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Hey G, wanna talk numbers?
I'm working on the steering now and was just looking at the scrub radius and ackermann, etc. Using your numbers (9.6" & 8-degrees), with a 43" tall tire and 1.25" offset, I'm coming up with a scrub radius right around 5.3"?
Subtracted 19.2" (9.6" x 2) from 79.5...
That's what I was trying to say. I wanted to run 11.00 tires, and they're too narrow to mount on modified HEMTT wheels. I think ideally, I'd like to convert to a more common 10-lug pattern and just get some Alcoas, but am pretty happy with how these turned out. Was just a lot of work.
Sorry, but I really can't. Those wheels were just one part of a much bigger project, and it's not done yet. Currently stripped, waiting to get sandblasted and painted.
Oh and after the engine-swap I'll have a power-steering pump, and I'm planning on replacing the stock steering linkage with a full-hydro setup - so I don't think I'll ever have a chance to do a fair back-to-back comparison. But I guess all that really matters is how the tires wear, and how the...
Wish I could tell you, but I've driven the truck less than 20 miles since I mounted the new wheels & tires. In the middle of replacing the cab and an engine-swap right now. From one project to the next...
Thanks. If I was going to do it over again, I'd think twice about grinding out the welds. It was a LOT (a lot a lot a lot) of work. Would probably just try to lay down a nice looking bead and call 'em done. These look pretty sweet now that they're all done, but I hate grinding.
No way man...
Thanks for all the help with this project guys. I'm really happy with how my wheels turned out. I need a total of nine wheels/tires so I'll have matching wheels for my trailer, plus a spare, and I only have eight right now. But I'm not in any hurry. I'll just pick up another riveted wheel...
Loaded them all back up and was so excited that I installed them all that night. Well, all except for one of them. Stripped a stud, and had to go buy a new one the next morning. I don't have many good pictures of the whole truck because it's parked in kind of a tight spot right now. I'll post...
Then I hauled all those wheels down to Agri Trade School in Salinas, where Tom sand-blasted them for me.
I was going to prime/paint them myself, but fortunately, a buddy of mine told me that I could get them powder-coated at Les Schwab for $25 before I bought paint. And that INCLUDES...
OK. Got a BUNCH of pics for you guys.
This is how I ended up fitting the center-sections to the shells. Worked out to exactly 6" backspacing, just like G said it would be...
After assembling my 'practice' wheel, I realized that I should be truing the wheels off of the lip where the...
Got all of my wheels sandblasted, powdercoated, tires mounted, and installed on Mah Deuce. Was planning on painting the wheels, but I found out that Les Schwab will powdercoat wheels for $25ea. Couldn't say no to that, so I drove up to Fremont and dropped off all my wheels. Picked them up a week...
Finished grinding-out the welds on the last of the wheels today. Bought ten, used one as a practice wheel, and one of the center-sections was out-of-round so I scrapped it. So that leaves me a total of eight finished wheels. I need seven for Mah Deuce and two for my trailer though, so I'll need...
Just finished assembling and welding-up the last four wheels (total of nine). Still have to grind-out the welds on five of them though, and that's the worst part. The four that are done look really nice though. Will probably be at least another week before I have a chance to get them all...
Sorry, YES, MIG-welding. I started a thread on pirate to get some more input about welding on the backside of these center-sections. I'd like to weld them front & back, but I'll restrain myself if it's really such a bad idea. I was just thinking that with the way these multi-piece wheels are...
And here's what it looks like mounted on the front of Mah Deuce. I'm pretty happy with how it sits. I think I might be able to squeeze another .5" of backspacing into these wheels too, for a total of 6.5" (this wheel has 6"). Would be nice if I could get the tires a little bit closer to flush...