Wheels!! or brakes/suspension?

[19seventeeCustom]

hey guys,

I'm getting ready to change the wheels up on the '70 and was going to go with a set of 20's and lower the truck another 2/3 all around.

Anyways, the problem im having is that the previous owner put disc brakes on the front,, well no problem right? They used disc brakes and spindles from a seventies mid size car so I have 5x4.75 bolt pattern in the front, and I assume drilled axles for 5x4.75 in the rear. SOOOOOO,, do I go ahead an purchase wheels with that bolt pattern? instead of converting over to 5x5?

Will it change the backspacing needed on the front? Im sure there is a much larger selection of 5x4.75 wheels than the 5x5 but i dont want to order wheels and find out they wont work with my setup????

thanks in advance guys

[70cst]

Originally Posted by 19seventeeCustom

hey guys,

I'm getting ready to change the wheels up on the '70 and was going to go with a set of 20's and lower the truck another 2/3 all around.

Anyways, the problem im having is that the previous owner put disc brakes on the front,, well no problem right? They used disc brakes and spindles from a seventies mid size car so I have 5x4.75 bolt pattern in the front, and I assume drilled axles for 5x4.75 in the rear. SOOOOOO,, do I go ahead an purchase wheels with that bolt pattern? instead of converting over to 5x5?

Will it change the backspacing needed on the front? Im sure there is a much larger selection of 5x4.75 wheels than the 5x5 but i dont want to order wheels and find out they wont work with my setup????

thanks in advance guys

Good question...

[19seventeeCustom]

indeed it is lol

anyone else??

[lolife99]

I would verify the bolt pattern on the rear.
If it's still 5x5,... I would convert the front back to stock "truck" suspension pieces.
I have seen these swaps before. The PO pays no attention to ball joint and tie rod sizes.
If it bolts together, fine. But that doesn't mean the tapers match.
The last truck I saw like this, was a a beautiful truck.
The suspension was a death trap.

I would inspect everything very closely.
Check out all the brake components also.
If you are happy with the install, the cheap route would be to use the 5x4.750 bolt pattern wheels.
If the truck was mine,... I would change it all back to 1/2 ton '71-'87 parts.
(just my opinion)

[Zoomin]

The backspacing is unaffected by the bolt circle. If they are all the same, I'd leave it that way.

[19seventeeCustom]

thanks guys, i knew you would help....

I've had problems in the past to where i couldnt locate the correct spindle because of this issue, Do you think having the car parts on the front would affect alignment? Everything seems very solid in front but I do have a vibration from somewhere just not sure where.

I will verfify the rear end before ordering wheels for sure. It appears they used truck ball joints and tie rod ends, but just reemed the spindle out to accept the ball joints and tie rod end, everything else seems to be 70 truck stuff. so who knows???

[raycow]

Originally Posted by 19seventeeCustom

They used disc brakes and spindles from a seventies mid size car so I have 5x4.75 bolt pattern in the front, and I assume drilled axles for 5x4.75 in the rear.

Are your spindles made for mounting calipers directly, rather than being adapted with mounting plates?

Ray

[72BlckButy]

IMO... start fresh and add the correct truck suspension back to the truck; you will only run into problems if you attempt to order 20's at this point.

[N2TRUX]

What wheels are you planning on buying. If the system is 4.75 all around and it's not a hack job, most covered lug billet wheels have a dual pattern. You can order them with 4.75 and 5x5

[19seventeeCustom]

thanks again guys, I think the trucks suspension is just fine the way it is now, everything seems very tight underneath and the only parts off of a car are the spindles and disc brake components.

N2trux- I haven't fully decided on which wheels im going with. Most likely a big torque thrust or I may just splurge and go with a nice set of billet wheels. Which is why I need to figure this out and take some measurements before they are ordered.

[72BlckButy]

Not that you will, but if you would ever purchase the wheels and decide to sell them, by having differing specs (front to rear) they will be harder to sell. Also, if you decide to run a set of matching wheels (say 20x8's) on all four corners, you won't be able to rotate them.

All things to consider... not trying to say it won't work, just trying to make sure you think of everything involved.

[mrhino]

Here is mine in 2008. with 20's 5x4.75 my choices did seem to be limited at least for 20's, a few years ago. I had no problem finding 17's 18's in any wheel you wanted. Dont think id put 20's on again thought... rode like fricking log truck

[72BlckButy]

I'm surprised... I added 20's to my truck and it rides darn smooth. Comparative to air ride IMO.

[19seventeeCustom]

well ive been looking around at wheels and have found alot of wheels in 5x4.75 with the same widths and bs as a 5x5 wheel.

what backspace is the most common on a disc brake/70 drum rear? I will measure for sure but was kinda wanting an idea?

thanks guys
aaron

[lolife99]

Backspace depends on total wheel width.
8" or 9.5" or 10" wide?

[19seventeeCustom]

sorry, i knew that!! lol

8's in the front and 10's in the back(or 9.5's depending on wheel)

btw lolife, killer blaze!! 20" TT2's??

[19seventeeCustom]

anyone?

[mrhino]

here check out this web site, it about the best iv found for information. there is all kinds of wheels and sizes that you can sort by wheel sizes and widths and it will tell you the offset that is available and what fits your vehicle.

http://www.rimsntires.com/index.jsp