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Buy wheels, buy adapters, machine wheels, or machine hub/rotor, what is a better bet?

Lil'John

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Title kind of states it. But super short: I've got 8x6.5" wheels/axle. I'm considering going to 8x170mm axle(SD Dana 60). Stuck with wheel decision.

My fab guy has the mantra of: "Don't build a rig around a set of wheels."

Wheels of choice on current rigs:
rims2.jpg

Only mildly worried on the bead locks but I'd probably lose my ass trying to sell and find 8x170mm... no such thing for Pro-Comp. The other set of rims are no longer made. I would probably lose my ass selling and buying new "plain" rims. I've got the second set on two of my rigs(9 rims total)

So the question I have is which is the best bet to get 17" wheels onto the rigs as I convert the axles to 8x170mm? Partial concern is strength.

1) New wheels will be about $200ea for plain aluminum and about $400ea for beadlock. Biggest problem I have is finding a plain symmetrical spoke type aluminum rim. Almost every aftermarket rim I can think of look like they were designed by ADD person who just drank several gallons of Mt.Dew.:barf: I will also need to account for lug nuts.
2) Buy 8x6.5" to 8x170mm adapters. I can't find anything shorter than 1.5". It also looks like quality ones are ~$150 a pair. The axles are going to be custom width so removing 3" of shaft isn't a big deal. Is 1.5" too much leverage on a unit bearing?
3) Machine the unit bearings and rotors. I didn't do an exhaustive search but found Mark Williams charges about $180 a bearing. No idea on rotors. My concern is having to continually do this process on wear items. One of my rigs is a daily driver. Is there concern over strength of the unit bearings getting double drilled?
4) Machine the wheels. I found a place that will charge $150ea for four/five wheels. I haven't gotten an answer on 9-14:eek: Added cost is lugs as well as dismount/mount tires. Is there concern over strength of the wheels getting double drilled?

My math is showing that machining the rims is probably the best route in terms of cost and maintaining off the shelf replacement parts(unit bearings and rotors). Strength is a mild concern.
 
adapters seem like the easy answer. would you be mindful of 1.5" difference in backspacing outside of "the look" when choosing wheels?
 
i'd also set the axles up as you normally would and not account for the adapters as far as shaft length goes, that way If you change wheels later, no harm/no foul
 
FAWK 8x170. Kill it with fire.

With that being said, I would want to convert the hubs to 8x6.5". Either by swapping in one of the numerous aftermarket solutions, or DIY'ing it with a drill guide. And there are a couple aftermarket off the shelf brake rotors that work, or you can also DIY drill them too.

The next least bad option is adapters. There is no additional harm to the bearings with 1.5" adapters and X" backspace wheel versus a (X-1.5)" backspace wheel. So if the tire offset ends up where you want it, that'll work.
 
adapters seem like the easy answer. would you be mindful of 1.5" difference in backspacing outside of "the look" when choosing wheels?
So you don't think that the 1.5" will add too much leverage on the unit bearing? Especially in a daily driver situation. The other light concern I have for adapters is coming lose. I guess that could be addressed with a heavy dose of red loctite.

i'd also set the axles up as you normally would and not account for the adapters as far as shaft length goes, that way If you change wheels later, no harm/no foul
I really like the look of my current setup with 60" WMS and 4.5" back space(I think). To me, an extra 1.5" outside of the body is going to look like ass.
TireStickout_sml.jpg

On the third "full width" at 67" WMS with 43"x14.5", another 1.5" isn't going to make a difference ;)

FAWK 8x170. Kill it with fire.

With that being said, I would want to convert the hubs to 8x6.5". Either by swapping in one of the numerous aftermarket solutions, or DIY'ing it with a drill guide. And there are a couple aftermarket off the shelf brake rotors that work, or you can also DIY drill them too.

The next least bad option is adapters. There is no additional harm to the bearings with 1.5" adapters and X" backspace wheel versus a (X-1.5)" backspace wheel. So if the tire offset ends up where you want it, that'll work.
I'm not overly amused with 8x170mm:homer:

As noted, my concern over converting the hubs is having to spend more money redoing the process again when/if they fail.

Is there a reason not to do machine a new pattern into the wheel if the cost is "ignored"?
 
So you don't think that the 1.5" will add too much leverage on the unit bearing? Especially in a daily driver situation. The other light concern I have for adapters is coming lose. I guess that could be addressed with a heavy dose of red loctite.


I really like the look of my current setup with 60" WMS and 4.5" back space(I think). To me, an extra 1.5" outside of the body is going to look like ass.

On the third "full width" at 67" WMS with 43"x14.5", another 1.5" isn't going to make a difference ;)


I'm not overly amused with 8x170mm:homer:

As noted, my concern over converting the hubs is having to spend more money redoing the process again when/if they fail.

Is there a reason not to do machine a new pattern into the wheel if the cost is "ignored"?

i'd redill the hub before redrilling the wheel, personally.

ball joint pressure? c'mon man! :flipoff2: daily driver duty is pretty low stress. never overdo it on locktight, a dap will do ya and then torque with a wrench that says things will do the rest
 
Cant tell from the pics, what's the current axles(s)?

99-04 or 05+ SD?
 
