Back space for 15x8 wheels?

[rtreads]

I just bought a set of 15x8 soft 8 wheels for turning into beadlocks. I was a little worried about the 4" back spacing when I bought them. Turns out I was right. The outer rim/bead is flush with the outer part of the front hub and barely clears the heim joint on the steering arm.

I would like a wider stance than what these give. I know the beadlocks will add about 1", but that isn't much. Now I'm not saying that I want the wheels way outside the side of the body, but a little would be nice. I was talking to my brother and he said that the PO of his bronco bought some "reverse" spoke wheels. I guess the rim is flipped inside out then welded to the center... I guess it is a cheap beadlock??? ...thats what he says, not me. Anyway his wheels have a nice stance, a little wider. What wheels do you all suggest for getting a wider stance? I cant change the rim from a 15", but I can send these back.

...should I cut my centers out, push them out, and reweld them? Or is that way too much work for the return?

pics???

thanks
Ryan

 

[bingen]

why 15X8's?....not 15x10's.
I would think the 10" rims with 12.5X33's would fill out nicer.
Or are you just going with 10.5x 31's?...then the 8" rims would look nice...

 

[DirtDonk]

Personally, I'd say it's way too much compared to the cost of new steel rims. Why mess up the coating and go through all that, and risk having them out of true and possibly not the same strength (unless you're a good welder of course) when steel wheels are just not that expensive. Relatively speaking.
You can then still re-sell the existing ones to help offset (no wheel-pun intended!) the cost.

And "reverse" rims is just an old term from the '50's (maybe the early rodders/modders of the '40's even?) when what they actually did was throw the wheels on backwards to give a wider stance. Then came the re-welding of the wheels, for correct and safe mounting, which progressed to the easier availability of different offsets through the aftermarket and a wider variety of O.E. applications. I'm sure there are more details in there somewhere, but that's it in a nutshell.
In the sixties, hearing about "chrome reverse wheels" was fairly common.
Through all that the term "reverse" held it's own. Right to this day evidently.

Paul

 

[sprinksbeme]

Just run wheel spacers. You can get them from .25" to 3.0" + I run 2" spacers with my 8" wheel, non bead lock 12.50 tires it gives me a stance the is 2" narrower than when I run my 13.50 crawler on 10 wheels with 2.5" BS.
Build the wheels and decide how far out you want the the tire outside the body and add a spacer,.
Marty

 

[Wyldebill]

I run 15x10 Outlaw 1 American alloy wheels with 4" backspacing and Champion bead locks. I have to run 3/16 thick spacers under the wheels to clear the steering knuckles and I have less than 2" of tire out side of my warflares. 2" is probably enogh to get you a ticket in some states, but I have been all over Moab and never gotten so much as a glance from the local Gestopo. If you get into mud, you will wear a lot of it home, but living in Colo neither one of those situations bother me much as we have no fender law here and very little mud.

 

[rtreads]

why 15X8's?....not 15x10's.
I would think the 10" rims with 12.5X33's would fill out nicer.
Or are you just going with 10.5x 31's?...then the 8" rims would look nice...

I have a set of 15x10's now. The problem is that once I add the beadlock ring the wheel will be more like 15x11.25. I dont want a wheel that wide. And the 10's that I have now are the same 4" b.s.

 

[rtreads]

Personally, I'd say it's way too much compared to the cost of new steel rims. Why mess up the coating and go through all that, and risk having them out of true and possibly not the same strength (unless you're a good welder of course) when steel wheels are just not that expensive. Relatively speaking.
You can then still re-sell the existing ones to help offset (no wheel-pun intended!) the cost.

And "reverse" rims is just an old term from the '50's (maybe the early rodders/modders of the '40's even?) when what they actually did was throw the wheels on backwards to give a wider stance. Then came the re-welding of the wheels, for correct and safe mounting, which progressed to the easier availability of different offsets through the aftermarket and a wider variety of O.E. applications. I'm sure there are more details in there somewhere, but that's it in a nutshell.
In the sixties, hearing about "chrome reverse wheels" was fairly common.
Through all that the term "reverse" held it's own. Right to this day evidently.

Paul

I paid $39 per wheel for the ones I have now with the 4" b.s. To special order ones that have the b.s. that I want (2.5-3") I have to ship these back, and pay $82 for the new ones, then pay shipping to get them back out here. That is $200+. I am not a good enought welder to reweld the centers, but have a local welder that will do it for me. I am not worried about messing up the finish since the beadlock rings have to be welded in anyway.

