Narrow wheels on a lowered stepside - Pics?

[ChevDog1]

Hey guys - new member here.

I just picked up a 1980 C10 shortbed stepper that I am in the process of getting back on the road. It has been sitting for over 10 years.

In the process of budgeting for my build, it has become apparent that I may have to wait a while on wheels. It currently has a set of the stock type ralleys (I think they are 15x6 or 15x7. The truck came with dropped spindles and springs (new in box) for the front, and I plan to do a flip kit on the rear.

Does anyone have any pics of a similarly lowered stepside with narrower wheels and tires like this? I'm concerned that the wheels will be tucked too far inside the fender openings and will look silly. If it's going to look really bad, I may have to adjust my budget to shift some dollars from the interior in order to get wheels sooner. Any pictures you guys could post would be most helpful.

Thanks!

[S10Fan]

15X8 with 4" BS on all four corners on mine. Rear tires are 265/70/15, fronts are 215/60/15. Dropped spindles and air bags.

[Rich84]

I never get tired of those pictures of that truck...

[ChevDog1]

Thats a great looking truck! I'm hoping to see some pics with 6" or 7" wheels for a reference. The 8's look good!

[Tx Firefighter]

Stock six inch wheels on my lowered stepside





I think they look pretty bad. The rears particularly are buried so far up under the fenders that it looks goofy. I've got a set of 8 inch rally wheels for it. As soon as I can find a pair of narrower rally's for the front, these are history. I might put them on my car hauling trailer or something.
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[ChevDog1]

I think those look pretty good in profile. How much drop? Do you have any photos that show the rears in an angled view, so I can see how far in they sit?

[Tx Firefighter]

The drop is approximately 5/5.

I made my own flip kit for the rear and on the front used 3 inch drop spindles and cut one coil from the stock springs.

When I get back out to the shop in a bit I'll snap you some pictures from the back. The front looks fine, its the back that bugs me.
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[ChevDog1]

Awesome! Thanks!

[Tx Firefighter]

Here you go brother. I'm loading up for a swap meet this weekend so excuse the mess.






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[ChevDog1]

Thanks TX! Those do look a bit tucked in, don't they? I wazs doing a little searching on CL, and wheels that look like mine are being called 6.5" wide, so I'm guessing that mine will end up looking much like yours (my tires are a bit shorter/fatter).

There is a local guy selling Corvette style ralleys for pretty cheap. He has them in 8" and 10" wide. I'm a sucker for steelies - and ralleys in particular, so I may just have to adjust my budget to figure out how to make this work.

I really appreciate the pics!

[Tx Firefighter]

If you're lowering, a very safe and cheap combo is to take a pair of your current skinny rally's and put them on the front, and get a pair of wider 8 inch rally's for the rear. I've done it on a bunch of trucks as have the static drop rockstars around this board (Scoti and Keith). That's what I'll be doing to this truck as soon as I can arrange it.

The skinny rally's are much harder to find than the 8 inch wide ones. I personally have 10 or 12 of the wide ones stacked around my shop but am going to be looking to buy a pair of narrow ones this weekend at the swap if I can find a pair. Heck, if you were local I'd trade you all the skinny rally's you could come up with for wide ones. Obviously that's a moot point since you're halfway across the country. Point is, a fifty dollar bill and a nose for watching Craigslist should get you a pair of 8's for the rear. Then you have a perfect combination.
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[custom97]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Here you go brother. I'm loading up for a swap meet this weekend so excuse the mess.






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Where's the swap meet at this weekend?

[ChevDog1]

Well, I got my truck to move under it's own power last night, so tonight it gets the bed pulled, and tomorrow it gets slammed! It's been years since I worked on an old rig - kind of refreshing to be able to see what you are working on, and not have to diagnose an electrical issue for every problem.

Found some interesting stuff so far. The truck was originally a 250/6 with 3 on the tree. PO said he put a TH350 in it (it's actually a TH400!). He got it running and took it around the block, and said that the trans is shot because it wouldn't shift out of first gear, and the engine ran like it was on only 5 cyl. After that he parked it and started looking for anothjer drivetrain, and it remained on that spot for 3 years until I bought it. The trans problem was that he had not hooked up a vacuum line to the modulator (solved), and the rough running on the engine was because he used an externally balanced flexplate from a 454. After removing the balance weight from the flexplate, it now runs as mooth as a straight six is supposed to.

