[hotwheels1]

I ran into a small problem today which i hadn't really paid much attention too. I measured my lug spacing on the front and rear axles and found they are different. My front lug spacing is 5 lug on 5.5" spacing, and my rear axles are 5 lug on 5.0" spacing. I am not sure what to do here, should i just find rims that will fit and call it good, or should i replace the front or rear? What would you do in this situation? The rear ford 9" is off of a 77 ford truck and the front axles are from 1947.

[timothale]

Most ford truck rears were 5 X 5.5 ,the same as the 48 and earlier rear. There were very few ford pickups made with pass size bolt patern 5 X 4.5, they were building a light duty pickup and tried to get pass car ride for people that ran empty most of the time. With emission standards that went by GVW it was cheaper to build the F150 with heavier springs shocks tires and not have to do the emission add ons You should be able to find a pickup rear end to bolt in with the patern you need. ..5 X 5 was used on biger ford, linc, merc, cars.

[Frisco]

Go to Early Wheel or email Jason at jason@bearmetalkustoms.com for all your wheel needs. I have purchased from Jason several times and the turn around is excellent. Quality is excellent. Good guy to deal with. Very fair pricing.

He may even have the wheels you need with the centers having both lug patterns so that the wheels will fit on either end.

[hotwheels1]

Thanks for the link frisco........Looks like i will be using a wheel adapter on the rear axle. This will allow me to go from a 5 on 5 to a 5 on 5.5......

[Frisco]

Originally Posted by hotwheels1

Thanks for the link frisco........Looks like i will be using a wheel adapter on the rear axle. This will allow me to go from a 5 on 5 to a 5 on 5.5......

Check before you buy a wheel adapter. Some are unsafe (billet is preferred over the cast aluminum). Some do not center the wheel correctly causing wheel runout and out of balance condition. They all will cause the tires to be more outboard than previously. None are allowed in drag racing. It is much safer and wiser to get a wheel with the correct bolt pattern.

[justanoldfarmtruck]

I run a set of chrome smoothies with a 4.5 and 4.75 pattern on each wheel. Ford 9 inch rear and firebird front clip.

Chrome 15x8's with 5x5 and 5x5.5

I run 56 chevy caps on mine but wheel vintiques has a bunch of ford caps to choose from. Call them to ask if they will fit the smoothie wheels.

Here

[hotwheels1]

Originally Posted by Frisco

Check before you buy a wheel adapter. Some are unsafe (billet is preferred over the cast aluminum). Some do not center the wheel correctly causing wheel runout and out of balance condition. They all will cause the tires to be more outboard than previously. None are allowed in drag racing. It is much safer and wiser to get a wheel with the correct bolt pattern.

Thanks for the heads up on the adapters. I knew there were some crappy ones out there, but i wasn't sure which ones. I will be buying billets. The only axle i am looking at doing is the rear axle. Since the front is a suicide front, i figure adapters would be really abused up there.

Originally Posted by justanoldfarmtruck

I run a set of chrome smoothies with a 4.5 and 4.75 pattern on each wheel. Ford 9 inch rear and firebird front clip.

Chrome 15x8's with 5x5 and 5x5.5

I run 56 chevy caps on mine but wheel vintiques has a bunch of ford caps to choose from. Call them to ask if they will fit the smoothie wheels.

Thats a great idea man. I will give it some serious thought. I am still debating on wheel type, once i get that figured out, i will make a decision. I was just worried about having to redo either the front or the rear axle for matching wheels. Now i know i have options.

Thanks guys.

[justanoldfarmtruck]

Originally Posted by hotwheels1

Thanks for the heads up on the adapters. I knew there were some crappy ones out there, but i wasn't sure which ones. I will be buying billets. The only axle i am looking at doing is the rear axle. Since the front is a suicide front, i figure adapters would be really abused up there.



Thats a great idea man. I will give it some serious thought. I am still debating on wheel type, once i get that figured out, i will make a decision. I was just worried about having to redo either the front or the rear axle for matching wheels. Now i know i have options.

Thanks guys.

Yeah i had no clue on what you are doing for wheels. I needed 14x6 for the front and 15x8 for the rear. That wheel style was the only one with the right backspace and the different bolt patterns for reasonable $$$$. Watch for rust though. Mine have a few little spots. Powdercoating may be my next step.