After a long consultation, saving up for resources, and checking with several local tire shops I settled on Les Schwab.
http://www.lesschwab.com/ in Livermore. My tireman was Jim McKee and he knew his stuff. He identified 3 of my original six wheels as widow-makers and he pointed out the features that he was looking for. I knew I already had 3 different styles of rims amongst the set and had it on good authority that at least two were widow-makers.
I really wanted to upgrade to single piece wheels with modern tubeless radials so what I settled on were the 22 5.x6.75 Accuride #28157 wheels that came stock in grey. I had Les Schwab powder coat them in black. The tires are 255/70R-22.5/16 Gladiator QR55-ST Highway and they are a perfect match for the old 7.5x20 tube-typed tires that used to be on the truck. The are a tiny bit wider but almost the same outside diameter. There's no rubbing at full steering lock, I couldn't have asked for a better match. Thanks go out to Stu McMillan from the
stovebolt.com forums for the original recommendation.
After getting the tires done it was time to go get some lunch on the way there I had to cut through the safeway parking lot and I noticed I had a stalker.
This guy was halarious. He was soo excited he was fit to be tied.
He pulled up next to me as I parked at Burger King and he said he threw his wife out of the car at Safeway and chased me down. He had just watched one of the Cars movies that morning with his kids and he was just tickled with the truck.
So I popped the hood, and we talked for a good 30 minutes, he gave me his camera to take pictures of him with the truck, and I took a snapshot from my phone as well. It was a fun experience.
