Ford F-150 7-Lug Wheels

[PJSprog]

The Wife and I recently bought a used pickup for use around the farm. We found a 2003 Ford F-150 used on Craigslist for a very good price. It need a little TLC and some minor repairs, so we took it to a local mechanic we've trusted for a long time. One of the things we wanted was to replace the rusty wheels with either new or gently used. After he finished the other work, he called and told us he was having trouble finding replacement wheels that weren't aluminum and $300 a piece. :shocked: Said he'd never seen 7-lug wheels on an F-150. After some research, he'd found that they made some as an option for a few years, and '03 was one of those years. As he put it, it's like a heavy duty F-150 built similar to a 250.

Never been a pickup guy, so I'd never heard of this.

Anyone else here have one of these?

 

[PJSprog]

In the end, he found someone local who sandblasted the rust off and repainted the existing rims. If you look close enough, some minor surface imperfections are obvious. But, as I said, it's a farm truck, so we're not at all worried about that.

 

[Ford850]

My 2013 has them, in aluminum. I'm pretty sure steel rims are available too, for the work truck models they sold with the HD payload package. Mine's rated for over a ton, I think 2100lbs payload. Check your door sticker for yours.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You have what is known as a heavy half ton.

 

[Clay45]

Originally the F100 was the half-ton and the F-150 a 5/8 ton to beat the requirement to use unleaded gasoline. I bought one in 1978 for just that reason. Chevy did same thing and marketed theirs as Heavy-Half, even decaled them that way.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yes, the 7 lug wheels on a F150 is a great find. It's a Heavy Half or a 3/4 ton truck.

I had one in 1997. Tough as nails. I have searched for another as a plow truck but as I said, can't be found.

All came with 4.10 gears, big rad, big wheels to house the big brakes, ect.

You got a good find!

 

[vlcakc]

I had a 2003 F150 Lariat 4X4 Supercab with the increased payload package. It came with 7-lug steel wheels, larger diameter torsion bars in the front suspension, increased load range tires and an extra leaf in the rear springs compared to the standard F150 Lariat. It was not marketed to avoid the leaded/unleaded fuel regulations as some earlier models were since by 2003 leaded fuel was history anyway. The only place I could find a replacement wheel was at my friendly local Ford dealer. Vic

 

[2458n]

Worked at a Ford dealer that sold many trucks and we did not order many equipped that way. Ford also had 2 models of the 250. One had the floating rear axle and the lighter truck did not. It was a easy up sell to the light 250 and avoid the stupid 7 lug odd ball stuff. Heating and a/c companies loved the 302 with fuel injection and the traditional 8 lug tires. There is a reason you can not find the 7 lug stuff. Looked odd and sales people bad mouthed the difference.

 

[vlcakc]

Worked at a Ford dealer that sold many trucks and we did not order many equipped that way.

Very true I'm sure. No Ford sales manager in his right mind would order a truck for stock like mine. I had to spec out the truck myself and have it special ordered to fulfill a somewhat unique dual role I needed at the time. "Stupid and oddball" perhaps, but it worked out very well for me, much better than any standard F150 or F250 Super Duty would have. I drove it 5 years and sold it to a friend who still drives it daily. Only downside was a slightly stiffer ride than a standard F150, but still a lot better than a F250 Super Duty. Vic

 

[Btown]

I think back in 98 ish when they switched body styles they had a light duty F-250 and heavy duty F-250. The light duty looked like a F-150 with 7 lug wheels. Several years later they dropped the light duty F-250 and made it a F-150. I might be wrong but something says it was a called they 7700 package or something. Aka could tow 7700 lb trailer. So it was a heavy F-150. I am getting older know and my memory does not work like it used to.