5 to 6 lug, wheel spacers?

[THEFERMANATOR]

I searched and could not find a definitive answer to this. I have a 99 4x2 Tahoe that I plan on swapping a 14 bolt 9.5" SF under. I also want to use late model 18"GM wheels. From what I've found 5 lugs have 4.5" backspacing, but late model wheels are roughly 6" BS.

If my math is correct, I will need a 4x4 rear axle to get the correct 68" wms to wms to run late model GM rims with a 6" backspacing, and a set of 1.5" front wheel spacers(which should also take care of any interference issues from the outboard bearing and bearing cap from 88-98 4x2 rotors). Has anybody done this swap before and used stock GM 6 lug rims? I'm not looking to do a big drop on it, just 2" spindles in front and probably 4" drop springs in the rear.

 

[b454rat]

Why not convert to 6 lug? They made a 2wd 2500 that is 6 lug. Not 100% but think swap from the knuckles out, and of course swap the rear. Should all be a bolt on deal.

 

[someotherguy]

It's been too long for me to make sense of the measurements, but I can say if he wants to run the late model wheels with all that backspacing (they're like 4x4 wheels, centerline is very far outboard to the front of the wheel) then the 4x4 rear might actually be a good choice. On the front, if he just swaps to 6 lug rotors (which is super easy direct swap) then the late model wheels will be too far inboard and can have interference issues with the tire rubbing the frame at full steering lock, inside hoop of the wheel rubbing the control arm/ball joint, etc. So the bolt-on spacer might be a decent solution...also for the center cap/hub bearing dust cap issue he mentioned.

I say if you're 100% dead set on the wheel choice, since that's what you're gonna be looking at every time you see the truck, get those first - then tailor your other choices to that. Set them up and measure carefully.

Richard

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Why not convert to 6 lug? They made a 2wd 2500 that is 6 lug. Not 100% but think swap from the knuckles out, and of course swap the rear. Should all be a bolt on deal.

That's what I'm doing. Up front I know it's just rotors. I located a c2500 6 lug rear, but then I'm stuck looking for 6 lug rims to work with the narrow 2 wheel drive rear axle. I can get the 4x4 9.5" axle easier and cheaper than the 4x2 version, and I like the look of the stock Chevy 18's. I know others have done the 5 to 6 lug swap, just seeing what others did.

 

[885speed]

I searched and could not find a definitive answer to this. I have a 99 4x2 Tahoe that I plan on swapping a 14 bolt 9.5" SF under. I also want to use late model 18"GM wheels. From what I've found 5 lugs have 4.5" backspacing, but late model wheels are roughly 6" BS.

If my math is correct, I will need a 4x4 rear axle to get the correct 68" wms to wms to run late model GM rims with a 6" backspacing, and a set of 1.5" front wheel spacers(which should also take care of any interference issues from the outboard bearing and bearing cap from 88-98 4x2 rotors). Has anybody done this swap before and used stock GM 6 lug rims? I'm not looking to do a big drop on it, just 2" spindles in front and probably 4" drop springs in the rear.

Just recently finished my 6 lug conversion so I could run NNBS 18" Z71 wheels I got for cheap.
The way I did it was..
6 lug axle from a 4x4 1500 truck
6 lug rotors from a 1996 c2500 suburban
1.25" 6 lug wheel spacers for the front.

No lift to my truck, no rubbing, or any other issues. Wheels sit perfectly in the wheel wells where the 15" stock wheels sat so it looks just right.
That's literally all I did, it really is that simple.

Although one thing I'll make note of is that I'm currently not running the stock size tire for those wheels, I got a free used set with like 50% tread in IIRC 245/60/18. So one day when I step up to the correct size the only thing I might change is to go with a slightly wider spacer up front, but not 100% sure if I would even need to.

