Here is the senario. I have a 9" rear ,5x 5 1/2" bolt pattern, that will be narrowed from stock Maverick housing width by 3" on each side. Where can I get wheels that I can specify how much negative backspace (Deep Dish) that I want? Ive looked all over the net, but because the 9" is from an 83 f150 none of the wheels ive seen have the deep dish look that I want.
Any of the big names will do anything you want, for a price. American Racing Wheels Centerline Wheels Billet Specialties Boyd Coddington
if the axles the have are perfect length for what your using..which i doubt they are, you can always re-drill and press in new studs. other wise go with what joe said.
yep just get axles with the right lug pattern. as for back spacing that depends on the size of rim your going with. i think that going 3 inches narrower than stock width is going to cause a couple of problems. first off the end of the housing is going to be right up against the leaf spring. im not sure if you will even have room for the u bolt and retaing plate. then the drum backing plate will be interfering with the inner wheel well. also consider that when people use a 15x8 rim they usually use 3.75-4" back spacing. if you take out the 3" that your narrowing it then your going to have a wheel with 1" of back spacing and im not sure if anybody even makes a wheel with that little bit of back spacing. to make this all work you would have to relocate the leaf springs in at least 3" and move the wheel tubs. also the frame rail will interfere with the brakes, so you will need move or notch the frame rail or put new frame rails in. after you do this you should then be able to get a 15x11 wheel with a 4" back space to fit.
Resto, I totally forgot about those measurements I promised you last weekend. Here's what my housing measures: 43" ctr to ctr of the spring pads, total overall width is 52.75" (this is over the ring gear bulge, so it may be a tad less measured over the front face without the chunk installed) Distance from the ctr of both spring pads to the housing ends is 4-7/8", multiply that times two and add the 43" ctr to ctr and that also comes out to be 52.75". I went with the std brake offset in ordering the axles (2.5") so the overall width to the axle flanges should be 57.75". My wheels are Wheel Vintiques 15 x 10 Chevy truck wheels with a Ford 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern and a 5" back space. I have about 1/2-1" clearance between the rear sidewalls of the 295/50 tires (Cooper Cobras) and the leaf springs. I personally would not respline the axles you have now, but order new axles to fit. I went with Strange 31 spline street axles.
The leafs will be moved in board 3" on each side and the tubs will be widened. Youre right about getting new axles with the correct bolt pattern. It costs 300.00 to have the stock axles 5x5.5 resplined, and a littlle over 400.00 for the correct bolt pattern in an alloy axle. Thanks Byant Dang...I never considered the brakes. Back to the drawing board.
Just use the truck drum setup, you can buy new brake drums with the 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern at the local parts house. The one's you're looking for are for an early 80's F100
Tons of thanks guys. My housing turned out to be 52.5" wide after narrowing. I found the rear wheels I like in the correct size, American Raceing Outlaw IIs 15 10 5 4.5 4" Backspaceing -38mm Offset for 257.00 . They should look sharp.:bananaman I could have never figured this out by myself. Any sugestions for rear tires for these rims?
a 275 60 15 is about the widest tallest tire the fits in the stock wheel well. and you most likely will have to roll the fender lip and may even have to push it out a little. i think bad dad runs a 295 50 15. thats a wider tire but not as tall. if you want to be safe on fitment a 255 60 15 should work but the 10" wide rim is a little to wide for that tire.
Moser Engineering shows $125 to respline a pair of axles and 65-90 to drill a new bolt pattern. At that point I would probably get new axles though.
i sell brand new superior axles for 139 each. they are cut to fit. this means that they have allot of spline on it so it can be cut down the the right length. we will cut them for you. the moser cut and respline are junk because when a axle is made the last step is the hardening. when you do the hardening its the outer surface that is hardened. when you cut and respline the new splines are in the unhardened material and are easy to twist and brake.