A zillion giant lifted superdoodys on the road every day say don't worry about overstressing the unit bearings.
I'm not a fan of unit bearings in general, but I'd either redrill the unit bearings or figure out a way to traditional-bearing-convert and run 8x6.5 hubs. I don't think the latter is going to be worthwhile.
As for building a rig around a set of wheels, building a rig around a bolt pattern is a little different to me than building it around a set of wheels. Building around what's probably the single most common bolt pattern in the light duty truck, trailer, and offroad world, isn't a bad idea IMO. If you're worried about the unit bearings, get three done up-front and bag one up in the back somewhere as a just-in-case spare. Or get new ones already done that way (I think Spidertrax and Branik sell them already 8x6.5 brand-new, others probably do too), get your old ones redrilled, and toss two in back for spares.
 
I'm not overly amused with 8x170mm:homer:

As noted, my concern over converting the hubs is having to spend more money redoing the process again when/if they fail.

Is there a reason not to do machine a new pattern into the wheel if the cost is "ignored"?

I've seen enough wheels fail that I'm not at all a fan of removing any material from a wheel. That's one part that I won't modify in any way.

On the other hand, hubs are steel and the stud flanges are thick to support another pattern drilled into it. Or just get the aftermarket unit bearings that are 8x6.5 and call it a day.
 
i'd redill the hub before redrilling the wheel, personally.

ball joint pressure? c'mon man! :flipoff2: daily driver duty is pretty low stress. never overdo it on locktight, a dap will do ya and then torque with a wrench that says things will do the rest
It is a daily driver that will hit the Con:flipoff2:

Just a preference on hub vs wheel then.

Cant tell from the pics, what's the current axles(s)?

99-04 or 05+ SD?
Current axle is 92ish Dodge kingpin narrowed to 60" WMS(times two) with the full width being a weird bastardized HP Dodge width "kingpin" with Weldbill knuckles:homer:

A zillion giant lifted superdoodys on the road every day say don't worry about overstressing the unit bearings.
I'm not a fan of unit bearings in general, but I'd either redrill the unit bearings or figure out a way to traditional-bearing-convert and run 8x6.5 hubs. I don't think the latter is going to be worthwhile.
As for building a rig around a set of wheels, building a rig around a bolt pattern is a little different to me than building it around a set of wheels. Building around what's probably the single most common bolt pattern in the light duty truck, trailer, and offroad world, isn't a bad idea IMO. If you're worried about the unit bearings, get three done up-front and bag one up in the back somewhere as a just-in-case spare. Or get new ones already done that way (I think Spidertrax and Branik sell them already 8x6.5 brand-new, others probably do too), get your old ones redrilled, and toss two in back for spares.
True on the brodozers... but they also love to roll coal and be douches.

I won't say I'm exactly worried about the unit bearings aside from having to deal with ~$400ea for new 8x6.5 Timken and waiting a week or more if maint comes up.:homer:

If you are able to drill the hubs yourself,

https://motobilt.com/products/drill-guide-sd60-to-8-on-6-5

or

https://ntkfabworks.com/products/super-duty-8x65-lug-drilling-fixture

and x2 100% on a spacer/adapter alone adds no stress to hubs or joints, you just have to consider it is a 3” backspace wheel now instead of 4.5” with a 1.5” spacer. And that is going to change wheel scrub somewhat. Whether that matters to you, is up to you.
Thank you for the links. My concern with home doing it is making sure I get square to hub. My drill press is overly short and shitty.:homer:
 
I've seen enough wheels fail that I'm not at all a fan of removing any material from a wheel. That's one part that I won't modify in any way.

On the other hand, hubs are steel and the stud flanges are thick to support another pattern drilled into it. Or just get the aftermarket unit bearings that are 8x6.5 and call it a day.

Awesome view. Thank you for pointing out the downside.
 
if money is no object, buying hubs with the correct pattern in them is the way to go.

money is always an object, so adapters are a common solution :laughing:
 
Do you happen to have a brand and part number that are 8x6.5" pattern direct replacement for stock?

Branik Motorsports sells a rotor with 8x170 and 8x6.5 patterns on it for this exact situation. I can't remember off the top of my head which other brand sells a similar rotor, it was one of the other brands that sells conversion unit bearings and hubs...

I dug into this recently to spec out a cheap SAS on my brother's 2wd GMT400 2500. Our plan is to score a cheap Ford D50 and convert it to 8x6.5 manually (aka drill press style, because budget).
 
I vote to build around the 8x170 bolt pattern. Off the shelf parts are awesome. More and more superduty axles are getting swapped in and it wont be long before tides have changed and it will be the most common bolt pattern for 1 ton swapped rigs.
 
I went through this on my current build. I even bought the drill plates and re drilled one of my bearings and rotors for my 2007 superduty axle. Ultimately I ended up selling my 8x6.5 wheels and purchasing 8x170 wheels. my reasoning is that when I killed the unit bearing I could go to any parts store and snag a replacement and put it on in a parking lot if I had to. I am running 1.5 adapters on my 14 bolt to get 8x170 out back and to get the width closer to the front. One of the reasons there isn't many spacers less than 1.5 is the length of the studs. I had to trim the ends off my 14b studs so that they didn't stick out. As far as worrying about a spacer coming loose, I have ran them on multiple vehicles, have a good torque wrench and a little loctite handy and you will never have an issue. nearly every dually pickup on the road uses a big ass wheel spacer up front.
 
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