Why so many 5-lugs ?

[icesickl]

Why is everyone wanting the 5x4.75 or 5x5 bolt pattern set up ? Everywhere I look parts for the front end are all 5-lug. There are ten times more wheels out there for 6x5.5 . Any help on where 3" drop spindles are for 6-lug or other parts ?

[MrGoodpliers]

People mainly like the 5 lug setup so they can run torque-thrust type wheels. Many sources have 6 lug rotors for disc brake conversions. Try Early Classic, CPP or McGaughey's.

[71swb4x4]

Originally Posted by icesickl

Everywhere I look parts for the front end are all 5-lug.

This is one of the major reasons.



I don't think there are more 6 lug wheels out there. Maybe for newer trucks, but I don't think for these old ones.

[Longhorn Man]

aftermarket rim selection for 5 lug dwarfs the 6 lug market, and the reason for this is, from 72 untill 99, ALL 2 wheel drive 1/2 ton trucks were 5 lug.
You can get 6 lug rotors, but they cost 3 or 4 times as much as a 5 lug rotor. But they are out there.

[CG]

71

[Longhorn Man]

lol... that's what I ment.
Good catch!

[67_C-30]

I find (at least IMO) that there are not many good looking 6 lug riums out there besides factory lug truck rallys or some kind of wheel with a closed center cap. I've never seen ANY 6 spoke rims that I like.

[boogie67]

I know back in the day everybody wanted 5 lugs so they could go with Cragars{SS].

[ChevLoRay]

If you're gonna go with 5-lugs, at least consider heavily the truck 5-lug, not the car setup. A Camaro/Firebird clip used to be popular, but why put a car front end on a truck, if there's any chance that it'll be used like a truck is intended? Trucks have larger brakes than cars, and that should be a serious consideration.

As to the selection of wheels, yeah, it's an issue for some, but not at my house.

Vive la 6-lugs!!!

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

aftermarket rim selection for 5 lug dwarfs the 6 lug market, and the reason for this is, from 72 untill 99, ALL 2 wheel drive 1/2 ton trucks were 5 lug.
You can get 6 lug rotors, but they cost 3 or 4 times as much as a 5 lug rotor. But they are out there.

True. And another reason was that to get disc brakes you had to go to 5 lugs. That's changed now, but I remember when I first got my 69, twenty years ago, I couldn't find any discs unless I went with 5 lugs.

[lowrollin70gmc]

Rollin' sixes. I can make later model wheels work and with six you can swap to a narrower rear end to tuck easier.

[desertPOS]

I'll be sticking with all 8 of my lugs. These are commonly known as the last 'real' trucks, why make them more car-like. I haven't found any disc brake conversion that are 8 lug, and that would be the only reason I could see for switching. I wouldn't pay for any kind of conversion kit anyway though, rather just swap in a 8 lug crossmember from a later model truck anyway for cheaper

[Cannon007]

I would like to change over my 6lug to 5lugs so I can share drag wheels with my camaro

[scottrod71]

I just swapped my '69 C10 short stepside to 5 lug and converted to a front disc brake with power. I planned to stay with the 6 lug but the cost of the rotors ($90 to $120 each) as compared to the 5 lug ($22 to 50 each) and available everywhere off the shelf made me decide to swap over. Wheel selection is a huge issue as anything is available on 5 lug. This is especially true if you want to go to anything other than a 15" wheel.
I would disagree that the 5 lug are more of a "car" setup. I think all the C10pickups were 5 lug after '73. I may be wrong about that. I bought the complete setup from Early Classic and was very impressed by the quality and the price was quite a bit better than LMC. Bottom line is that its your truck, do what looks good to you and fits your budget. That's what makes this forum so great. Tons of ideas and advice from guys who've been there, done that. Good luck........

[1LoC10]

5 lug 5 spoke wheels just look good

[icesickl]

Most of the 5-lug wheels are old school styles. most of the modern styles with a deep lip are 6 lug. I am planning on running 22s and in that wheel genre there is 10-1 6-lug wheels over five lug. The only vehicles being curently produced with a 5x5 patern are the Grand Cherokee, Comander, and the new JK wrangler. Almost all of the Front wheel apps are 5x4.5 or 114.3mm. The majority of 5-lug wheels being produced now are high offsets also. I guess I am just looking at it from the point of running + size wheels. There are 10 times more 20" and 22" wheels currently on the market than there are 18" and under.

I am just used to being around trucks all day that are 6 or 8 bolt. 5 is for cars. Five spokes look weak. I think the six spoke design are much more masculine looking.

[Texasbigblock]

I converted mine over just to use CRAGARS ....... Also, a few years ago when i started re-doing my truck 6lug was just starting us again, most all aftermarked wheels were 5lug.

[Texasbigblock]

sorry for the typo's.......*just starting up *aftermarket

[tcb-1]

guess I'm ecentric because I stayed with the 6 lug set-up when I switched over to discs. I just couldn't bring myself to selling (eating some money) my 6 lug rallyes then paying for replacements.

I for one can't figure out the aftermarket vendors. They could actually build a casting to allow us 6 lug drum brake guys to drop our rigs with DRUM spindles...... and it could be done cheap. I am a mechanical designer so I have looked into this extensively and it could be done and the end product would be comparable in price to a disc spindle. The main obstacle would be the raised center of gravity of the axle on the spindle body and the moment arm of the bearing pack, all within a 1.5 safety factor......

there are a few more 67-70's out there than 71-72's, but I guess were are the ones that have to conform...... okay, that's my rant.

[Dingfodgy]

Originally Posted by icesickl

Most of the 5-lug wheels are old school styles. most of the modern styles with a deep lip are 6 lug. I am planning on running 22s and in that wheel genre there is 10-1 6-lug wheels over five lug. The only vehicles being curently produced with a 5x5 patern are the Grand Cherokee, Comander, and the new JK wrangler. Almost all of the Front wheel apps are 5x4.5 or 114.3mm. The majority of 5-lug wheels being produced now are high offsets also. I guess I am just looking at it from the point of running + size wheels. There are 10 times more 20" and 22" wheels currently on the market than there are 18" and under.

I am just used to being around trucks all day that are 6 or 8 bolt. 5 is for cars. Five spokes look weak. I think the six spoke design are much more masculine looking.

I think you might be a bit mis-informed. It is true that there are a crap-load of 6-lug rims for the late model 6 on 5.5" bolt pattern used on Tahoes, Burb's, Escalades, etc. However, what you may not be aware of is the fact that these "modern" wheels will not fit our old-skool 6 lug drums / rotors. The center bore is too small to fit our trucks. I'm sure they could be machined out, but why bother when it's so easy to convert to 5-lug and actually have considerablly more choices without the hassles?

[chrislehr]

Dumb question - I have a 1970 C10 - what do you have to do to convert?

[chevy one]

chrislehr, first off there is no such thing as a dumb question except the one that was not asked. The link here will help, also check the suspension forum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ghlight=brakes

[franky69c10]

Originally Posted by chevy one

chrislehr, first off there is no such thing as a dumb question except the one that was not asked. The link here will help, also check the suspension forum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ghlight=brakes

[chrislehr]

Originally Posted by chevy one

chrislehr, first off there is no such thing as a dumb question except the one that was not asked. The link here will help, also check the suspension forum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ghlight=brakes

aw man, I might be out of my league on that one