6 lug or 5 lug ??

[stepside67]

One the first things I plan to do on my project is upgrade the brakes and suspension. I plan to use ECE parts.
1. Disc brake conversion
2. 4/6 drop kit
3. Big rear brake conversion

What I cannot decide is whether to stay with 6 lug setup or convert to 5 lug.

Any feedback pros/cons would be great?

Thanks
Keith L.
67 SWB Stepside - 6cyl standard

[67Fleet]

If I was starting from scratch I'd switch to 5-lug simply because of the bigger variety of choices out there for 5-lug wheels. Also, 5-lug wheels with 5 spokes like the TT2 or the Boyd Magneato and such just look better than their 6 lug counterparts. IMO anyway.

[69 air cab]

stepside67,
I plan to do the same thing. Where do you plan on buying your parts? I too think the 5 lug gives you a better selection.

[byrd]

If you already have the wheel you want in 6 lug as I do(corvette rallys and tall derby caps) then stay with the 6 lug, but 67 fleet is right there is a lot more wheel choices in the 5 on5 pattern.

[gabet40]

and i would say six lugs because since chevy went back to 6-lug on all of their trucks in 1999, the variety of choices has greatly expanded.
so i think its all a matter of a opinion, try to decide what look you want, and maybe even the exact wheels that you are going to go with, and go with those lug patterns

[stepside67]

I plan on using Early Classic Enterprises, from everthing I have read online they are top notch.

http://www.earlyclassic.com/home.aspx

Originally Posted by 69 air cab

stepside67,
I plan to do the same thing. Where do you plan on buying your parts? I too think the 5 lug gives you a better selection.

[ChevLoRay]

I stayed with the 6-lug pattern on my '69. I had a good set of wheels, and I didn't have a 5-lug rear end to swap out. If you get the 6-lug rotors, and you later decide to change to 5-lug, 1/2-ton GM rotors will fit right in place of the 6-lug rotors. The rotors I mention are regular replacement rotors for the '71 and up 1/2-ton trucks.

I didn'twant to carry two spares, if I had gone with the 5-lugs up front.

[corn]

Does anyone make a brake rotor for a 6 bolt front? Ive never seen any, if they dont it will be real hard to go over a 3" drop in the front without drop spindles & they are all made for discs...corn

[jsbgump]

I went with the 5 lug on my 68 years ago. I used a 71 for my donor truck. everything has worked gret. Plus I can run any wheel I want to. Just have so many more choice's with 5 lug.

[70 shorty]

I'm staying with 6 lugs on mine because mine is a work truck, not a show truck. If I wanted a looker, I'd probably go with a 5 lug just for the extra wheel choices.

[67-72chevyman]

You wouldn't have to change the whole rearend just to change to 5 lug would you? Couldn't you just find some 5 lug axles from a 71-76 77, whatever newer truck with a 12 bolt? What would you have to do to the front end to change to 5 lug?

[chuck1960]

the 5 lug rear is a little wider than a six lug which means the axles are longer have already tried the swap

[matthufham]

i would want 5 lug because the wheels with 5 spokes look good. you can buy 6-lug wheels with 5 spokes but you know what i'm saying. also alot of the newer trucks are going with 6 lugs, so the wheel companies might start producing more 6 lugs in the near future.

[N2TRUX]

If you wanted to convert using 73-87 truck parts, look here-73-87 parts forum
This has everything you need....

[BowTieMan]

I heared 5 lug and 6 lug disk brake spindles were different. And that you couldn't just swap the rotors over if you wanted to.

[ChevLoRay]

GM stayed with the 6-lug on the 4WD trucks and those spindles won't interchange. I don't know what spindles you had in mind, to use 6-lug rotors with. ECE makes a 6-lug rotor, and with their spindles....dropped 2.5 inches or not....you can also lower the front end with their lowering springs. I think they have a choice of stock height, or 1-inch lower, for a maximum drop of 3.5-inches in the front. In the rear, with coil springs, they offer up to 6-inches of drop. Anything 4-inches and over, you'll need to modify the track bar, or buy their adjustable track bar and also relocate the shock mounts to get them to the correct angle for proper snubbing action. Also, when lowering the front, you'll want to consider raising the height of the stabilizer bar to avoid contacting speed bumps, curbs and other items that could be struck by the stabilizer bar or the mounts for it.

Yeah, the options for wheel choices increase greatly when you go with the 5-lug, so that drives many to make that choice.

As for the rear axle swap, you can use the 70-73 axles in the 60-69 rear end, but you will need spacers to take up the space between the flanges and the axle housing. I have not seen this done, but have talked to people who have done it. The 70 axle housing is wider and I understand that the axles from 70-73 are the same length. The axle housing was widened in '74. Of course, the 73 and up axles are made for leaf springs. So, it seems that 71-73 axles are interchangeable, in theory.

Also, for wheel back spacing, I ran into a problem with my 15x8 wheels when I did the conversion. I had to go with a 15x7, on the front, due to back spacing. ECE says on 15-inch wheels, to use a 4-inch back spacing. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like 16's and up, to use a 4.5-inch back space.

[pjmoreland]

The lugs on a 5-lug axle are a larger diameter, which makes them less likely to snap if someone goes crazy with an impact wrench on your truck.

I was fortunate when I swapped to 5-lug axles because my 6-lug axle housing was from a later '70 truck so the 5-lug axles swapped right in.

[Tx Firefighter]

BowTieMan, the spindles for 5 lug disc brakes and 6 lug disc brakes are the same.

I bought a complete Early Classic 6 lug disc brake kit, but wound up using 5 lug rotors on the spindles in place of the 6 luggers. It was all a straight swap. Everything else was exactly the same, other than the rotor itself. The aftermarket disc brake kits are modeled exactly after GM 5 lug disc brakes, other than the rotor itself.

I currently have that complete setup under my beater truck in my signature.

[chevy283]

u can get the rear axles redrilled to a 5.