Maybe by the end of the weekend I'll be able to figure out how to post pics, and can show some before and after shots!

[IMG][/IMG]

Hey - I figured it out (old dude who spends more time in the real world than the virtual world). This is the before photo - right after I rolled it off the trailer in my driveway.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by custom97

Where's the swap meet at this weekend?

We are at the swap meet in Decatur. It's a good swap but its hotter than two mice having sex in a wool sock out here.
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[willett]

how in the world did you track the problem to the flexplate?

[ChevDog1]

When I got it fired up, I could feel a pretty significant vibration at approx. 1:1 with engine RPM's. I have had a straight six Chevy before and know how smooth they run, so I knew something was wrong, and as well as the engine was running, I knew it wasn't a misfire. After thinking about it for a couple of days, I remembered that the PO told me he had swapped in a TH350. When I crawled under to look at it I realized that it was in fact a TH400. Knowing that these tranny's typically come behind big blocks, and that he would have had to have sourced a flexplate for the swap, i guessed that he probably got the flexplate with the trans. When I went back under to look at the flexplate, I could easily see the big counterweight from a 454,and knew that I had found my problem (i looked for photos online to confirm my ID of the weight). About 30 minutes with a cold chisel and hammer, and I fixed it with no money out of pocket! At this point, I now have the engine/trans issues all corrected, and have only put about $300 into it. He had abandoned the whole idea of running this drivetrain because he used the wrong flexplate, and didn't hook the vacuun line to the transmission! He could have had it driving properly for about $5 worth of hose and a few minutes of his time!

[Skunksmash]

Hopefully next payday lol. I take it that's in response to all the people asking when you're going to paint it?

[ChevDog1]

Well, I got my truck dropped on Saturday, but haven't put the bed back on, so no photos yet. I still need to get the bumpstops cut off of the frame before I put the bed back on. I have ground the rivets flush with the inside of the frame, but have not been able drive the rivets through. Has anyone else run into this? Any Suggestions for getting these mounts off of the bottom of my frame?

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by Skunksmash

Hopefully next payday lol. I take it that's in response to all the people asking when you're going to paint it?

That's been my whole mantra for the last few years. This economy is chewing me up. I've been focusing on buying some very expensive tools for my shop so building trucks has taken a back seat. I have about 1200 dollars total into this truck and its taken me 9 months to spend that much.

Originally Posted by ChevDog1

Well, I got my truck dropped on Saturday, but haven't put the bed back on, so no photos yet. I still need to get the bumpstops cut off of the frame before I put the bed back on. I have ground the rivets flush with the inside of the frame, but have not been able drive the rivets through. Has anyone else run into this? Any Suggestions for getting these mounts off of the bottom of my frame?

I'll tell you how I do it. I grind the rivet heads off on the bottom side, on the snubber itself. Then take a good sized hammer and chisel and beat it between the snubber and the frame. That separates the snubber off the frame and leaves the rivet bodies stuck in the frame. Then grind the rivet bodies down flush with the frame and use a hammer and punch to knock the remaining parts out.
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[ChevDog1]

I'll try that next. I had easier access to the topside, so that where I started.

I'll have to get it up in the air to work on the bottom side.

As a side note: these trucks would make awesome drift machines with the bed removed. I took it for a short drive yesterday (private road) to see how it rides, and even with a little straight six, anytime you breathe on the throttle, it spins the tires! With my open diff, it is hard to even get the truck moving on my gravel driveway.

[S10Fan]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Here you go brother. I'm loading up for a swap meet this weekend so excuse the mess.

Very solid looking stepper, Nice!

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by S10Fan

Very solid looking stepper, Nice!

Thank you Bryan. I'm not sure you'd have said that a few months ago.


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[S10Fan]

................and it has the very rare split frame option, sweet!

[S10Fan]

Originally Posted by Rich84

I never get tired of those pictures of that truck...

Thanks! Much appreciated.