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14 FF to 6 lug?

E

elks

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Long story short. I have a 72 blazer with factory rear diff, 4.56 gears and a locker. Well I also just got my hands on a 14 bolt FF with 4.56 gears. The only issue I have is the 8 lug vs 6 lug.

I do not have and will not have the funds to buy new rims and convert the front diff over.

What can I do to get the 14 bolt converted to 6 lug. Of course I will be ditching the drum brakes and going with disc when this occurs...
 
cant be done as far as i know:dunno: been asked here before
 
You'd need new hubs in the six lug, which to my knowledge were never factory for the FF, so it means custom machine work. Edit: which apparently exist. But are still spendy.

A brief Google for wheel adapters came up with spendy solutions that likely wouldn't fit the FF hub, and I'm unclear on how you'd keep the dang thing tight anyway.

The reason that folks just switch to eight lug wheels is that it's relatively cheap and simple in comparison to any other possibility.

There were six lug 14 bolt SEMI floaters, so some folks piece together the parts to make that work. I don't know what will/won't fit your first-gen as a bolt-in, so you would likely be in for some re-welding of spring perches and shock mounts.

Also note the disc conversion is not an "of course" item for the rear as the parking brake can be a challenge. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I've had it with the El Dorado calipers, for instance, and on one truck I'm just going back to drums.

-- A
 
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You can buy rear hubs in 6 lug. About $600 iirc. Aftermarket custom made of course
 
http://www.geartechhd.com/services

These guys make some but they are pretty expensive. I cant find any prices on their site but iirc they are something like 550-600 each.

and then you will have to have the factory axle flange machined down a little to fit a 6 lug wheel.
 
I had to do this exact thing for three years before I was able to swap in a 60 up front. I bought wheel adapters that worked great. They widened the rear about 2.5" overall. You also remove two lugs from each side so you only bolt the adapter to the 14bff with six nuts, then the 6 "correct patterned" studs stick out for the wheel. I still have them if you would be interested...
 
shady said:
cant be done as far as i know:dunno: been asked here before
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You should not say that.
It can be done has been done and is being done.
There are some hubs you can buy now but they are expensive. Or you can go to a machinist and get it done.
You need to machine the hub down to fit the wheels then red rill the face for six lug.
I was planning on seeing how easy it turns out and possibly make a few to sell but as with other projects I have my time is very unpredictable.
 
why do you feel the need to replace the stocker? seems to sorta defeat the purpose if you bring it back to 6 lug...yea it will be stronger but seems pointless to me :dunno:
 
wage92 said:
why do you feel the need to replace the stocker? seems to sorta defeat the purpose if you bring it back to 6 lug...yea it will be stronger but seems pointless to me :dunno:
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A full 14 floater axle with six lug would be tits. Its not the lug that matters, its the internals are so much stronger. Also so many cooler rims in 6 lug IMO.

Idk how well brakes etc would fit with the rims though.
 
Deuling said:
Damn, $399 isnt bad.... Im so gonna do this if I dont blow up my 10 bolt this summer and can save up the cash... I wonder If I could still fit 15s though....
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With the right offset and/or grinding it will fit them.
Read is does narrow the overall length by 2.25, so 1.125 on each side. So use a nice 2.5" offset wheel to get back to your factory width and that will also push the tire and rim further out so you wont have the clearance issues. :waytogo:

I'm runnning a 15" wheel with 3.5 inches of backspace on a 14FF with discs. Only had to nick the calipers a tad to put them on.
 
Effin sweet. I want to do this. 14ff parts seem to be wayyy cheaper than the 14sf I have waiting for mine... and soooo much stronger.
 
There was a guy on here that had a set for sale like last year.. I sooo should have bought it :doah:He didnt want alot.
 
I guess I was wrong:dunno: but I swear I seen a thread on here once where pretty much the same question was asked and the answers were alot different.
 
Don't try spacers to convert the number of lugs. You won't find anybody to build them anyway. They are just for adjusting the track width or the bolt circle diameter. It doesn't really work unless you get rid of wheel studs and bolt the spacer on from behind the flange or something (go ahead, sketch a picture of a 6-lug to 8 lug adapter). You would have to get the WMS totally outside the FF hub to fit the 6-lug pattern anyway (super thick spacer), or machine down the hub to fit. If you're doing machine work to the hub and axle flange anyway, why bother with the spacer? The spacer on a stock axle would be so wide you would need a wheel with massive backspacing like an H1. It would be crazy to rework 8-lug wheels to 6-lug just to fit an axle newly converted from 8 to 6.

Most things you want a 6-lug FF axle to do, a 14B SF axle can do for you. Also, new rims sound expensive, but if you can buy some used wheels and sell off the 6-lug wheels, it's not so much.
 
Deuling said:
A full 14 floater axle with six lug would be tits. Its not the lug that matters, its the internals are so much stronger. Also so many cooler rims in 6 lug IMO.

Idk how well brakes etc would fit with the rims though.
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I understand the internals are definitely stronger, but lugs help spread the torque that is being transmitted to the wheels, seems like you would want one with the other...
 
wage92 said:
I understand the internals are definitely stronger, but lugs help spread the torque that is being transmitted to the wheels, seems like you would want one with the other...
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I guess depends on your tire size. I don't plan on running any bigger than 33s. Doubt I'll ever snap any studs.
 
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