Your truck should have six lugs. At some point in the 70s I think two wheel drive 1/2 ton GM pickups went to 5 lugs. My '53 pickup and my '70 Blazer use the same drums front and back.
Oh, I didn't realize that and just figured someone had replaced them as I believe the wheels would need to be replaced to use radials...I could be wrong, another assumption...
The rear axle bearings are fine if in good condition. Those old rear ends are pretty tough.
A friend told me that I should go ahead and do the ring/pinion without buying the bearings as the bearings don't seem to fail too often, but I have seen others say that the pinion bearing gets trashed. He said the wheel bearings are pretty tough also...so that's 2 of you, I will head that advice...but I will change the front bearings at your recommendation.
7.00-7:50X16 6ply tires will make it look like a real truck. Many years ago I ran 6:50x16 front and 7:00x16 on the rear with split rims. That was a great old work truck look. I just put 7.00x15 6 ply rated mud and snows on the rear for winter. I like the look and they do well on my 2 mile dirt road.
I probably won't swap too much around in the way of tires and wheels, unless I find a deal on some...and especially since I have radials on it already.
In '52-'53 Chevy went to Bendix brakes. They are better than the previous one and easier to adjust but I don't know if the conversion is worth it.
I've heard from others about this, but I was also wondering how much advantage the newer brakes would provide, it seems the brakes will lock up with the hucks, just that they seem to require a bit more maintenance.
It is snowing here tonight.
Beats fire most days of the week, but snow can cause it's share of problems as well...my pickup will be moving to Lake County to live out the rest of his life...or should I say, the rest of *MY* life...LOL
It's just pouring rain here, supposed to be raining until next week. That probably means more snow for you up there!
EDIT: Holy flock sheepman, it's starting to come down and the wind has picked up to about 40-50 knots, time to breech the main, take down the jib, and batten down the hatches! This could be a long night...
