexpensive steel military grade
truck wheel/tire. Any suggestions on what I might be able to look for in the junk yard. The vehicle will be used to tow my music gear or tools and mainly get us OUT of Florida (by force if necessary ...) I'd like to find a suitable standard light truck tire size and rim. Apparently these are tough to find.
Anyone know of any other make/model vehicle that would have compatable rims?
Cheers all

 

[thedrip]

You can buy NEW wheels for $25-30. The same bolt pattern is used on all kinds of vehicles, old chevy trucks & vans, old toyotas, old nissans.. Almost anything 6 lug in fact.

Unless by "military grade" you mean a 16.5" rim, then yes, those are harder to come by for the 6 lug pattern you have.

 

[Screamersusa]

Thanks that's what I was thinking but none of the tire/wheel stores here in lovely "How can I get all your money" West Palm seem to be able to get them for less than 79 dollars each. Hmmmm.

What I mean by military grade is heavy duty steel not chinese rough bubble laden, easilly bendable, shatters when stuck by a 22. Ok. I exaggerated about the 22...
I don't like the wide wheels on the road very much and I noticed the military ones don't seem to have them. I figured if I went with an easy to get standard truck size/tire maybe 16, it would work better for me since I do not plan to do anything more than normal off roading with this thing. I wuld like to retain some ground clearance though.

 

[K5dreamer]

sounds like youre just looking for steel rims. the junkyard is your friend.

you should be able to find these rims with your eyes closed. the six lug pattern steel truck rims are everywhere. If you want the H1 beadlocks, youll need 8 lug axles, and either spacers, or the axles from a dually 4x4 (also known as DRW, Dual Rear Wheel). But i dont think thats where youre aiming with this.

Heck, Ive got em on my truck right now, Im soon upgrading to H1 beadlocks, Id be happy to sell you mine. I can measure the particulars on diameter, width, and backspacing. But they are the standard steelies, and are on my military M1009 Blazer. Could be a few weeks till ive got my new axle/suspension/wheels/tires installed though, not sure what kinda time frame youre on.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The stock wheels of the M1009's were just the 15x8 steel Rally wheels GM had at the time. I just sold five of them for $20 just so they were gone and to a guy that could use them.
There were no 16" factory 6x5.5" wheels in this generation.

Size wise there's plenty of good aftermarket wheels. Cragar makes good stuff. To duplicate the factory specs you want a 15x8 with 4" of backspacing and at least 2000lbs capacity.

I recently got a set of aluminum 16x8's with 4" of backspacing from another member here. I'm running 265/75R16's (32x10.5R16) tires on them. There are aftermarket 16" aluminum rims out there with our backspacing but the problem is most of the 16" wheels made with the 6x5.5" pattern are intended for the later GM IFS trucks and have around 5" of backspacing. Not much on the steel wheel side of the equation either.
You can play around in the Wheels section on www.SummitRacing.com . I got my Cragar steel 16x7 spare from there.

 

[K5dreamer]

The stock wheels of the M1009's were just the 15x8 steel Rally wheels GM had at the time.

no argument here, he just said he was looking for military steel rims, and not the H1's....

 

[mordachai]

in WPB and can't find steels? you just gotta know where to look
the 15x8" rally came on GM vans(the 15x7 came on trucks and blazers)
if you go to one of the boneyards around here, there are usually at least a few vans with the steel rally wheels on them.
Also the boneyards up here get abour $25 for rim and tire, so I always scout the yard and usually end up with some decent tread etc.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The 15x8's came on trucks and SUV's as well, it was just another option. My '89 came new with them.