6x5.5 vs 5x5

[daved]

so I bought a big block for my 68 stepside and knew the front springs were gonna need to be replaced (it had cut springs and was real low with the small block) so i figured i might as well bag it......bought a kit from Scotts Hot rod.....then I thought hey might as well do a disc conversion with drop spindles while i have it apart.....so i bought a partial kit from ece thinking i could get the brake parts alot cheaper in town.....so he sent me everything but the master,calipers,pads and rotors..........thinking i would save about 250.....thats where i screwed up....did not do my home work and found out 72 rotors are 5 lug.....(anybody seeing a snowball effect??? lol)

if i buy ece 6 lug rotors (he is gonna be kind enough to give em to me for 80 ea.) thats about 200 to my door...but if i need a rotor i am not gonna find it at the corner store
if i go with the 5x5 lug rotors then i will need to buy the conversion axles to be 5x5....at 279 plus shipping (50 bucks maybe) so say 330

so my question is this.....is it worth going to 5x5 for the wheel options? i know 6x5.5 are limited but is that the only reason guys are going with the 5x5? or am i missing something? at this point im thinking i will need a rotor b4 i need an axle but i would also have to find/buy a cheap set of 5x5 rollers (which could be a couple hundred) until the suspension is done ... as to not get the wrong wheel offset on the new wheels and be stuck with that mess....any input would be great

[esosa67]

i currently have a 67 with 6 lug and i to am debating what i want, if i stay with 6 lug i have to get a brake setup and spindles and all that from aftermarket, where as if i do a 5 lug swap i can get the whole front end and a reend for 250 bucks. just found the setup actually... but i would have to buy drop spindles and maybe balljoints and get all the parts polished up.. so i would still be in it for maybe 600 bucks for everything the way i want it in 5 lug.. or get everything new and get all dics brakes and a drop from ccp for a total of 2k.. so idk what to do either i'll stay subcribed to see what people say...... this ramble probably did not help you.. sorry..

[clos69]

One thing you have to consider is what type,size, lugs, wheel you have your eyes on. Many people think that there are more 6lug wheels out there than 5lug...which is true but the offset on the 6lug wheels are mainly made for the newer model fullsize trucks. If you are looking for a classic looking wheel than 5lug is the way to go. If you decide to go 6lug than you are probably looking to spend more on custom made wheels.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by clos69

One thing you have to consider is what type,size, lugs, wheel you have your eyes on. Many people think that there are more 6lug wheels out there than 5lug...which is true but the offset on the 6lug wheels are mainly made for the newer model fullsize trucks. If you are looking for a classic looking wheel than 5lug is the way to go.

Very good info right there. Unless you go with covered lug billet wheels .They can be had in dual pattern, but prepare to spend some...$$
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[Clyde65]

couldnt you use the parts from a 88-98 truck? they have 6lug and I have seen where some have upgraded and used the spindles/rotors and such.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

couldnt you use the parts from a 88-98 truck? they have 6lug and I have seen where some have upgraded and used the spindles/rotors and such.

88-98 2wd are 5x5.

[knuckledragger]

I have read that the 91-92 2500 6 lug light duty rotor is the same as the 5 lug rotor on the earlier trucks.I have not done this ,but it seems it would be easy enough to verify with a patient parts guy.Good Luck!
Dan

[68Stepbed]

You more than likely won't be needing rotors again for a long time, unless you just have some sort of incident that breaks or warps them. If that be the case, what's wrong with waiting a couple days to get new rotors from ECE? The main reason most go with 5-lug is they use rearends and spindles and rotors from donor trucks.

The hard part will be finding 6-lug rims. But, after recently shopping around, finding wheels in 5x5 is almost as hard.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by daved

i would also have to find/buy a cheap set of 5x5 rollers (which could be a couple hundred) until the suspension is done ... as to not get the wrong wheel offset on the new wheels and be stuck with that mess....any input would be great

Unless you have a set of 6-lug steel wheels from the 71-87 4x4 trucks,... or a set of 73-87 4x4 ralley wheels,... your original 68 6-lug steelies won't fit the 6-lug ECE rotors anyway.
(there is not enough room on the back side to clear your disc brake calipers)

I say,... go 5-lug.
Much easier to find affordable wheels.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Unless you have a set of 6-lug steel wheels from the 71-87 4x4 trucks,... or a set of 73-87 4x4 ralley wheels,... your original 68 6-lug steelies won't fit the 6-lug ECE rotors anyway.
(there is not enough room on the back side to clear your disc brake calipers)

Do you know if this is true with the 6-lug CPP rotors? I haven't mocked mine up yet, but I was planning on keeping my stock steelies with dog dishes on my 67.

[daved]

if you look at the backside of your rim and the "step" is tapered to the center rather than straight they will not fit around the calipers

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by GCncsuHD

Do you know if this is true with the 6-lug CPP rotors? I haven't mocked mine up yet, but I was planning on keeping my stock steelies with dog dishes on my 67.

x2.
It's not the rotor,... it's the fact you are adding a disc brake caliper.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by lolife99

x2.
It's not the rotor,... it's the fact you are adding a disc brake caliper.

Yea, I worded that wrong, I know it's the caliper that is the clearance issue. I just wasn't aware this was an issue with the stock wheels. Guess I will just mock it up and see what I find. I'm not afraid to do a "little" grinding to smooth out the rough casting of the caliper to help with clearance, but I don't want to go deep and mess up the structural design of it. I'm also not against running spacers on the front to help it out a little, that would get the wheels closer to the fenders instead of so far inside anyway.

[lolife99]

I'm pretty sure grinding won't get it.
You can still run steelies,... they just have to be from the 71-87.
(or 88-91 4x4 blazers and 'burbs)

[daved]

thanks for the input guys.....did some research on wheels and found some vintiques series 12 16x8,6x5.5 with a 4 inch backspace that should fit and they are very inexpensive....if they need diff backspacing they do it for 40 bucks a wheel....was wanting to go wider but not much room on a stepper...
(i have 15x8.5 with a 3 inch backspace with 255/60's and it would hit the outer fender lip by a 1" full dump with 2 inches of clearance inside)

anyways....i went ahead and ordered the rotors from ece and will get them next week.....prolly should start a build thread...now that i am at a stand still waiting for the brown truck... it seems like I could get alot of info for a posting progress and pics etc.....

[scrapmetalart]

pretty cheap to have the rotors re drilled to the pattern you need...

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by scrapmetalart

pretty cheap to have the rotors re drilled to the pattern you need...

Going from a 5-lug rotor to a 6-lug rotor will always have one hole that would have to be welded shut.
No way around it.

[scrapmetalart]

YEp. I went from 6 to 5 on my axles & the center turned down for $50, he does 2 rotors for $40