Dually Questions - Lift and SRW Front Wheels?

[E55 Bulldog]

Good morning everyone, Im new to the forum but not new to the truck world. I have had a number of amazing rigs in the past but am thinking about buying a square body GM 3500 Dually that is 4x4..... which duallys and the 454 gasser engines are new to me. I have seen a few and they all seem similar for the 80's and having the 454 in them.

With that being said I would want to put a lift on it and want to know what size lift I would need to fit a set of 37"s or are 35's the more preferred tires size.

Next question is, has anyone removed the dually spacer on the front axel and ran SRW front wheels? I think the 6" wide wheels up front on a lifted truck doesn't look very good. I would want a more aggressive stance but not overkill. I know I will not be able to rotate or swap out tires, Im ok with that and I think that may be the only reason not to do this conversion.

Im am worried about finding a set of tires that will have the same rolling circumference front and rear if I want to run a wider tire..

Has anyone done this that can provide some information on what they did?

Thanks everyone.

[Kaysen]

There are two options. The dually front hub can be swapped out for a single rear wheel (srw) front hub, they are hard to find in my area and buying new is expensive. Or you can make yours work, I had my uncle convert a set go drw (dual rear wheel) hubs to srw by turning down and removing the wheel mating lip on his lathe then reinstalling the wheel studs through the rotor and hub like the srw version. Do a google search on machining hubs from drw to srw and you'll get all the needed info. It worked exactly as it should, all that was needed was the new longer wheel studs to replace the originals (since the originals on the drw hubs don't go through the rotor like on the srw)

[E55 Bulldog]

Sorry if this is a silly question but can't you just remove the dually front spacer and mount standard wheels to the front axel? I know in some cased you will need to replace the wheels studs depending on the truck but have seen a number of truck do just as I noted. Are the axels on these trucks any different?

[Brennan]

Originally Posted by E55 Bulldog

Sorry if this is a silly question but can't you just remove the dually front spacer and mount standard wheels to the front axel? I know in some cased you will need to replace the wheels studs depending on the truck but have seen a number of truck do just as I noted. Are the axels on these trucks any different?

Unfortunately, you cannot. You will need to swap your hubs to an SRW setup, (I just did the exact same thing, converted my dually D60 to a SRW)

[E55 Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Brennan

Unfortunately, you cannot. You will need to swap your hubs to an SRW setup, (I just did the exact same thing, converted my dually D60 to a SRW)

Crap that is what I was worried about.

Did you swap out the hubs or have them machined down?

If swapped, where did you get them from?
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[bmchevy1979]

You could also run a hummer beadlock up front they are wider and the offset is close enough to run them unchanged find a set of 16.5s for the back and run hummer take off 36s or 37s all around

[Chevy_mud_truck]

I'm doing the same thing lifted dually I'm going 6" and 35 I want like a 35 x 12.50 front maybe 35 x 8 to 35 x10 on the rear but I've not had much luck on searching the internet but I haven't called anyone to confirm anything yet good luck and I convinced a 60 for my mud truck from dual to a single I pick up my hubs from off road design

[Brennan]

Originally Posted by E55 Bulldog

Crap that is what I was worried about.

Did you swap out the hubs or have them machined down?

If swapped, where did you get them from?
Posted via Mobile Device

I was lucky enough to find a guy local that was in the process of converting his SRW truck to a DRW, he bought my bed, rear axle, and dually front hubs. I then purchased his SRW D60 hubs from him. As mentioned above, I think ORD has a pretty good deal on their brand new SRW hub/rotor setup. I have purchased many things from them over the years, I have always been very satisfied with both the quality of products, and also the service. You can't really go wrong with them.

[bmchevy1979]

Here are a couple of pics with hummer rims up front I had saved on computer I probably have more these are just a few I could find quickly
the advantage is you still only need to carry one spare

[spencer_41188]

if you got the tools or the money to pay someone with the tools to do it you can cut the mounting surface off your dully hubs http://www.billavista.com/tech/Artic...nt_Axle_Bible/ you will find all the advice a little over half way down the page. remember it can be done but not recommended for street use.

i would have done the hummer wheels but i just bought tires and put 3.73 gears in the truck where 4.10 is better for them 37" tires it keeps the gas millage bearable for these trucks