Grigg,
Absolutely. I'm about to call the wheel adaptor fellow to talk about my hubs. I sent him a photo yesterday with an accurate dimension of the hub centric surface. I did not mention the front hubs earlier because the situation was complicated then and I didn't realize all the information, mainly because I did all this over ten years ago and couldn't remember what I did, who I bought the kit from or exactly what it was plus, I did not realize there was two basic ways wheels are mounted. Hub centric and stud centric were unknown terms just a week or so ago. Since the time I posted the question, things have become more clear in my mind and I have learned some things. I'm very confident with the project as it is developing which reminds me to tell you, an added bit of information emerged from my memory this week to help explain the situation even further.
Ten+ years ago, tapered roller bearings were not available for a 48 3/4 ton axle so, I swapped it for a 59 Chevy axle that came stock with the good bearings allowing me to use the off the shelf disc brake kit. That is how I ended up with 8 lug rears and 6 lug fronts.
I like the idea of going to 9/16 on the 6 lug hub. The only dark spot is I would forever need to drill out the mounting holes in the rotors. I read where "The most common cause of a bad or failing wheel stud is due to improper installation by tire service technicians, over torqueing, under tightening and crossing threads". Ref
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/symptoms-of-a-bad-or-failing-wheel-stud. An extension of your very good idea might be to go to higher strength studs to keep the current diameter.
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=WHEELSTUDSThanks for bringing up another good point for me to think about. I really do appreciate this useful discussion and your carefully worded suggestions.
Joel
