Even the best of the fighters know when to throw in the towel and that’s what I’m doin, at least for now. I still punching centers out of AD wheels and collecting one piece rims and have pressed the AD center in to one of the 16.5” rims but I’m a ways off from having a set for the truck and not real happy having to use 16.5” rims.
Main reason I’m against the 16.5” is the availability and choices with them. Just spend some time on the net looking up 16.5” tires and you will see what I mean. Also I do not want mag wheels and I’m not sure if the 16.5” tires were ever produced in 80 series aspect ration. I want to maintain the stock look as much as possible and with 16” tires there are many choices in that direction.
So back to throwing in the towel for the time being. I picked up a set of good 16.5” rims with very good tires already mounted to them for $100 at the junkyard this weekend. Although the tires are 9.50R 16.5’s they don’t fit to bad on the rear, I still have almost an inch of frame clearance so that is more than enough and I can get them on past the fender by just jacking up on the axle. The back spacing on the stock split rim is 3.5625” and the ’80 single piece rim is 4.625” so just a little over an inch difference. The ’80 center will take the original hubcap (of which I don’t have any good ones) and they fit nicely into the recess and the clips will work fine with them. The reproduction hubcaps bump the axle flange and they will not work. The repro’s are just a little shallower than the original cap.
Mounting the fronts is another story. They obviously will bump the tie rod ends which only clear the stock split rim by a little under .500”. So that brings me to the point of this post. (boy is that guy windy) I’ve spent the better part of a day and a half looking for adaptors. Can’t find any with the 1/2” studs or 1.25” thickness as stock spacers. I’ve emailed several for quotes but haven’t heard back. Skulte Performance Designs looks like the best product so far because of the design of the lug nut seats. These use a tapered seat to center the adaptor where some others use the shouldered lug nuts, which can allow the wheel to be slightly off center. At 150mph this could cause quite a vibation.
So any experience good or bad, suggestions, recommendations, advice or thoughts on the subject???? The one about spacers/adapters being no good and coming loose has already been proven to be an urban legend. Much testing has been done by the manufacturers and properly designed, installed and maintained they are perfectly safe and used on hundreds of thousands of vehicles even some OEM applications. Billet vs. cast is a no brainer.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
