Well I ground off the studs on one of my axles last night so I could test fit the adapters and wheels. I wasn't too happy about doing it but it seems to be OK.. I used an air cut off wheel and made sure the lug nuts were on while I was cutting so I could fix the threads as I backed the nuts off.

cut off studs


I need my tires!!!!!!!

 

Let us know whow it works out. How thick or those adaptors?

 

1 1/4"

Ya I'll keep everyone updated. I put less than 10K on my truck a year so I don't expect any issues very quickly.

Everything does seem to fit nicely though. And I can still take them off and put on my stock wheels.

 

Just remember to keep those inside lugnuts tight! Loctite would be an excellent idea on em too. I've seen too many of those aluminum adapters fail because the inside nuts get ignored and they eventually fiddle themselves loose.

A good coating of nickel or copper anti-sieze compound on the backside of the adapter will help keep the dis-similar metal (aluminum on steel) corrosion down too, but I'd still do an annual check on them especially if you run them in the mud or on winter roads.

Those rims will look nice on your truck though! Be sure to post pics of the finished project.

 

x2

when are the tires comin?

 

Ya I was already going to do the blue locktite. Thanks for the idea about the anti-sieze between the rotor and adapter! I didn't think of that.

I am buying the tires from Glcash from this site. I am going to meet him halfway Tuesday the 2nd. I should be able to get them on, on the 3rd.

 

Good on ya for planning on the loctite.

I'm pretty big into the MoPar A-bodies, and the earlier ones had a funky small bolt-pattern. Most of us will try to swap parts to upgrade to the standard MoPar bolt pattern if we want to run aftermarket wheels but there are still a few guys that use the adapters instead. The adapters used to be pretty common place though.
Not a fun experience to lose a wheel and crunch up a fender when an adapter or wheel fails!

Your other option would be to have your hubs/rotors and axleshafts/drums redrilled for a different bolt pattern. This would be the ideal solution for strength, but if you ever need to change parts when doing a brake job or lunched bearing it means a trip to the machine shop to get the new parts redrilled. If you're not racing or doing any hard off-roading and you take care of them, the adapters you've got look pretty beefy and should hold up okay.

If you ever find a set of steel adapters, grab those and use them instead of aluminum.

 

Well my buddy works at a machine shop and can make anything.

So if something happens he could make me some new steel adapters. He could just measure off of the AL ones I have now. I also figured if I don't like the adapters or if something goes wrong I can try to mod the hubs to a 5x5.5 bolt pattern.

These are made of Billet AL. I thought that was supposed to be some really strong stuff?

 

I personally think that the weak point of my drivetrain right now is the axles. Especially in the front. I"m sure the CV joints will fail way before the adapters break. (As long as they are on tight)

I would probabaly break a rear axle too before the adapters.

 

Sweet! Then you'd be all set if you do want to go steel.

Billet Al is stronger than cast and pound for pound is stronger than steel. Steel will still be stronger, but it will add more weight to your wheel tire combo too. With steel, you can run a thinner adapter too...probably down to 7/8"...in case the wheels wind up sticking out too far. You should be fine either way though.

To anyone else thinking about adapters...avoid cast aluminum like the plague!

 

update...........no problems to report.

I wish I didn't need them still but they work fine. They just make the wheels stick out too far for me but that's just the price to pay.

 

For the sake of sounding ignorant. I am confused as to the need of the modification.
What did it change or gain you ? It is still a 5 bolt pattern, so it isn't like you can now use 6 lug wheels.
There has to have been some benefit to you to go through the time and expense of this. I see that the title say "thread pattern adapters" so I suspect that it has to have something to do with the bolt pattern as a whole and not just the number of lugs.
Whats the scoop ?

 

5x135mm to 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Better wheel selections

 

Yep. I couldn't find any wheels I liked in the 5x135 pattern.

 

Ok, That all makes sense to me.