changing 9" lug patters

I've got a 9" out of a truck, for my truck. It has a 5x5.5 lug pattern with 31 spline axles, I was wondering what I could do to make it a 5x4.5 setup since wheels are hard to find with the current pattern.

-Thank you

New axles would be the easiest.

I figured that would be the route I need to go. Or have a set of stock aluminum 5x5.5 wheels widened, but that might cost way too much.

Justin ,you should be able to get a machine shop to redrill your axles to a 4.5 bolt circle and turn down the center to fit the wheel pattern you want.You'll have to drill your brake drum also.That'd probably be your cheapest route.

i dont know what year your truck is but some early to mid 80's f-100's were 4.5 lug.

56Tbird wrote:Justin ,you should be able to get a machine shop to redrill your axles to a 4.5 bolt circle and turn down the center to fit the wheel pattern you want.You'll have to drill your brake drum also.That'd probably be your cheapest route.

Okay, that's something for me to think about with the current axle and then get aftermarket axles for the 9" when it goes in. I've got a few phone calls to make tomorrow

cool40 wrote:i dont know what year your truck is but some early to mid 80's f-100's were 4.5 lug.

Its a 5x5.5, not sure what the year is but I checked today.

bb429power wrote:

56Tbird wrote:Justin ,you should be able to get a machine shop to redrill your axles to a 4.5 bolt circle and turn down the center to fit the wheel pattern you want.You'll have to drill your brake drum also.That'd probably be your cheapest route.

Okay, that's something for me to think about with the current axle and then get aftermarket axles for the 9" when it goes in. I've got a few phone calls to make tomorrow

cool40 wrote:i dont know what year your truck is but some early to mid 80's f-100's were 4.5 lug.

Its a 5x5.5, not sure what the year is but I checked today.

so..maybe you could find a 4.5 axle from another truck,if it's a 9".i was just telling you "some 80's F-100's were 4.5 lug"so you maybe could look for one to get the axles.save some $$

Oh gotcha, I thought you were asking if I had the 5x5.5 pattern to double check. I'll have to look into that, thanks

Is the axle going back into a full size truck? If so, there is tons of aftermaket support in the 5x5.5 lug pattern in 15" on up sizes in what ever width you want. I have a set of 15x14" wheels under my ranger as well as a set of 15x10 for my smaller tires.

kjett wrote: there is tons of aftermaket support in the 5x5.5 lug pattern in 15" on up sizes in what ever width you want.

I beg to differ,.......
I've been dealing with this paticular F'd up bolt pattern for last 15+ years in the Lightning truck scene. Decent wheels are few & far in between my friend.

The 5x5.5" pattern is the absolute bastard of wheel bolt patterns,......as far as the aftermarket is concerned.

You can find a steel wheel,.....or a bunch of cheap ass cast aluminum wheels w/ a ridiculous negative offset in a 5x5.5" pattern,.....but nothing that I would consider a good, quality wheel.

Your ONLY choice for a quality wheel in that pattern, is to go custom.


Your best bet is to upgrade the axles and get the 5x4.5 pattern will your at it. That way you can get an off-the-shelf wheel at a reasonable price. The money you'll save on a custom wheel will pretty much pay for a decent set of axles.

As far as the drums go,......
those can be had for $60 ea.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-1126-B/


These are what I have on my truck.

Copperhead wrote:

I beg to differ,.......
I've been dealing with this paticular F'd up bolt pattern for last 15+ years in the Lightning truck scene. Decent wheels are few & far in between my friend.

The 5x5.5" pattern is the absolute bastard of wheel bolt patterns,......as far as the aftermarket is concerned.

I beg to differ with you, my friend, but in a 4x4 or street driven application there is every option you can find for every other rwd pattern out there. I will agree in a light weight drag race application, you are stuck with limited support. As far as I can see, the OP never said he was all out drag racing this truck and if the wheels are for the trucks in his sig I doubt this is the case. As with anything it's all about application

BB429, what's the intended use and what size are you looking for?

This will be a street/strip truck, with drag radials. I may have to suck it up and get steel wheels, or change the rear axles. The guy from the tire shop is going to call around then let me know what the options are. But I talked to a member on here and he hooks with some smaller tires on his truck so I may try to use some stock aluminum modular f150 wheels and take them to a shop if needed.

My 15x10's are American Racing and look very similar to the factory aluminum wheels found on the mid 90's F-150s (which are 15x7.5"). My 15x14's are Mickey Thompson's. By the end of the year, I will pull all of those off for wide 5 wheels.

kjett wrote:

Copperhead wrote:

I beg to differ,.......
I've been dealing with this paticular F'd up bolt pattern for last 15+ years in the Lightning truck scene. Decent wheels are few & far in between my friend.

The 5x5.5" pattern is the absolute bastard of wheel bolt patterns,......as far as the aftermarket is concerned.

I beg to differ with you, my friend, but in a 4x4 or street driven application there is every option you can find for every other rwd pattern out there. I will agree in a light weight drag race application, you are stuck with limited support.

