Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
me too like to get on the road and keep up with traffic without my getting my teeth rattled out, I think it would be cool to see a truck like this perform and handle,will never be BMW level but at least maybe Tundra level of performance,we will see
Back at it trying to find a wheel that will work, made the mistake of installing WillWood calipers so now the 15x8 wheels won’t clear the calipers, picture is of a 17x9 MT Classic III biggest problem with this wheel is the 4.5” backspacing only gives me 1.5” from rim lip to spring, only wheel I can find with 3.5” is a Pro Comp 17x9 black steel wheel, with all the wheels made today sure thought it would easier!
Back at it trying to find a wheel that will work, made the mistake of installing WillWood calipers so now the 15x8 wheels won’t clear the calipers, picture is of a 17x9 MT Classic III biggest problem with this wheel is the 4.5” backspacing only gives me 1.5” from rim lip to spring, only wheel I can find with 3.5” is a Pro Comp 17x9 black steel wheel, with all the wheels made today sure thought it would easier!
Most vehicles today come with ~6.5" BS stock, so going to 4.5" pushes the wheel out quite a bit for them. And as we both know, back spacing is a major issue on J-trucks in back. Only fix there is to move the spring under the frame.
Those brakes will stop the truck way better, but it does limit your wheel choices.
I've seen far too many spacers fail to ever allow them on any of my vehicles, although, I know a lot of the JK crowd claim success with them. If you must run a spacer buy the kind that bolts on then wheel studs and then has its own set of wheel studs for the wheel. The kind that just sandwich between the wheel and the hub using the same studs are just asking for trouble IMHO.
-Jonny B.
1979 Cherokee Golden Eagle - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
7" lift, 35x12.5x15
AMC 401 - Pro-FLo 4 FI
NV4500/NWFBB/NP205 - Triple Stick'd
F D44 - 4.10, Eaton E-Locker
R M23 - 4.10, Detroit Locker
1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
1979 Wagoneer - Sold
1981 Cherokee Chief - Cubed
In order for wheel spacers to be safe they need to be hub centric, and have to be bolted in place. And then it has its own studs for the wheel, like HeavyMetal mentions above.
The plane spacer style put a LOT of stress on the wheel studs.
I have spacers in the back of money badger. I'm not for certain, but I think 3/4" is the best one to go with. I don't remember the exact measurements, but 5/8" was the thinnest that had their own studs, didn't have much meat for the studs on either the axle flange or the new wheel studs. On the 3/4" spacers, the new wheel studs had at least half an inch of meat for the studs to press into and the nuts on the axle flange studs were compressing on at least 3/8". I don't blame you at all if you avoid spacers all together, but the were the right solution for me for the time being. Eventually I'll build a wider axle (some kind of full float hybrid) or inboard the springs, but for now the spacers work.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
And then you get slot mags that you could even put a stock center cap on. I see no reason not to!
Unless you have a problem with a big red white and blue "U.S." slapped on a CHINESE wheel.
Good luck finding any alloy wheel (that is not CNC Machined) that is made in America, because there are none. Period. Even AEV that tries to make everything in the US outright says "We cannot get american made alloy wheels".
My beef is with the misleading label, not the country of origin. That same company (MHT) has two other series of alloy wheels they claim are US made, but not the U101. Another point of contention (social and economic, not political) is the price manipulation. That wheels is probably $50 in materials, $50 in tooling/energy/facility overhead, and $35 in transportation/tax/tariff just to put the product on US soil. So how can they sell it at a $13 loss ($135-$122=-$13) without even PAYING the people who made it? Did the labor pay $13 for the privilege of making it, just so MHT could break even at $0 profit? It doesn't add up.
The "Truckin' Series" and "Pro Touring Series" alloys are claimed to be US made, as are the steelies they produce.
Back to the OP though, I'd ditch the fancy calipers. I mean, brake fade will come from the rotors heating up regardless of what is pinching them, and there's ways to increase the line pressure if you need more squeeze to lock them up. Another thing I've found, is that 15" tires are significantly cheaper than 17" tires. As much as $200 a set for regular MTs, more for fancy tires. Enough that the difference pays for a matching spare for the tires I like.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
So howcome 17" tires are more spensive when there's less material in them?
OK, so the bead is a little longer but that's it.
Sic friatur crustulum
'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.