The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1953 3/4 ton GMC front brake disc conversion

Riddle me this:

I have a '53 3/4 ton GMC where I am converting the front brakes to discs using the Rustic Brake kit along with replacing the D52 calipers that came with that specific kit to Wilwood dual piston D52 calipers. Everything fits as it should however, when measuring for wheels, I found the driver side can take a 16" wheel but the passenger side would not as it would need a 17" wheel. Using a carpenter square I measured from the center of the spindle to the outer edge of the caliper, 8" will clear driver side (16" wheel) but passenger side is more like 8 3/8 to 8 1/2" (17" wheel).

I couldn't figure out why, got frustrated and came in for dinner.

any ideas out there?

Can we get a picture of the other side? Something is clearly different between them.

If I had to guess, I would guess that either the calipers are different sizes or the caliper mounts are different sizes.

I did take off the calipers thinking they were different sizes but seem to match up equally. My next thought is the caliper brakets are different so I will take a look at those next.

Maybe bolts/nuts holding them in place are facing different directions?

Make sure the side that doesn't fit now is assembled exactly as the side that does fit vis`a vis the bolt going outboard to inboard or whatever.

I finally got a chance to compare brackets and calipers and they are all the same size. I flipped around calipers from side to side and still end up with the same result. Frustrating.

I was also able to find a 16"x6" 8 lug wheel with 4" of BS and mount it up to the driver side. Wheel fits, caliper does not rub whatsoever, however, there is only 1/16" of space between rim and caliper. Too close for comfort? Should I just go to a 17" wheel making the side to side differences a moot point?

see pictures...

I posted on your other thread the same thing:

There's a reason the wheel mounts fine on one side but not on the other. Something is either bent, damaged, incorrect, defective, etc. I wouldn't do anything else until I figured out what the difference is.

Keep measuring every single thing, including the new parts. If all the new hardware and wheel was swapped from one side to the other and the interference is exactly the same, then the problem is with your truck.

If the problem changes sides when all the new hardware and wheel are swapped, then the problem is with the wheel and/or brakes.

Did you swap the rotors from one side to the other? One thicker than the other? Does the problem side seat properly? 3/8" is a big difference.

I have disc brakes on with 15” rims. It required me to use a 2” spacer. I know others will say that not safe but it is bolted directly to the lugs and had its own lugs. I wish I had a picture. If I find one, I’ll post it

You need to make sure that when the calipers re mounted the bleed screws are on the top. I had a vehicle previously where I replaced bith calipers and cound not get the brakes to bleed until I determined I had the calipers on the worng sides and the bleed screws were on the bottom (as in one of your pictures).

Are spacers behind the caliper mounting brackets the same on both sides?

I posted this reply in your Dity Gallery thread to offer a possible suggestion.

Questions:

1. You've swapped calipers side to side with no difference, but have you swapped the brackets?

2. Have you contacted Rustic Brake to ask if the brackets are supposed to be the same, or are the side specific? If side specific, maybe the sent two for the same side.

thanks for all the suggestions, I will rule each suggestion out over the next couple of weeks as time permits, stay tuned...

After some time off, I am back at it and wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. Dummy that I am, I didn't have all the bolts torqued down sufficiently and that is why the wheel would fit on the driver side but not the passenger. Both sides can now fit a 16" wheel, however, I am going to a 17" wheel because there is not that much clearance to make me comfortable. Now I am on the hunt for 17"x6" 8x6.5" bolt pattern wheels with about 3.5" BS...wish me luck.

Glad to hear you figured it out and it wasn't a real problem.

Ditto on the bleeder screws- - - - -the way they're mounted in the picture, you'll never get them to bleed properly.
Jerry

It looks like the calipers are universal. They have a bleeder screw on each end so regardless of how its installed, you'll have a bleeder screw on the top.

correct!

Let me know if you find a 17x6 3.5” BS. That’s the size I want to go with, but can only find 16x6, or 17x7.

Wheelsmith makes 17" x 5.5" Smoothies

https://thewheelsmith.net/wheel-catalog/smoothie-wheels/17-inch-smoothie-wheels

But that page does not mention 8 lug wheels.

I would call Will Smith and ask them about 8 lug wheels. They are very accommodating and could possibly drill the 17x5 1/2 Wheels with the lug pattern required.

I chatted with Wheelsmith, they don’t have a 17” 8 lug in less than a 7” width; nor will they drill an 8 lug pattern. I may have to go 16 x 6. I wanted to go with 17” for taller tires as I have a 4.57 rear end.

LT 225/85 R16 tires that are about 31" in diameter. LT 235/85 R16 tires are about 32" in diameter. Both will fit A 16X6 RIM.

Being that you are in California, contact Stockton Wheel. They have been in business for years.

https://www.stocktonwheel.com/

Not sure of current reviews of STOCKTON WHEEL, BUT not good over the last 10

I just did a search for reviews on Stockton Wheel.

Unbalanced rims, rims failing to hold air, cracking, rude customer service, hang-ups on customers, unprofessional behavior, months to receive product, etc.

The bad reviews are consistant from current to 18 years ago. Some 5 star reviews exist but they seem to be almost exclusively for wheel repair of existing rims.

17x6 with 8x6.5 bolt pattern are made for 1994 - 2023 Dodge Ram 3500 trucks. They're available in steel and aluminum.

They take LT235/80R17 tires. This size tire is only about 3/4" larger in diameter than the 235/85R16 tire so not much gained by moving to a seemingly hard to find 17" rim.

www.Chicagowheelandtire.com

https://www.chicagowheelandtire.com...b-black-steel-wheel-52121267ablack-steel

A quick web peek indicates 1994-2023 Dodge 3500 wheels (for single rear wheel trucks) typically have a 4.5" to 6" back space which is well out of Rusted Nuts parameters.

The linked specific wheel actually looks the ones used for the dual rear wheel equipped trucks, so definitely not usable.

I think the 235/85 R16 will be the best option, as long as they will clear disk brakes.

Thanks all for the input!

Rats!

near as I can tell, Stockton Wheel closed up shop years ago, the 17" Dodge wheels are either for a dually or BS too large, my search continues...might have to have them made custom...