5 lug vs 6 lug wheel choices

[brawley]

I have a 95' chevy truck with the 5x5 and had a hard time finding large wheels for it. On my 63' I stuck with the 6 lug , right now I have the old truck rally wheels. I have a question will the new 6 lug wheels work on these old trucks is it the same 6x6 pattern?

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by brawley

I have a 95' chevy truck with the 5x5 and had a hard time finding large wheels for it. On my 63' I stuck with the 6 lug , right now I have the old truck rally wheels. I have a question will the new 6 lug wheels work on these old trucks is it the same 6x6 pattern?

In reading other threads the answer seems to be no. I ran 15x8 6 lug factory (non-rally) wheels on my 1960 back in the early 90's and they fit fine, but the later wheels have a smaller center hole and won't fit over the early hub.

[SRVBLUES64]

I have a question when I hear redrill your 6 lug drums! if thats so I can keep my old drum set up and use a 5 lug pattern wheels

[markeb01]

Your question isn’t real clear, but most commonly there are 3 methods to obtain a 5 lug pattern on the rear axle.
1. 5 lug conversion axles from one of the specialty suppliers,
2. Change the complete rear end to a later assembly, or –
3. Simply redrill the original axles to the desired lug pattern.

The process is rather straight forward. The existing backing plates and brake shoes remain, but the axle flange is drilled to the 5x5 pattern, and the center of the axle hub also needs to be turned to a smaller diameter to correctly register the later drum (which has a smaller center hole). Although the later 5 lugs drums look differently because of the fins, the area covering the brakes is the same.

This is only done on the rear axle. I am not aware of anyone having safely redrilled the front hubs to a 5 lug pattern. Most people switch to discs on the front to obtain the 5 lug pattern.

Here’s an earlier thread on the topic with some additional details:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&highlight=5x5

[SRVBLUES64]

I feel for all those guys that have the 6 lug blues, I have searched and searched I believe every anvenue for a 6 lug wheels. can anybody send me some links for six lug wheels. I want a 18 chrome wheel. and I have plans to use a lowering kit 2.5 front and 4 rear any thoughts no upgrade on brakes sticking with drums

[jocko]

i've got to echo what lakeroadster and markeb01 are getting at (I think) - I think wheels are so important that you should pick the wheel you want, then pick the lug pattern you want to provide it. Generally speaking - if you like car mags from the past (cragars, centerlines, torque thrusts, etc) - then 5 lug is the way to go. (and I love cragars and TTDs...) If you like steelies, or slots, or rallies (like Lakeroadster said) - then save some coin and go with 6 lugs.

One more consideration, that I have not heard brought up (might have missed it) - have you already or do you plan to do a disk brake conversion? If so, the stock steelies probably won't fit. (you can use later 6-lug rallies or steelies that originally came on mid-70's disk brake trucks though). Just one more thing to throw in the pot to make the decision even harder!!

For me, 6 lugs all the way. And the ironic thing is that I never thought I'd be ok with that (seeing how much I've always like cragars and TTDs). But turns out I'm just fine with it. I like the stock steelies and have a backup set of rallies that I can use IF the pending disk brake conversion doesn't fit. Still on the hunt for a set of mid-70's 2WD steelies....

Good luck, can't wait to see the result.

[richlaw1]

I just found out myself that Cragars only makes 5 lug and I have 6 lugs on my '55........

[forestb]

there are 3 reason I would switch from 6 lug to 5
1) Torque Thrust style wheels.
2) spider caps.
3) push through style caps

[zach_carver]

Bringing up a thread from the DEAD!!! lol

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by zach_carver

Bringing up a thread from the DEAD!!! lol

Better than starting a new one and ending with duplicate threads. lol

[61K10]

How about 6 spokes? some nice ones out there.