15" Bart wheels on a 14ff?...

[reece13]

I was at a neighbors house today that has old and new military stuff scattered all over. Under an old pickup bed flipped upsided down in the yard layed 4 14ff from cuccv i presume. 1 has open carrier with 4.10s, 2 have detroit lockers with 4.56s, and the other is a rusted pos. The other 3 are MINT!! He said he'd let me have either of the 4.56 ones for 700$. They need nothing, they have been gone thru, checked, have good drums and shoes new fluid and all.

my question is, will the Bart black 15" 8 lug wheels u can get from summitracing fit the drums on these 14ff axles???. They look like maybe a 13" drum. Or where can u get a 15" rim to fit? and/or do u have grind on the drum or space it out to make a 15" rim fit

 

[xenomarine]

It should work peachy if you run spacers, that's what I did with my 14bsf which had the bigger drums. 1.5s were enough for me and also made the truck look less like the wheels were tucked under it.

 

[reece13]

Yeah, i kinda figured a small spacer might work, i just didnt know if anyone else had done that. I see trucks all the time with 14ff under them and u can definetly see alot of the drum sticking out so i figured people used the spacers. I have no problem running a 17" wheel/tire, but i didnt want to go out and buy 17 tires and wheels right now, thats alot of $$$$ I figured id keep the 15s for now if i could since im still running the 10bolt up front. Once i get a d60 for the front, i will suck it up and buy new rims

 

[ChadRay13]

I'm running 15" steel wheels with 4" backspace on my srw 14bff. No issues and I am not using spacers.

 

[chulisohombre]

The only time I've heard an issue was when people had disk convertions on the 14ff and 15 inch rims.the front is going to be your problem. 2.5 bs will help so to keep grinding to a minimum. You will have more wheel out if the wheel well and offset on your bearings though so it will wear them out faster and it hit your fenders easier than a centered bs.

 

[reece13]

Ok, so i guess the general answer is yes, 15" rims will work. So i guess all i need to know is what backspace i should use??? im guessing maybe a 3.5 or 4" ....The Bart wheels im looking at come in with a backspace from 2.5 to 4.5 i believe. I will be using the 1 ton axle as it is, with the drums--not rear disc brake.

 

[ChadRay13]

I've heard of some people having issues with aluminum or mag wheels though due to the thickness of the material.

 

[reece13]

Im pretty sure these are steel wheels. nothing special just black steel

 

[jamber2541]

I am running 15 inch steel wheels 3.5bs on a van 14ff with disk brakes, ran same wheels before I went to disk brakes, aluminum wheels are too thick

 

[xenomarine]

I've never even seen or heard of aluminum 15" 8 lugs.

 

[sweetk30]

if your ever going dana 60 and still 15" rims then only basic bolt on no grinding work = 2.5" backspace.

 

[72blazerguy]

I had to grind the calipers on a D44 to get a 15" wheel w/ 4" backspace on. Take sweetk30's advice and buy the 2.5" backspace. Grinding wasn't that big of deal, but it wasn't bolt on.

 

[ChadRay13]

I had to grind the calipers on a D44 to get a 15" wheel w/ 4" backspace on. Take sweetk30's advice and buy the 2.5" backspace. Grinding wasn't that big of deal, but it wasn't bolt on.

I had to do the same thing. If 2.5 is available then it'd be worth it.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I had to grind the calipers on a D44 to get a 15" wheel w/ 4" backspace on. Take sweetk30's advice and buy the 2.5" backspace. Grinding wasn't that big of deal, but it wasn't bolt on.

The backspacing doesn't guarantee that the wheel will fit.

I had steel 15x8's from Pro Comp, 8x6.5" bolt pattern, that fit the disc brake'd 14 bolt fine but required a TON of grinding on the front for the GM D60. 2.75" backspace.

So, my experience, some wheels fit better than others but wheel width and backspace has very little to do with it. It depends on how the wheel is made.

8-lug 15" wheels pretty much don't clear the brakes on anything and as far as I know, the factory never used 15" wheels on the 3/4 and 1 ton disc brake front ends.

Keep in mind that aluminum wheels are typically build thicker and need more wheel to caliper clearance.

 

[b454rat]

I've run 15" 8 lugs on many different setups. Last was a 14ff out of a van that had huge brakes, 13" IIRC, and cleared no problem. That was with a 4" b/s I think. I also had Bart 15x12 with 3.75" and still cleared the rear on a 14ff with 12" drums. Fronts are different. Every 3/4-1 ton had clearance issues. A 60 is alot of grinding, but it will fit. Get the wheel you want, grind to clear...

 

[56pu]

I just put the Bart 15x10 with 3.5" bs on my burb with a 14 bolt and a 44 hd, kinda wish I would've went with 15x8s now. The rear sit under the truck ok but the front tires hang way out there 3 or 4"s. I did have to grind the calipers a bit front and rear, I did the disc conversion on the rear so I can say if they would fit with the drums. The only reason I stayed 15" was that my tires are still good from 1/2 ton set up..

 

[reece13]

Just so everyone knows, I havent gotten the dana 60 for the front yet, so im more or less concentrating on fitting the wheels for the rear 14ff at the moment. I was planning on getting a 15x10 with 4" back spacing for the rear 14ff. i was planning on getting 15s for the front when i get the d60, but i know it'll be a bunch of grinding when i do.

 

[USSkoval]

Does anybody know the name of the company that makes caliper brackets to run 3/4 ton rotors and calipers on a D60? I've personally seen them and know they are available, but I can't remember who made them.

 

[b454rat]

This one???

http://www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com/index25.html#d60f

 

[USSkoval]

This one???

http://www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com/index25.html#d60f

Yes, thanks. I now remember why I had decided long ago to grind calipers... those are pricey.