Did some measuring for wheel fitment, what ya think?

[Matt300ZXT]

I also posted this on the Jalopy Journal, but figured someone knowledgeable on here may not surf that forum, so I thought I'd post it here too.

Ok first off this is a 54 Chevy pickup, stock rear end, stock everything. The wheels in question are 16x8 with a 4.25" backspacing says the owner. Now these wheels may not fit because of the hub bore, which I'm waiting on that measurement but using width and height, here is what I did.



Above is the wheel simulator I made. You can see the long strip is 16" to simulate the diameter of the wheel, and the short strip is 5.0625" long total, but the part I'm using is 4.625" long, a little bit over the 4.25" actual backspace figure the guy with the wheels gave me, so I have a little extra room. I couldn't mount it's center line up directly with the actual center point of the drum, since the hub is kind of in the way, so what I did it laid it flat across two of the studs, then lined up the center line of the 16" stick with the center line of the hub, though it's actually offset a little bit. I held it in place and spun it around with the wheel centered up, full right turn, and full left turn, and it didn't hit anything. But here are the measurements I came up with:

Full right turn: Clearance at the closest point to the lower steering arm is .4375" (7/16), but no where near the pitman arm.

Center: Clearance at the closest point to the lower steering arm is .4375" (7/16), but of course no where near the pitman arm.

Full left turn: Clearance at the closest point to the lower steering arm is .375" (3/8), and .75" (3/4) clearance to the intermediate shaft/pitman arm knuckle.

Now I suppose what I could do for absolute 100% assurance (assuming it's really 4.25" backspace and not measured wrong or the number fudged) is take another 16" strip and tack on 2 strips of wood just like that one, but with the 3" length of the hub added on, so I'd have 7.25" sticks (or slightly longer for extra breathing room) and center it up on the hub and spin it around and make sure it doesn't hit. I'll probably go do that anyways since I have nothing better to do today.

Just wanted to throw these #s out there and make sure I'm doing this right so someone that's done it before could say yay or nay, and help correct any mistakes I'm making. To be honest, I guess the easiest thing to do would be to ask if anyone with a stock truck has fit 8" wide wheels with 4.25" of backspacing easily, or if they needed any sort of spacer.

[Matt300ZXT]

Update!

Ok I made another set like the picture above, but from the inside of the 16" piece, which lays flat against the edge of the hub, which is 3" long from the drum surface, I added 7.5" long strips, which when the 3" hub length is subtracted, gives me 4.5". That's a 1/4 longer than the backspacing he gave me (for a little extra breathing room), I still have zero contact anywhere; centered, full left, or full right.

I'm not sure if this is the perfect, end all way to measure this, but I would imagine this is pretty close to the actual way the wheel is going to fit. I should have plenty of clearance, assuming I don't run a fat bulging sidewall tire. I was thinking of probably a 245 width tire, which should fit nicely on an 8" wide wheel without a huge fat sidewall.

Of course I'm still open to corrections and tips on how to get a more accurate measurement if there is such a way, but with my rudimentary experiments, it seems that particular wheel would fit.

[raycow]

The only point I would add is that 16" is the bead seat diameter, so the inside diameter of the wheel is slightly less, probably not enough to make a difference unless the clearance is very close.

Ray

[Matt300ZXT]

Ok got the wheels, they go on and don't interfere with anything, just the mounting surface of the wheel is much thicker than the old wheels, so the studs aren't long enough. So when I switch to new brakes and things, I'll just have longer studs installed.

[Matt300ZXT]

Got the 16x8s I bought cleaned up a little and mounted on the rear just to show how they look. I wish I had gotten pics the other day when I had the front one mounted just for show. Anyways, everything fits, and clearance between the bedside, but I'll need longer studs when I get brake work done since the mounting flange on these wheels is way thicker than on the stock steelies.