The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk rally america wheel question?

I was wanting some opinions before I decided to pull the trigger and purchase some new wheels for my 53 3100 p/u. Basically my truck has all the original drivetrain and I am in the process of collecting parts to make the changes to make it more driver friendly. I know some of the purests would say "leave it" but I want to actually drive this truck not show it. I am swapping out the 3spd on the collumn for a s-10 T5 and the original rearend and torque tube for a 89 firebird rearend. Once the rearend is in I will obviously have 5x4 3/4 pattern in the rear and I want the front to match, So I would also like to do a disc brake conversion for the front while I am at it....so I will not beable to use my original wheels. I want to keep the original "look" of the truck and have been doing some searching for aftermarket wheels that closely resemble the factory wheel but provide the 5x4 3/4 pattern. From research done on this site I have gathered that the original 16" wheels are 4 1/2" wide with a 3 1/2" back spacing. Rally America has a wheel that is 16" x 4 1/2" wide with a 3" backspace. Do you guys think this will be a pretty straight forward swap and also give me the clearence upfront for the disc brake conversion? I also wanted to stay as close to original on the wheel size because I have brand new bias-ply tires on the truck with virtually zero miles of wear. I figure that I could mount them on the new rims, use them for awhile and later down the road swap them out for a set of LT 215/85/r16 radials. Let me know what you all think... am I going in the right direction?!

The folks at Rally American should be able to make the offset whatever you want, call them up & talk to Jimmy..Joe

I think you are headed in the right direction, but would suggest one caution.

The stock type wheels are designed for drum brakes and won't clear disk calipers. While you are planning custom wheels to look stock, you will need to modify the stock width and/or offset to make sure your fronts (and backs?) clear the calipers.

Some years ago I put the open rear from a Chevelle under mine and put a 5-lug disk kit on the front. I run Cragar mags so I didn't have the same challenge as you do, but I'm real happy with the way mine drives today.

My response to those who complain that I've modified an old stock truck is that I've kept another one on the road thus preserving it for the future. It may not be stock but most people can't tell or don't know and they appreciate other old trucks after being introduced to mine.

Thanks for the input guys...
I noticed that Jim Carter's has a steel wheel that is very close to the original that is 15"x 6" wide with the 5x4 3/4 bolt pattern that they claim will work with both drum or disc brakes. They don't give a spec on the backspacing though. I might just go this route especially since they have "original looking" caps that are made to fit their wheels. I was hoping to stay with the 16" size so I would not have to dish out for new tires but I may just do it. I just want to keep the truck the stock height and don't wish to lower it and was kind of afraid the 15" rims would look too small or out of place.

If anybody else is following this thread...Jim Carter's said the backspacing on the wheel they sell is 3 5/8". If anybody else has any input about the appropriate backspacing needed on a 15" or preferably a 16" smoothie wheel please let me know.