I did waste some money on 5 to 6 lug adapters in the beginning, but I couldn't use them regardless because the wheel studs stuck out too far for the adapters to bolt up correctly, and I was NOT up for grinding down my wheel studs.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Just recently finished my 6 lug conversion so I could run NNBS 18" Z71 wheels I got for cheap.
The way I did it was..
6 lug axle from a 4x4 1500 truck
6 lug rotors from a 1996 c2500 suburban
1.25" 6 lug wheel spacers for the front.

No lift to my truck, no rubbing, or any other issues. Wheels sit perfectly in the wheel wells where the 15" stock wheels sat so it looks just right.
That's literally all I did, it really is that simple.

Although one thing I'll make note of is that I'm currently not running the stock size tire for those wheels, I got a free used set with like 50% tread in IIRC 245/60/18. So one day when I step up to the correct size the only thing I might change is to go with a slightly wider spacer up front, but not 100% sure if I would even need to.

I did waste some money on 5 to 6 lug adapters in the beginning, but I couldn't use them regardless because the wheel studs stuck out too far for the adapters to bolt up correctly, and I was NOT up for grinding down my wheel studs.

Thank you, that's the confirmation I was looking for. I also like the look of those rims, that's the set I want to run. I also want to run big brakes using off the shelf parts, and a 6 lug swap will make that possible. For the rear it's a set of spacers like shown here in this forum, and I've seen somebody do the 13" gmt-800 front brake swap on a 4x2 6 lug c2500, so that would give me 13" rotors front & rear with dual piston caliper's front & rear(with factory Ebrake) for less than half the cost of the 5 lug Wilwood big front brakes.

 

[885speed]

Thank you, that's the confirmation I was looking for. I also like the look of those rims, that's the set I want to run. I also want to run big brakes using off the shelf parts, and a 6 lug swap will make that possible. For the rear it's a set of spacers like shown here in this forum, and I've seen somebody do the 13" gmt-800 front brake swap on a 4x2 6 lug c2500, so that would give me 13" rotors front & rear with dual piston caliper's front & rear(with factory Ebrake) for less than half the cost of the 5 lug Wilwood big front brakes.

I wound up not needing spacers for the rear, on account of the 4x4 axles being wider than the 2wd axles.

One other thing is I neglected to notice is that you mentioned you were using a 14 bolt, so the only other thing you'll want to account for is the u-joint. Should be a simple search to find the correct part# for it. My swap was 2wd 10 bolt for a 4wd 10 bolt so the u-joint was the same for me.

I'm currently doing research and working on making decisions on going from drum to disk in the rear. Not trying to build a race truck or towing anything crazy, but just want to have reasonable stopping performance. So far it seems there are much better brake upgrade options for the 14 bolts, and 5 lug 10 bolts so the research continues.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I plan on doing the rear brakes like in this sticky.
https://www.gmt400.com/threads/13-nbs-rear-disc-on-14-bolt-sf.1856/

I also plan on doing an LQ9/4L80E swap, so I'll already be doing driveline mods, but I knew about the 14 bolt using a 1350 where the 10 bolt uses an s44. Now to start gathering parts to get it done.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Just recently finished my 6 lug conversion so I could run NNBS 18" Z71 wheels I got for cheap.
The way I did it was..
6 lug axle from a 4x4 1500 truck
6 lug rotors from a 1996 c2500 suburban
1.25" 6 lug wheel spacers for the front.

No lift to my truck, no rubbing, or any other issues. Wheels sit perfectly in the wheel wells where the 15" stock wheels sat so it looks just right.
That's literally all I did, it really is that simple.

Although one thing I'll make note of is that I'm currently not running the stock size tire for those wheels, I got a free used set with like 50% tread in IIRC 245/60/18. So one day when I step up to the correct size the only thing I might change is to go with a slightly wider spacer up front, but not 100% sure if I would even need to.

I did waste some money on 5 to 6 lug adapters in the beginning, but I couldn't use them regardless because the wheel studs stuck out too far for the adapters to bolt up correctly, and I was NOT up for grinding down my wheel studs.

Do you have a picture of yours? I'm trying to decide on tire size.

 

[885speed]

Not currently, but I'll try to remember to take a quick picture when I leave work today.