Who makes a Mag Wheel you can use on 76/77 ?

[D.Abshire]

Im looking for a 15'' mag wheel like the stroppe ones that can be used with the stock disk brake set up.

 

[FordBronc]

Have you tried Summit?

Win the lottery and you can shop here. I'd have to anyway. lol http://www.akhwheels.com/pages/inventory.php?cat=1

http://us-mags.com/indy-u101-w-142.htm

 

[DirtDonk]

What size tires are you contemplating? Some width wheels are easier to find in the right backspacing than others. Optimally you'd like 3.5 because 3.75" is sometimes troublesome. Some wheels fit, while others with that same backspacing will hit the tie-rod end.
The type of wheel you want is more likely to hit, because they tend to have thicker cross-sections near the wheel edge/bead on cast wheels.

Of course, if you go with 17" wheels instead of 15's, you don't have to worry about backspacing. Oddly enough though, the US ones you were asking about actually have the proper backspacing in 17's!!! http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/produc...ntage-Set-of-4-Polished-17x9-Kit/usmagswheels
Normally it's the other way around, where the 17's have more backspace than the 15's, but I guess they have their own setup. I'm pretty sure that info came directly from them, but it wouldn't hurt to double check. In case that size is an option anyway.

You leaning towards 15's because you already have the tires, or you just like the look?
I like the look of the smaller wheels myself, but would consider 17's if I found tires I liked in that size too.

Good luck. Always the option of spacers though, if you just can't find the right wheel. I'm assuming you'd like to avoid that path if possible (extra cost and extra parts) but lots of members are running spacers on their '76/'77 EB's with good results.

Paul

 

[tasker]

I run 8's on mine with 1/2 spacer. Been that way for years with no problems

 

[D.Abshire]

i'm planning on running the BFG KM2 33-10.50 on my 77 with a 3.50"suspension lift and a 1" Body
Also Bronco fenders have not been cut, so i want to stay in the 5'' to 8'' rim width range.

(AND YES I ALREADY HAVE NEW SET OF TIRES AND LIKE THE LOOK OF THE 15'S)

 

[DirtDonk]

With uncut rear fenders you don't really have much of a choice. An 8" wide wheel is about it.
And you can't have your cake and eat it too, with an uncut '77. You either need to go with big backspacing numbers to keep the rears tucked in under the sheet metal, or go less backspacing to clear the steering components.

So you have choices to make here:
1. Skip the 15" and go straight to 17.
2. Stick with 7" wide wheels for that size tire, or go 8" to allow you to go wider later down the road. Although a 7" wide wheel is good for up to about an 11.50" wide tire, the wider wheel is more popular.
3. With an 8" wheel expect to need 4" of bs to keep it tucked, but if you stick with 15's you'll need to use spacers on the front to clear the steering components.

Mess around with all of the above until you find something you're happy with. It's just harder to find a happy medium with an uncut '77 is all. Nothing's impossible. Just more difficult, with more head-scratching involved.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Have you tried Summit?


http://us-mags.com/indy-u101-w-142.htm

These are pretty popular....

 

[sprdv1]

I run 8's on mine with 1/2 spacer. Been that way for years with no problems

styling and profiling for sure brother....

 

[markatherton]

wheels

My experience is, if you are using 15 inch rims on a 76,77 ford disk brake, you cannot go bigger than 3 5/8 backspacing; 3.75 will not work. The new 8 inch US indy's will not work(4 inch backspacing), but the 10's will work because they have 3.5 inch backspacing. The chevy disk brake conversion is more forgiving...Mark in San Diego, Beach City Broncos.

 

[WheelHorse]

Does anyone remember why USMAGS didn't want to go with a 16" rim in the U101?

17's just seem a little off on a 2.5" uncut rig.

I felt like the 16's would be just close enough that most wouldn't notice, would provide just enough clearance for the stock 76/77 knuckle set up, and allow for some other tire choices.

Am I off in my thinking?

 

[Apogee]

http://us-mags.com/indy-u101-w-142.htm[/url]

Love those wheels, but I'm not sure what makes them a "mag"...so what makes this a "mag" wheel? It's not magnesium, nor does it use a shank style lugnut commonly associated with "mag" wheels. Are we collectively using the term synonymously with "alloy". Just confused and curious.

As for brake fitments, backspacing in my experience doesn't directly correlate to caliper clearance, as that is determined by the mounting pad thickness of the wheel and internal profile. TRE clearance is for sure an issue, as my '77 has 15x10's on it at the moment with 3.5" BS and just barely misses the wheel weights.

Tobin

 

[5001craig]

Does anyone remember why USMAGS didn't want to go with a 16" rim in the U101?

17's just seem a little off on a 2.5" uncut rig.

