The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk drill out axle from 6 to 5 lug ??

hello. do any of you think i could take my 80's style truck rear axles in my 57, which are 6 lug, and take them to a machine shop and have them drill a 5 bolt lug, common bolt circle so i can run a better selection of rims ?
anyone ever do this before ?
just thinking on how i can do away with these darn 6 lugs without having to change the whole rear end.
thanks in advance..

What axle is under it now? You might be able to find 5 lug axles at the salvage yard for less that re-drilling the 6 lugs.

Try Longbox55 way first.....
I have a fellow bolter nearby. A young man who doesn't post much but he just finished having his 68 axles drilled out to five lugs. He has a friend who works at a machine shop and did them for him. They look excellent but the proof will be when he gets it on the road which may be a while yet.
Maybe not a LOT of folks do it but it is being done.

Mosher Engineering in Portland Indiana will do it. Dale937 told me. I think he said $55 per pair.

http://www.moserengineering.com/Pages/aboutus.html

I had mine redrilled for 5 lug several years ago. Of course the drums need to be drilled to match and new studs are required. You also need to trim off the material from the center flange in excess of where the drum mounts to the axle. The 5 lug wheel has a smaller center hole and will not seat properly.
Fred

thanks much guys for your input.
good tip rfs56trk, didnt think about the drums..my bad. LOL.
thanks agian guys.... the rear is an early 80's truck rear from a 1/2 ton truck...

If it's 6 lug, it's problby from a 4x4 GM. As I mentioned, you should be able to find just the axle shafts themselves from a similar year 2wd truck and simply swap the shafts themselves. That will give you the GM 5x5 bolt pattern, also shared with the police and taxi (and later SS Impala) versions of the Caprice. Drums will swap, too.

longbox, i like your idea a lot. are these rears like to old chevelles and camaros, etc, where they are held in with a c-clip inside near the pumpkin ?
if so, shouldnt be too hard to get out. i miss the ford axles, coming out with a few bolts under the drum.... wish i had a 9 inch in the truck. LOL.. thanks again...leonard.

Yeah, they come out with the c clip.

thanks. and i rememebr back when i use to race, my friends had a camaro race car, and installed a c-clip elimination kit, making the axles like a ford.. thanks again

your axle is probly from a blazer and the recommendation to replace the axles is correct but the cars in question are wrong the camero and caprice i still own a caprice is a 4.75x 5lug pattern and ive tried to use the 5x5 rims by mistake on the cars the rima that are 5x5 are froma large buick and from cadillacs from the late 70s to early 80s and there also a c clip axle but i would recommend looking for a drum to drum measure match froma truck or blazer with 5 lug

guys, come to find out, once i got the truck and popped one rear hub cap off, it is actually a 5 lug with 5 inch bolt pattern !!!
the gentleman told me it was 6 lug befroe i bought it, but once i got it here yeaterday i investigated. now my rim choice is unlimited..thanks guys.....

Mohave b, the 5x5 bolt pattern was only used on the police, taxi, and SS Impalas with the B9C chassis package. They have the 4 wheel disk brakes, heavy duty springs, suspension control arms, sway bars, and in the case of the police and SS modles, the Corvette LT1 350 engine. I spent alot of time in one that belonges to a freind of mine, for winter, we used a set of wheels that came right off of a '94 C1500, the bolt patern was the same, 5x5.