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I have a 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup. I made some modifications putting in a Chevy SB engine and a different rear axle from a 1986 Blazet 4X4 (4.11). I converted the front brakes to discs (5X4.75).

I currently have a temporary set of S10 tires on my truck and want to buy new rims. I have a few questions. Since I have the original front axle (with after-market sway bar), what offest was used? I think the original wheels had no offset (positive or negative). I do not want to change the geometry of the front end. I was thinking 15 inch rims that handle a 7 inch wide tire with a diameter 28 inches total.

Since the rear axle is a few inches narrower than the original I will have to get rims with an approximate 1 inch negative offset. I was thinking 8" wide tires and also 28 inches total tire diameter.

Any suggestions? Recommendations? I was looking at the half moon style rims.

What was the point of replacing the original 4.11 axle with another?

You will want the front and rear offsets to match so you can rotate the tires. The fronts need to clear the tie rod ends, but if you make them too wide or stick out too far you will have a lot of problems with steering effort and wear on components.

I used the 4.11, because it was available.

That is a good suggestion making the front and rear wheels identical. Originally I was thinking to put a wider tire on the rear. Based on the rear wheel fender well width, I can go only to about 8" max (allowing for additional section width), but I don't that size will work on the front. If I make all wheels the same I guess I would go with the 7" width rims max. I would need some rear wheel spacers to add an inch to the axle width on each side if I made all the rims the same.

I want to know what the original front end wheel offset distance is so that I can be sure to buy the correct rim offset for the front. I am assumming the offset is zero but I need to verify that.

Setback is about 3.5", which on a 7" rim the offset would be 0. If you do a search, you will probably find numbers from 3 to 4" for setback.

I am interested in this too. I have a Camaro rear end in my 54 1/2 ton. The front brakes are Camaro disks and I have the Camaro master cylinder. The booster and rear springs are from an 86 Blazer. The new open driveshaft is a two piece unit, so I had to install a steady bearing. Back to the wheels: I have the 14" Camaro wheels on temporarily - the wheels work but IMHO the truck looks silly. They are 8" wide with (I estimate) about 2" offset. What I want is 16" wheels with the 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern. These can be easily found - the tricky part is Fran wants to use the stock hubcaps. The stock hubcaps do not fit on newer wheels as they are held on by clips rivited to the wheel. A company in CA can make new custom steel wheels for me at about $180 per wheel. Ouch! At that price I might as well get mags, but she who must be obeyed really wants the stock hubcaps and wide whitewalls (more ouches). Is this what you are trying to do too? Anybody got an idea of where I can get some rims? This Friday I am going to the wrecking yard with one of my hubcaps and a tape measure, but I don't hold out a lot of hope...

Gord

Right now, I am planning to put in some 8" wide 15" rims in the rear and 7" wide 15" rims on the front. I need to add negative offset in the rear by about 1-2 inches.

Check this rim site out:

Smoothie Rims

They have rims that look sort of classic.