15" wheel question

[DR]

Hi all,

I know this has been addressed before, but I haven't been able to find the exact asnwer I need. Will a 15" wheel fit on a stock 14blt out of a 3/4 ton truck?

I have a 14blt d44 combo to swap in to my Blazer. I was planning on waiting until I had the axles built the way I want before the swap IE: gears, lockers, disk conversion etc. But, a junk front end has forced me to move forward on the swap. Its either rebuild the 10blt that I will eventually be throwing away, or swap the axles in now in stock form. Just doesnt make since to me to spend money on a junk axle that I wont be keeping. So, I figure for now I can come up with some wheels, u-bolts, etc and get them in now then build them later.

Thanks!

 

[George_Pimpdaddy]

yes

 

[BlazerBud]

The 14 bolt should have 8 lug nut hubs. Do the 15 inch wheels have 8 lug pattern too?

You have to do some grinding of the drums in some instances. Why don't you just take a wheel and try it out, you have to have more than 1/4" all the way around to be sure.

 

[6.2Blazer]

The 14 bolt should have 8 lug nut hubs. Do the 15 inch wheels have 8 lug pattern too?

You have to do some grinding of the drums in some instances. Why don't you just take a wheel and try it out, you have to have more than 1/4" all the way around to be sure.

Why do you need 1/4"??? The drum moves with the rim and are bolted tight together, so as long as you can fully seat the wheel against the hub it doesn't matter even they even lightly touch...because they won't rub.

But short answer, yes they should fit. I fit 15" wheels with 4.25" BS on a 14-bolt with the "big" drums from a 1-ton.

 

[BlazerBud]

Why do you need 1/4"??? The drum moves with the rim and are bolted tight together, so as long as you can fully seat the wheel against the hub it doesn't matter even they even lightly touch...because they won't rub.

But short answer, yes they should fit. I fit 15" wheels with 4.25" BS on a 14-bolt with the "big" drums from a 1-ton.

I said nothing about rubbing. But, I have seen where the drums get hot like a MoFo and expand or warp and put deflection against the wheel. Don't forget that you are no longer able to cool the drums if it is too snug because of the lack of air flow. This probably doesn't matter in a slow truck anyway. But the last thing you want is the wheel to deflect and start hitting the drum, or the drum to expand and start deflecting the wheel.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I said nothing about rubbing. But, I have seen where the drums get hot like a MoFo and expand or warp and put deflection against the wheel. Don't forget that you are no longer able to cool the drums if it is too snug because of the lack of air flow. This probably doesn't matter in a slow truck anyway. But the last thing you want is the wheel to deflect and start hitting the drum, or the drum to expand and start deflecting the wheel.

Have you ever seen a 15" wheel on a stock 14-bolt drum? Even with a 4+" BS wheel you aren't shrouding much of the drum as it sits inboard of the wheel. The brakes would also suck big time if the drum expanded that much.