15" Wheel, 5 on 4.5", w/hubcap springs?

[DanOlson]

I have a 53 B-4-C with 15" wheels and a 5 on 5" bolt pattern. I'm doing Charlies front disk conversion which uses a 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern rotor. I want to keep the stock hubcaps and would rather not use a wheel adapter. Is there a 15" wheel with the hubcap springs that has a 5 on 4.5"?

Dan Olson

[Reg Evans]

Yes, Any 1/2 ton Dodge of similar vintage is 5 on 4.5

[DanOlson]

Car and Truck?

[DanOlson]

Disregard the previous post. I wish this had a recall message, so I didn't have to embarass myself.

[Norm's Coupe]

Disregard the previous post. I wish this had a recall message, so I didn't have to embarass myself.

You can delete any message you post if you want. Just hit the edit button in the lower right hand corner of your message. That will bring up the box with your post so you can make any changes to it. If you want to delete it, just go straight to the lower right hand corner again and hit the "Delete" button. Then scrow down a little further to were it says "Delete this message". Check that circle with the mouse, scrow down a little further and hit "Delete" again and the message will be gone.

[Merle Coggins]

I've been pondering the same thing. I recently aquired one of Charlie's kits for my B-2-C and have been wondering how I could still use my wheels. I was researching different rotors that would have the 5 x 5" pattern, but they all seem to be 1/2" - 1" larger diameter.

From my limited knowledge in this area, I believe all 1/2 ton trucks of this era, with 5 x 4.5" pattern, were 16"ers. It sounds like many of the cars have 15" wheels with 5 x 4.5" pattern, but are they 5.5" wide like my wheels?

One other problem with this, that I can forsee, would be the need for 2 spares. One with a 5 x 4.5" pattern, and one with a 5 x 5" pattern.

If you come up with a solution, Dan, let me know because I'll soon be in the same boat.

Merle

[Reg Evans]

You are correct Merle. The 1/2 toners up until 55 came from the factory with 16" wheels with 4.5" drop centers. In 55 -58 they went to 15" and the same 4.5" drop centers.

In 59 they went to 15" with a 5" drop center.

My 52 1/2 ton came to me from the previous owner with 15" 4.5" drop center rims.

I don't know if they are car or truck but they all have the hub cap clips.

For almost 10 years I was running a P235 75R 15 radial and recently changed to a set of larger FEDERAL 30X9.50R15LT

So far so good on the 4.5" wide rims.

Do your 5.5" wide rims have the hub cap clips?

[Merle Coggins]

Yes, the original rims from my truck are 15" x 5.5" and have the hub cap clips and original hub caps. They also have a regular round valve stem hole, so I was able to pick up regular valve stems at Fleet Farm and pop them in. And since my truck also has studs instead of wheel bolts, like on the 1/2 tonners, the wheels don't have the extra holes for the allignment pin.

I don't have any good close-ups of my wheels, but the 235/75R15's fit on them great.

[DanOlson]

When I started to seriously consider the brake conversion, I thought no big deal, I'll have the rotors re-drilled. Granted, I've only looked at rotors from two different manufacturers but because of the way they are cast, both prohibits re-drilling without a ton of work. Need a rotor with a nice flat surface on the underside. At this point I'm leaning towards the adapters. I can always sell them if I decide to change wheels sometime. Plus, I plan on swapping rear ends this winter and of course those axles are 5 on 5.5 but they have plenty of meat to re-drill.

Dan

[Norm's Coupe]

I've been pondering the same thing. I recently aquired one of Charlie's kits for my B-2-C and have been wondering how I could still use my wheels. I was researching different rotors that would have the 5 x 5" pattern, but they all seem to be 1/2" - 1" larger diameter.

From my limited knowledge in this area, I believe all 1/2 ton trucks of this era, with 5 x 4.5" pattern, were 16"ers. It sounds like many of the cars have 15" wheels with 5 x 4.5" pattern, but are they 5.5" wide like my wheels?

One other problem with this, that I can forsee, would be the need for 2 spares. One with a 5 x 4.5" pattern, and one with a 5 x 5" pattern.

