HI!... I know you can use 15 inch rims on the back of our F-150'S/LIGHTNINGS if you grind down the caliper a bit. My question is : How much grinding down are we talking about? We talkng 1/16th of an inch or more? Just curious. I need a 28 inch tall E.T street for my truck but no longer make one for a 16 inch rim. I'm running 27 inch tall slicks right now on 17 inch rims, but they cause me to over rev the engine in 3RD gear across the finish line. I DON'T want to use overdrive in the 1/4 mile. Any help on this would be great. By the way since the rear rotors are bigger than the front ones, I take it there is no problems installing 15 inch rims on the front?

 

HI!... ANYONE?????????

 

Neal, I mounted the JDM made 15s on Spiros truck. It was pretty scary. I had to take about a 1/2 inch of material off the calipers and mounts, and cut the dust shields to be even with the rotors. Even after all that, there was only a 1/16 of an inch clearance between the rims and the calipers and the wheels must be used on the side they were fitted for.

 

Neal
I am not 100% sure but I believe you have to grind them down allmoat a 1/8 of a inch, and trim the dust sheild.

You might want to check with some of the tuners
http://www.jdmengineeringinc.com/
http://www.johnnylightningperf.com/

for rims try
http://www.bogartracingwheels.com/

 

Neal,
The easiest thing to do is wait until next month and purchase the 18-inch Nitto Drag Radial. It is suppose to be a 305x18x40. Two years ago I developed a way to fit a 15-inch wheel to the Lightning. I did not like how close the wheel was to the caliper. I developed a new design that does work and I built two sets one for each of my Lightning’s but I have no plans to sell them. Brakes are too much of a safety item to deal with. If you wish I can show you photos of what needs to be done. I will not post them here.

 

Neal,

.0080(80 thousandths) off the back calipers. It really isn't that much.

 

BABolt ,
can you email me those pics? ive been considering making myself a set . retics4me@hotmail.com thanks alot .
Jason

 

LOL! Went from 1/2" to 1/8" to .0080". Hell, the 15's slip right on mine!

 

All I know is when I helpd Spiro mount his wheels, we had to take about a half inch off the calipers. They were so thin when we were done, there wasn't even 1/8 of casting left between the piston and the outside of the casting. We also had to grind some of the inside of the rim for clearance. This doesn't mean that every set of custom 15" wheels will require this. These were the wheels that JDM sells, but the guy who makes them had to redo them 3 times to get them right. I'm sure that no two sets are the same. Some probably fit on a little better than others, but there's no way you'd only have to take off 80 thousands.

 

As I said I will not post the photos but I will share a clue. You must move the caliper inboard and also reduce the OD on the rotor. How you go about this I will let you figure it out but I will share another clue the rear rotor is a solid rotor and if you do shave it down you must rebalance it. You still have to rework the caliper too just not as drastic as with other methods. I use to joke with "High Risk" that he should not drive his Lightning on the street because in a panic stop the rear calipers were going to explode.

 

Neal I thought the regular F150's have different brakes then the L's.

I know the front brakes on our L's are 250's but I thought the back brakes where 250's also.

Am I right or is this wrong? You might want to check that again cause you may be able to fit those on there.

 

"There's no need to fear...Power Surge is here!!"

LOL, sorry, couldn't resist.

I just got hooked up with a company that's going to make 15s for us. These are not like the other two custom 15s which are steel rims, pretty much made up from cut up rims. These new wheels are aluminum, and, get this, will only weigh between 10-12 lbs!!! I have a set coming to try out, and I do anticipate having to shave some off the caliper, but it should be hardly anything. These are the rims we've all been waiting for, I'll keep you all posted. Hopefully I'll be able to debut them at Cecil, if I have them by then.

 

Sal, Keep us posted !! Good Luck getting that beast to hook, your truck is Screaming !! Take Care-Neil

 

Sal your the reason I'm broke

Who needs a girlfriend when you got SAL. Do you make house calls? J/K.

 

Sal do they look anything like this