The only real appearance thing we’ve done to the truck is replace the wheels and tires. The tires that came with the truck still had nearly 100% of the tread remaining, but they where very old and the sidewalls were checked, making them questionable. We don’t really plan on driving the truck far or fast, or carrying a load, but the risk of having a blowout was not desirable. The truck has already done one stint on a AAA tow truck, and I still haven’t lived that down, so I don’t want another. Another major factor in doing the upgrade was the chrome wheels we bought it with. They weren’t original, were very 70’s in style and also a little rusty, so all new wheels and tires were in order.

First thing was to get new wheels. Rather than try to hunt down “real” originals, we just purchased these new steel wheels, and replica chrome hub caps from Chev’s of the 40’s.

Choosing tires was the big question. The tires it came with rubbed the suspension when the truck was turned sharply, as it was originally designed for very narrow bias ply tires. Using the recommendation of knowledgeable guys on Stovebolt.com, we settled on LT215/85R-16 Goodyear Wrangler HT tires. They’re relatively narrow, are radials for a much better ride than bias ply, fill the wheel wells properly, but don’t rub.
Here are the before/after pictures:

The final addition was chrome trim rings, which also came from Chev’s of the 40’s, resulting in this final look. Much better than before, and pretty sharp I must say.