5 lug or 6 lug?

[motorcritter]

Any real advantages to 5 lug vs 6 lug hubs? I'm going to do a crossmember swap on my '70 C10- I'm not hot-rodding it, customizing it or doing anything other than getting running nice, looking not too ugly and being comfortable. The 307 and the 3 on the tree are good enough, although I might go with a T5, if I can bring myself to punch a hole in the floor. I plan to change the 4.11 gears for something more sedate. I'm going to run 235/75R15 XL Firestones, and it'll only haul the occasional motorcycle (I do restoration work on English motorcycles- the 8' bed handles them easily), so no pretentions to show-stopper or stop-light Gran Prix champion.

I just was looking for various points of view and real-world experiences with both set-ups. The nasty left fender and door, and the slightly not-flat tailgate are a more immediate concern, at this point, so, no hurry to change the front end stuff yet- sheetmetal's gotta come off anyway.

The 15" alloy 6 lug rims from mid-90's utes and trucks would work well, but I like steel wheels, too, and 16" steelies from later model trucks aren't that rare around here, either. Plenty of G10 vans, too, for 15" rims. I avoid aftermarket rims- usually too nasty or ugly or wide for my sensibilities.

Let the survey begin...and I thank you for your (hopefully) helpful guidance!
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[70c10stepside]

5 lug has more wheel choice, other than that not really. And changing rear gears, you wont notice enough difference really. Maybe 1-2 mpg, thats it normally at normal road speeds. Im pulling 12-14 with a 4.11 and built motor
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[808_67C10]

I have 80s rally 6 lugs now... I and cant find rims I really like without doing a custom set to match the 6 lug.... I am converting to 5 if I dont just have a custom set made. I am rollin 4.11s with a 383 stroker ... too much RPM on the hi-way... if I had it to do all over again... I would probably do 3.73's

[truckster]

Are you keeping your existing rear axle when you swap gears? I would make the front match the rear - you don't want to have one set of five lugs and one of six.

[motorcritter]

I want the same bolt circle all the way around. Swapping thew axle out for a 3.73 or 3.55 is the plan, so, I can go in either direction- 5 or 6 lug. I like the look of the 5 lug rally wheel, and with 6 lug steelies I'd run a cap anyway. Six lug alloys in 15"- the five spoke 'sawblade' looking ones (95 Tahoe?) could work also. The truck got about 14 MPG, when used regularly, but it was the 'company truck' and got beat on, so if I can improve on that, I'll be happy. HEI and a carb rebuild right off the bat should help that goal- it's sat for quite a while, but popped over pretty easy when I got all the wires hooked up/cleaned up under the hood, no odd noises, ominous smoke or obvious problems. Someone had broken the starter lead off at the terminal- got that straightened out. Flushed and bled the brakes, got good pedal- drums looked good, but shoes and hardware need replaced.I don't want to drive it much without power discs and power steering, though. My grand scheme to get a very clean C20 donor seems to have succumbed to someone else's dilemmas, so, back to the 'yards, hunting parts and checking CL. There seems to be a lot of 67-72's floating around here, so I'm not too worried about the project being stalled for too long. It's just the other projects that get reprioritized, when thw situation changes.

My rule of thumb- twice as long and twice as much, as originally estimated. I've got my three piles, though, good (cab, driveline), bad (left door and fender & inner) and ugly (grille, bed-slightly, interior-of course!), but I have a miraculously intact, uncracked windshield- in Colorado(!) started- so I'm committed- or should be. I keep forgetting to measure the axle width- it's a 04/70 production, so I might be going for a late-model axle with trailing arm lugs welded on- that will probably insure a 5 lug set up. Might get lucky and score a posi 3.55! I deserve it!
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[PanelDeland]

Doesn't matter which lug pattern since you plan on a stock GM anyway wheel.Just keep in mind that the later model wheels have a different BS and will probably set inside the fenderwells enough to hit the control arms when yu turn.