If you come up with a solution, Dan, let me know because I'll soon be in the same boat.

Merle

Merle,

I had the same problem on my coupe with the rotors supplied by ECI. The original 15" wheels would not fit over the caliper. That was because of the shape of the inside of the wheel. I switched over to new wheels from Wheels Vintique to solve the problem. I bought the 15" x 5" wheels from them and they fit fine. The hub opening is not a problem because it is larger than stock wheels to fit any car or truck. Think the back spacing is about 3 1/2" on the Vintique wheel.

The steel Vintique wheels are also drilled for two different bolt patterns. So.......the extra hole allows you to use the wheel on the rears with the alignment pin. Of course, these are made like modern wheels on the backside and allow the space for the calipers. The calipers that came with my ECI kit are the large calipers that fit GM cars and vans from about 1979 to at least the late 90's. I do have the part number for them filed away.

If you want to drive your truck over to the house some weekend before it really gets cold out we can try my spare tire on your truck to see if it fits. I bought an extra Vintique wheel for the spare so I could use it on both the front or back. Still have my original wheels on the rear.

If they fit, then all you'd need to do is remove the hubcap clips from your old wheels and put them on the Vintique wheels. We could check to make sure the size is right for that at the same time.

[Merle Coggins]

My hope was to not have to buy new rims, although that may correct my wheel balancing issues since my originals are a bit off of true. There's no rush as it's drivable as is, but it's something I'll work with over the winter.

Norm, then next couple of weekends I'll be out of town, then we get into the middle of Nov. We see how it goes. I'll let you know if that'll work out. I've lookes at Wheel Vintique's web site and dont see any wheels with multiple bolt patterns. Which wheels did you get from them?

Merle

[Norm's Coupe]

Merle,

Here's a nice close up of the Vintique wheel I was talking about. Think they might call it the steel smoothie wheel. You can get them direct from Vintique but I got mine through Coker Tire because the freight charges were cheaper. I've seen them on Coker's site in their catalog on wheels. Below is a nice close up I took for someone to measure how far the hub stuck out, so pay no attention to that measurement. As you can see, there are two bolt patterns. That's also on the front wheels with the ECI hub so there are no alignment pins. But the wheel also fits my original rear with the pin. You can also see that the hub hole is larger than the hub a little. Keep in mind this hub is a little larger in diameter than the original coupe hub. So, it should fit your rear axle as well. The only part number I have is the one that Coker used and don't know if it's the same stock number as Vintiques. I'll look that up for you.

If you want to try the spare on your truck, like I said any weekend is ok as long as it's not too cold to play outside. Just let me know a little in advance to make sure we don't have something going that particular day. Of course, once the snow starts to fly and the salt goes down, then it's up to you if you want to take your truck out. If that's the case, we can always hold off until it gets nice out again.

[Dennis_MN]

Yes, the original rims from my truck are 15" x 5.5" and have the hub cap clips and original hub caps. And since my truck also has studs instead of wheel bolts, like on the 1/2 tonners, the wheels don't have the extra holes for the allignment pin.

I don't have any good close-ups of my wheels, but the 235/75R15's fit on them great.

Wow... all that trouble because Dodge geared down the 3/4 ton trucks by simply changing the wheel to a smaller diameter. The 1/2 ton came with 16" wheels and adding disk brakes to the front end was a piece of cake because the caliper fits within the wheel.

Keep us posted on your decision guys

Dennis

[grey beard]

This is why I do not have fornt discs on my own truck. I like the stock look and already am committed to newly finished wheels and tires.

Also, Merle, half tons do not have wheel lug nuts. All those I have sen use wheel bolts - left and right, as it were. It is my understanding that 3/4 ton trucks use whel studs and lug nuts. Am I wrong?

[Merle Coggins]

Also, Merle, half tons do not have wheel lug nuts. All those I have sen use wheel bolts - left and right, as it were. It is my understanding that 3/4 ton trucks use whel studs and lug nuts. Am I wrong?

You are correct Dave. They still have left and right hand thread, but are studs none the less.