I never mentioned ANYTHING about a drag racing application,.....or any application for that matter.
I've had 8,......93-95 Lightnings over the course of the last 16 years. I currently have 3,......and only one of which is primarily for drag racing. All the other have been for street duty.
FWIW,........My daily driver is a 94L


I don't want to get into a pissing contest,.......but do one thing for me,......if you please.
Show me an off-the-shelf wheel with that bolt pattern,......in a 10" wide (for example)with a backspacing of 4-1/2" to 6"

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Part-Type/Wheels/Wheel-Bolt-Pattern/5-x-5-1-2-in/Wheel-Diameter/15-in/Wheel-Material/Aluminum/Wheel-Width-in/10-000-in/?Ns=Rank%7cAsc

Manufactures like Centerline or Weld Racing only offer the 5x5.5" pattern in a very few wheels.

Also, how would I change the fronts to 5x4.5? It is 2wd and has front drums, but wondering if I could switch to rotors off of a car with the 5x4.5 pattern

bb429power wrote:Also, how would I change the fronts to 5x4.5? It is 2wd and has front drums, but wondering if I could switch to rotors off of a car with the 5x4.5 pattern

Moser or Strange could re-drill them for you,.......or any compentent machine shop.

This front is a 15x10 wheel with 4.5" backspacing made by American racing drilled for wheel screws:



The rear's in this pic are 15x14's with 4.5" backspacing (there is a MRW weld on bead lock on these):



All are 5x5.5 lug pattern.

Check more than Scummit which deals mainly with cars, and look more at places that deal with trucks for more options. Like here:

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/Cast-Wheels.aspx?t_c=11&t_s=210

A simple search for wheels for a 95 F-150 gave me a ton of options.

I cant find any on that website with a large enough backspace that is also wide enough

What year truck are you working on? since you stated drum brakes on the front I am assuming the 1967 in your signature. If so you need to convert to disc brake spindles and then buy the 2wd rotors and calipers and associated parts for a 1980 f-100 with the 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern and your done on the front!, on the rear start searching salvage yards to find an '80 f-100 with that pattern and the 9 inch and buy those axles or buy them aftermarket, rear drums can be bought for above truck at local parts store.

throw those Axles in the trash and get you a set of Mosiers you will be thanking me. first time you break one and you go stage Left or stage right depending on which you break first....... and its not if you will break one it is when.??????????

Something I really need to think about... because its finally driveable and I want to get wheels. But if I'm going to convert it thats a whole nother mess and I wont have wheels for a while. I do have a 9" I already bought with 31 spline axles, I also have a 9" housing made for 28 spline axles... so should I try to just get aftermarket axles for the one that's already together?
Also, for the front brakes... Let me make a list, tell me if I'm missing something... I need-rotors with all the bearings and seals, calipers, pads and spindles off of an 80's truck?. Anything else I need to make it work like a proportioning valve?

I believe you will need spindles from the same year(range 68-72) as the truck you are working on rotors should interchange. not sure on proportioning valve or master cylinder requirements. Also a 9 inch axle housing doesnt care if the axles are 28 or 31 spline the center chunk and its components determine that.

kjett wrote:This front is a 15x10 wheel with 4.5" backspacing made by American racing drilled for wheel screws:


The rear's are 15x14's with 4.5" backspacing (there is a MRW weld on bead lock on these):

All are 5x5.5 lug pattern.

The 14's may work for a 4-wheel drive application but they're going to look like pure shit on a 2wd street vehicle.

Even the 10's,... with the above b/s they're going to stick out about an inch too much in the rear. Oh,.....and you can forget about putting those on the front, because those won't even come close to working.

I missed typed when I said 4.5" - 6". I meant 5.5"-6".

The reason for this is,....using my street truck for an example, has a wheel width [at all four corners] of 8" and a backspacing of 4.5" (3.5" pushed out). My front wheels are at the very edge of the fenders and you can only go with,... say 4.5" out on the rears.
EX: 10" wheel w/ 5.5"bs ='s 4.5" out.

Any wheel (for the front) with more than 4" out [4.5" for the rear] toward the outside of the wheel is going to look ghetto on a street/strip truck.

Sure,.....you can get them to fit,..........but if you're going to spend the $$,......you need to understand the backspacing limitations on these trucks before spending your money.

Trust me,........
You try to go with more than that on a 2wd truck,.....and it's going to look like you didn't have a clue when selecting the proper wheels for your truck.

Also if you are just going to be driving the truck for a while stock axles will hold up but if you put sticky tires on it and go to the track expect them and/or the stock 9 inch center housing to break. 9 inch differential can hold up to a tremendous amount of power if the proper parts are used to put it together, some of the stock parts are rather lacking in the strength department

I agree with copperhead the wheel selection for 2 wheel drive truck with the 5 on 5.5 pattern is very limited. Yes there are wheels made with that pattern in multiple widths but most all of them are meant for 4x4 trucks and do not work well on a 2wd and worse on a lowered 2wd truck.