Hey guy's, a friend of mine has a '98 F-250 Light Duty with 7-lug wheels and wants to lift it. I'm not absoluletly sure that the lift I have (10" Whiplash) would fit his truck, the mounthing locations look the same. But the thing he keeps talking about is wheels for his 7-lug setup. I suggested that he just change his drums and rotors but then I remembed that he would have to change his axles to convert them, should he just buy 7-lug wheels, which cost more than 5-lug, or convert his truck to 5-lug, any help would be apprectiatied. Also, I need to reconnect my parking brake, what all is involved? After pulling the wheel off, what else is involved in pulling off the drum, I've never worked on a Ford before, this is my first one.

Thank you.
-Kelly

 

A drum brake is a drum brake. Does not matter who makes it, they all work the same. There is an adjuster on the inside. On the backing plate, there is a oval rubber plug. Remove that, use a flat head and force the adjuster in to shrink the shoes in. Then remove the drum. It may have a bit of rust on the center hub of the axle, so spray some PB Blaster there first.

For 7 to 5 lug, well there is going to be more wheel choice for sure. I would make an assumption that you can get the rear axles and drums for the 5 lug. Up front, you would need the hubs and rotors for the 5 lug. Check that the hubs are the same diameter. But that should be the recipe.