wheels and drop

[dohyde34]

I am going with the grand slam drop 5.5 x 7.5. i am going to keep six lugs and use these wheels if they fit. these wheels http://www.budnik.com/roadwheelitem....3&pid=507&pg=5 ......... what size should i run. i like narrow in the front and wide in the back. i think 17. any help??

[68 Longbed Dan]

Curious to see where this thread goes as well. I don't know anything about wheels yet and I am doing the same thing. I bagged my ride and plan on putting drop spindles on it to set my cross member on the ground. No idea what size tire to run, I was thinking somewhere between 17's and 20's.

[bigguy69]

I like those wheels. I have no idea about the size though.
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[Codez67Chevy]

I like the wheels good pick.

[CC69Rat]

5.5 F 7.5 R is a pretty low static drop

What year is the truck? Is it CNotched, Discs up front, .. 4 wheel discs, stock A-Arms or aftermarket? What are your plans for the truck? Will you be hauling a lot with it? Are you planning on running stock inner fenders in the front?

Budget in mind?

just some general questions, .. let me know and I will try my best / offer suggestions.

[dohyde34]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

5.5 F 7.5 R is a pretty low static drop

What year is the truck? Is it CNotched, Discs up front, .. 4 wheel discs, stock A-Arms or aftermarket? What are your plans for the truck? Will you be hauling a lot with it? Are you planning on running stock inner fenders in the front?

Budget in mind?

just some general questions, .. let me know and I will try my best / offer suggestions.

i plan on buying the grand slam kit. so new brakes up front. stock inners. it will be c-notched. do i need to get a arms? o and will not be hauling anything, i have a cummins for that. and i am acquiring a 70 swb 4x4
and i guess around 4k for the drop plus wheels/tire.

[no_rice]

your putting a grand slam on a 4x4?! i suppose thats one way to make it alot more complicated

[dohyde34]

Originally Posted by no_rice

your putting a grand slam on a 4x4?! i suppose thats one way to make it alot more complicated

he asked my plans for the truck. its a 2 wheel drive.lol i have a cummins and a swb 4x4 to use a truck so i am not going to be hauling anything in the 2 wheel drive

[dohyde34]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

5.5 F 7.5 R is a pretty low static drop

What year is the truck? Is it CNotched, Discs up front, .. 4 wheel discs, stock A-Arms or aftermarket? What are your plans for the truck? Will you be hauling a lot with it? Are you planning on running stock inner fenders in the front?

Budget in mind?

just some general questions, .. let me know and I will try my best / offer suggestions.

what do you think.

[CC69Rat]

I would look into the Porterbuilt upper and lower control arms. Nate offers them with 1" forward too and that will re-center the wheel in the fender well for you.

The reason I'm thinking a-arms is that lower scrub line running stock arms. Have you looked into Nate's drop member setup?

[dohyde34]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

I would look into the Porterbuilt upper and lower control arms. Nate offers them with 1" forward too and that will re-center the wheel in the fender well for you.

The reason I'm thinking a-arms is that lower scrub line running stock arms. Have you looked into Nate's drop member setup?

the drop member is to spend for me. i will look into the a-arms. what do you recommend for wheel and tire size? at least 5 x 7 hopefully 5.5 x 7.5

[CC69Rat]

If you're looking at Budnik wheels, I'm thinking custom offset and probably 20's is the way you want to go (?)

Here are my thoughts. I don't mean anything offensive, and I may or may not be 100% correct on it. I'm just trying to help. I'm sure others will chime in with their help too.

With a 6 lug setup, it makes things a little more difficult to get REALLY low unless you are thinking about bags, drop member, etc. The reason for it being it's tough to drop more than about 3" with 6 lug, unless you do the 6 lug disc kit. I didn't say it was impossible.. but it just makes things a little more cumbersome IMO.

Assuming since you have 6 lug now, your truck is a 70 model or older. In your signature it says 69, so I'm assuming you have a 69 SWB FLEET side. If it's a stepper, none of these measurements will be correct. It will all change in the rear..

There were two different rear ends in these trucks. In 1967 thru and including 1969 and some 1970 models they had what you'll hear referred to as the narrow housing. In 1970 and up, they started changing them. The rear end housings are longer. When discs were introduced up front, they offset the rear end length to kinda push the wheels out a bit and make up the difference. Otherwise the truck looks like the rear wheels / tires (stock size) would be sitting WAY under the bed compared to the fronts.

Another thing to consider is if you put discs up front on an original drum brake truck 'SOME' aftermarket conversion kits will add front track width. NOT ALL kits do this ..

BAsically think of apples to apples. Original drum brake truck vs. original 71+ disc brake truck. Comparatively speaking, adding discs to a drum brake truck is going to put you at the same width as say a stock 71+ that originally had discs.. see what I mean?

So some people will tell you, no the drop kit didn't add track width. (because their truck originally had discs) Others will tell you, yes it added about .5" on either side. Because their truck was originally drums.

Now, back to the rear end housing. If you lay under your truck and measure from one backing plate to the other. Inside to inside edge where your back brake plates are now. Is this measurement 55.5" or 57" ? 55.5 = 1967-1969 rear end housing. 57" = later, 1970-1972 housing. You could have either.

In 69 and 70 they were basically using whatever they had. There were 6 lug early rear ends and 6 lug late rear ends. I have seen both. In fact, my GMC was originally 6 lug LATE rear end.

What I'm saying is all of this is important when you get your wheels. You want to set it perfectly.

On the 6 lug / 5 lug topic. I would suggest converting it to 5 lug. IT opens up SO many more options for wheels. Plus, your front kit will likely not cost any more than the 6 lug changeover, plus you could get really low. 5 lug will allow you to use dropped spindles, where 6 lug it's more difficult. I think POL is selling 6 lug dropped spindles now, but man they are tough to find. 5 lug dropped spindle /. spring combo and you'd be 5" drop up front pretty easily.

In the rear, changing out axles is easy. Best case scenario, you have a late rear end housing now. Just get some 5 lug axles out of a 71-72, or even hell, swap the whole rear end out. IF you have the early rear end housing (much more desirable) you can get 5 lug axles from Moser. The early axles are 30.5" long. The late ones are 31 5/16" long measuring from the wheel mounting flange to the end of the axle.

For your wheels, most people will run 20x10 on the rear, and 20x8.5" up front. 295/40/20 and 255/40/20. Me, I like a little more sidewall. As low as your truck will sit, I'd do the 40 series tires. Mine will be about 4.5" / 6.25" and I'm doing 45 series.

Backspacing - 5.25" in the front is perfect. In the rear, I would suggest 5" if you have the EARLY rear end. 5.5" if you have the LATE rear end.

remember, you have to adjust to acomodate the length of the axle. Depending on the wheel manufacturer if you run 5" backspacing your wheel will look wider from the outside perspective. 5.5" there's more tucked under the truck, so the wheel looks a little narrower. Not a big deal.. but the narrow rear ends are more desirable for this reason.

Different cast wheels will often times just use a thicker mounting flange on the wheel to make the backspacing adjustments. So from the outside the wheel looks the same, regardless of backspacing.


Your truck being so low, I'd consider 5.5" backspacing up front too. Most people run 5.25" on a 4/6 drop. If you're going 5.5 drop, this will pull the wheel under the truck a little more and give you more room to turn. a 20x10, 5 or 5.5" BS and 295/40/20 with a 7" drop will look incredible.

Good luck man.
Hope this helps.

yall correct me if I mis-spoke.
Chad

[Tinkermc]

great lookin wheels good luck