I felt like the 16's would be just close enough that most wouldn't notice, would provide just enough clearance for the stock 76/77 knuckle set up, and allow for some other tire choices.

Am I off in my thinking?

Maybe it's because it's really hard to find a light duty 16" tire and these rims are light duty (i.e. load range C preferably or maybe D tires)?

 

[DirtDonk]

...Are we collectively using the term synonymously with "alloy". Just confused and curious.

Not sure if you're just curious, or trying to start a dialog about correct use of the language. But I'm all for either!
Can't speak for the OP of course, but you're close as far as what I know about it. It's not that just any alloy wheel is a "mag" though, but that specifically slotted alloy wheels are.
At least in my experience that's what I remember most people calling them initially. They weren't "aluminum" or frankly even just wheels anymore. Certainly not alloy, which even though the word was around in literature, that term is much more recent in the popular lexicon. They were just "slotted mags" or "mags" for short.
The slots look the closest to the style of what some popular early magnesium wheel styles were, and so have been called a mag since the sixties even after we all knew the difference between aluminum and magnesium wheels.

Like I mentioned above in fact, back then they were referred to as "slot mags" usually. Not just mags, which came shortly after from how I remember it.
Kind of like the whoop-de-doos of the seventies are now just "whoops" to practically everyone.

The term mag wheel was being bandied about at least that long. Maybe from much earlier, but it seems like some magnesium wheels were still around in the early sixties to make it real. Like some of the Cobras used magnesium, didn't they? And even Volkswagen comes to mind for some reason.
Even though magnesium was a rarity in the wheel world by the later sixties and aluminum was taking over, the term was just cool sounding and everyone knew what you meant (style-wise anyway) in the conversation.
Just like the inaccuracies I love to point out any time I have a chance. Such as "posi" for any limited-slip, or "solenoid" for anything that is in the starter circuit, and all those other ones we've talked about over the years.

Younger kids like me never argued the fact back then because by the time I came around "mag" was already a word for slotted wheels. Even though I knew it's roots were in magnesium, it didn't mean magnesium to me at all with regard to wheels, until later when I started paying attention a little more to things like that and the light bulb came on.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

I should correct myself and add to that rambling above, that even though the popular Cragar S/S steel wheels were not referred to as mags by anyone I knew, there were other styles at that time that were popular and typically referred to as mags.
That would be like the American Racing five pointed star wheels (not sure what model number they would be) and other similar wheels. At that time most of them were called mags too. For a while at least.
But it wasn't as confusing back then. There just were not that many wheel choices to be had.

Minilites are one that might have been causing some confusion too, as I'm pretty sure that early ones were magnesium and later were aluminum. And then you could get them in either flavor.
Probably didn't help that there was a company called "US Indy Mags" and now there's a "US Mags" that probably doesn't make magnesium wheels.

I think by the mid-seventies we all knew that mag was magnesium and all of our favorite wheels were aluminum.
But we still knew what someone was talking about when they used the term "mag" generically.

I haven't used the word to describe a wheel in probably thirty years because it's just promoting an inaccuracy.
But in many circles it's still a legit word for an aftermarket alloy wheel.

Not to worry D.Abshire! We're just raggin' on the ways of the language. Not your question.
Definitely glad to have something to chew the fat on.

Paul

 

[Nothing Special]

... and if we're trying to be accurate, steel is an alloy (iron alloyed with carbon, and often other things). So every wheel out there is an "alloy" wheel (except the old wooden ones).

 

[charlie6976]

... and if we're trying to be accurate, steel is an alloy (iron alloyed with carbon, and often other things). So every wheel out there is an "alloy" wheel (except the old wooden ones).

...what about ;D

-oops-

...what about Fred's (Flintstone) stone wheel/tire combo? Probably a conglomerate.

 

[surfer-b]

Does anyone remember why USMAGS didn't want to go with a 16" rim in the U101?

17's just seem a little off on a 2.5" uncut rig.

I felt like the 16's would be just close enough that most wouldn't notice, would provide just enough clearance for the stock 76/77 knuckle set up, and allow for some other tire choices.

Am I off in my thinking?

I'm with you, I wish they would have made a 16x7

 

[DirtDonk]

... and if we're trying to be accurate, steel is an alloy (iron alloyed with carbon, and often other things). So every wheel out there is an "alloy" wheel (except the old wooden ones).

Hah! Good call. Thanks for keeping up the accuracy of our little corner of the internet.
Pretty soon we will be able to say, with a straight face, that you can believe it because you read it on ClassicBroncos.com ;D

 

[Nothing Special]

....what about Fred's (Flintstone) stone wheel/tire combo? Probably a conglomerate.

OK, the even older stone wheels, as well as some even newer plastic wheels aren't alloys either.

 

[WheelHorse]

I'm with you, I wish they would have made a 16x7

I wonder how many would have to show an interest in order for them to be made?