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I hope to keep a stock look to my truck but am making some mods. Wheel Vintiques makes a steel wheel called smoothie and they have a hubcap with the red CHEVROLET lettering. Has anybody used these? I was wondering about sizes and what would fit. My goals are to have wheels big enough for 4 wheel discs, and to be able to increase the tire size a bit to improve cornering. I am not looking for hot rod steam rollers. I will be replacing the rear axle and installing an independant front suspension. I figure that it will be easier to change over to a 5 lug pattern. Any suggestions or comments welcome.

I am not sure what you are looking for, but I can answer part of your question. All of the wheel blanks that are used to make up the smooties will allow you to run disks. The inside of the wheel is contoured differently than the original wheels.

At the time I bought mine, there were sizes available up to 17 inch. The wheel builder did tell me that the 17 inch wheel was real heavy.

There are a variaty of hub caps that fit these wheels; some classic styles, but most more modern. The original hub caps can be addapted with a weld on ring that will fit the smooties.

I went with 6x16 for the front with the stock back space and 7x16 with 4 3/8 back space. The back space for the rear should have been 4 or 4 1/8 inches; the wheel would have centered in the fender better. I will probably run a spacer to correct this. I went with 16 inch wheel because of the wide variety of tires available. I like wide with lots of side wall. So I will probably end up with a 265/70-16 in the rear. I am not sure about the front yet.

If you are installing a IFS you will want to go with a 5 lug pattern.

Here is the posts related to rear axles.

http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/ifs&rearend.htm


You can look at my build pictures; there are couple of pictures of the rear end at what I hope will be the ride height. The tire is a 255/70-16.

Thanks Lonnie. I would probably stick with the 16s for the lower weight. I want a wider tire as well. I would probably go with 4 of the same size. Do the weld on rings you speak of come from the same manufacturer?

Just a suggestion.....if you're going to keep the truck and plan to drive it on the highway your plan for disc brakes is right on the money.
However, you have to make the call as to go with a 6 lug conversion that uses your stock front hubs...minus the drums....or go with a 5 lug conversion which uses a bracket kit and over-the-counter mid-70's Camaro rotor, bearings, calipers and pads. The 6 lug conversion requires you to use a pricey set of special order tapered
bearings. Either way you go you're going to need to start out with a dual master cylinder upgrade.

If you're thinking about getting rid of the closed drive train you might want to check into the T5 transmission conversion. The 2nd and 3rd generation Camaros offer disc differentials that are 62" wide....same as your stock diff. They require cleaning off all the Camaro mounting hardware and new spring mount pads but they are
readily available. If you're going to do the work yourself, have some basic shop equipment and time (it's not a weekend project) then you might consider it.

What I'm trying to say, is that you really need to have a long range plan....avoid buying a pile of parts that you find you don't need down the road. There is a wealth of information on this site and it would be wise to gather as much info for your plan before you make your first upgrade purchase. Hope this helps.

Maybe you can put spinners on smoothies.

Pimp your ride.

Fla54Chevy3100,

My current choice for front end is to use the one built by Jim Meyers Racing. It is height adjustable. I don't want the in the weeds look, a little lower though in the front. It uses the GM spindles and discs from the Camaro (11" I beleive). I was planning on using a Tremec 5-speed. I just don't know a source for a good rebuilt used 5-speed. (I don't have much of a local social network) I haven't figured out the rear yet. Other than I think I will stick to the stock leaf setup and ride height. I need to figure out my wheel and tire sizes so I can calculate a rear axle length. A plus size from stock (205/75-15) would be 215/65-16. I guess that this would be a 16x7 or 16x8 inch wheel. I need to see if that size wheel and tire would fit. I don't think that the back will be a problem. The tire is only an inch wider. The smoothies in this size (16x8) look like they have a 4" back spacing. So, then I need to go do some measuring and see what length axle I need. If need be I will buy one custom cut to length. I plan to use a 10 or 12 bolt. I want to keep it GM if I can.

Sorry oldbluetruck, spinners? Yuck!

Todd,

The weld on hub cap adapters were available from the vender I purchased my wheels from. The fee for the service is $20 for each hub cap. I purchased my wheels from The Wheel Smith. They are in Santa Anna Ca.

The web site is www.thewheelsmith.net

There was some comment some time back about them no longer being in business. I called this morning and talked to the owner. His name is Bob Sage. He said they are growing and getting bigger every year.

Custom wheel fabricators can make any offset within the confines of the wheel. Therefore you can make some adjustments depending on which rear axle you choose.

I am not sure why so many preach timken tapered bearings. I have had many of these old trucks with wide tires and I have never replaced a front wheel bearing. Ball bearings are just fine; even for the speeds we drive today. If you need to buy new wheel bearings; by all means get timkens, they are cheaper. As for being better, I don't know; I think they are just cheaper and easier to make than ball bearings.

Thanks Lonnie for the link.