 

[rtreads]

Just run wheel spacers. You can get them from .25" to 3.0" + I run 2" spacers with my 8" wheel, non bead lock 12.50 tires it gives me a stance the is 2" narrower than when I run my 13.50 crawler on 10 wheels with 2.5" BS.
Build the wheels and decide how far out you want the the tire outside the body and add a spacer,.
Marty

Are wheel spacers of that height really safe for the trail? It seams like that adds another dimension of weakness when crawling on the trails. ...like stacked lift blocks. But you all way 2" spacers are ok then I will check it out. But what do they cost? If they are $80 per set, I might as well send these wheels back and get ones with 2" less b.s.


thanks

 

[rtreads]

I run 15x10 Outlaw 1 American alloy wheels with 4" backspacing and Champion bead locks. I have to run 3/16 thick spacers under the wheels to clear the steering knuckles and I have less than 2" of tire out side of my warflares. 2" is probably enogh to get you a ticket in some states, but I have been all over Moab and never gotten so much as a glance from the local Gestopo. If you get into mud, you will wear a lot of it home, but living in Colo neither one of those situations bother me much as we have no fender law here and very little mud.

I am not too worried about how much tire is outside the flair... with in reason. I am ok with 4-5" outside the body before flairs. I am making come tube flairs and can make them any size I need. And there are so many things a cop can write you for with an EB; altered suspension, headlight height, bumper height, beadlocks, ect....

 

[HoosierDaddy]

What size tires do you run ? and What type of wheeling do you intend to do , mild , extreme , in between ?

I have the same rim but 10" wide with 33/12.5's and DO NOT like it offroad. Wish I had gone with the 8's. The rim edge is very vulnerable to damage and I get nervous airing it down w/o beadlocks.
Even with beadlocks , the rim is poorly protected by that skinny of a tire.

If you are not running huge tires , I think that I'd try the spacers. The smaller the stronger I'd imagine. So get enough to clear your steering parts. I know some guys here have ran some pretty big spacers and have not complained ..... so the jury is out on that as far as I'm concerned.

I can email you large versions of these pics if you like , PM me.
The old beat up chromies are 15x8 , the soft 8's are 15x10 ...sorry I don't have a better shot of the 15x8's.

 

[22213evl]

I run 2" spacers locked frt+R and have had no issues

 

[rtreads]

What size tires do you run ? and What type of wheeling do you intend to do , mild , extreme , in between ?

I have the same rim but 10" wide with 33/12.5's and DO NOT like it offroad. Wish I had gone with the 8's. The rim edge is very vulnerable to damage and I get nervous airing it down w/o beadlocks.
Even with beadlocks , the rim is poorly protected by that skinny of a tire.

If you are not running huge tires , I think that I'd try the spacers. The smaller the stronger I'd imagine. So get enough to clear your steering parts. I know some guys here have ran some pretty big spacers and have not complained ..... so the jury is out on that as far as I'm concerned.

I can email you large versions of these pics if you like , PM me.
The old beat up chromies are 15x8 , the soft 8's are 15x10 ...sorry I don't have a better shot of the 15x8's.

I plan on running 37" mtrs. I am just worried that spacers, much over 1/2", shouldnt be used when doing some serious wheeling with that size tire. I really like the stance of the 10" wide wheel, but by the time I add the beadlock rings to the outside of the rim, the 10" will be too wide.

 

[sprinksbeme]

Are wheel spacers of that height really safe for the trail? It seams like that adds another dimension of weakness when crawling on the trails. ...like stacked lift blocks. But you all way 2" spacers are ok then I will check it out. But what do they cost? If they are $80 per set, I might as well send these wheels back and get ones with 2" less b.s.


thanks

I have friends that have been wheeling with spacers for years, most running 39.5" and 42" tires. I have never heard of a problem with wheeling spacers.

I do prefer a wheel with the proper offset; but even the proper offset puts the exact same stress on the other components as running spacers. as you add neg. BS to a wheel the stresses will increase to other parts Like Ball Joints, Knuckles, and inner C's on the 44. Even the Tubes on the housing will get more stress but no more with spacer than with wheels that have a equivalent amount of BS built in.

Failure of ball joint and other steering components is mostly maintenance related, you can't wheel with big tires and not replace ball joints as part of maintenance. I also don't run stock 44 knuckles although not ever had a failure there either. I have several pairs of good joints to used as emergency spares and none where in need of replacement.

If you can send your wheels back with out extra costs, I'd go for it, I offered the spacer option instead of cutting the centers out and re centering.

I have been wheeling spacers on mine for just a couple months with the KM2 on them and have seen zero problems so far. I think I wheel in a pretty extreme mode and am out wheeling more than most.

I have run my 10'' wheels with 2.5'' BS for several years which actually create more stress than running a 4" wheel with 2'' BS and a 2"" spacer.

 

[rtreads]

Thanks for the info. I will proceed ahead with welding in the beadlocks and just use spacers once I get them all mounted to give my a good offset.

thanks again!