Crazy that it has been six months since my last post. I've been waiting on a spot to open up again at the body shop. Unfortunately, not much else has gone on. Well, not really. I was on a roll back in December and then I hit a dead end pretty hard.
Since I discovered my love for these trucks, the vision for my truck has always been with the 15" 73-87 truck rally wheels and white letter tires. I don't know why but I just love the look. I know there are more modern wheels now and everybody is doing 19, 20 and 22's. Those all just look too big to me. This truck has been my inspiration for wheels and stance (thanks leddzepp).
When choosing my brakes, I had to choose something that would work with my 15" rally wheels. I did my research and and I decided on the Wilwood D52 calipers. Everything I read said this would work with 15" 6-lug 4x4 rally wheels. I found a front/rear kit on EBAY offered by CPP. It came with rotors, calipers, brake hoses, brackets. Basically everything I need to install. The downside to running D52 calipers on the rear is that there is no emergency brake. This was ok, because Wilwood also makes a universal e-brake caliper for both rears. All I would have to do is to fab a few brackets for them. So, I started to test fit the rears. I got it all bolted together and it looks great!
Unfortunately, when I try to bolt the wheel on, the caliper hits the weld where the wheel center mates to the rim. This was very disappointing. I spent the next few months researching what went wrong and weighing my options. I found out that the 4x4 6-lug wheel that folks where referring to was actually one that originally came on the 67-72 trucks, otherwise known as a 4 nub. These wheels are pretty hard to come by. I did find where somebody was reproducing them, but it seems they have stopped. They had a few similar styles but warned about brake caliper clearance. So, I decided to look at other avenues. Some guys shaved their D52 calipers to fit the rally wheel. I didn't feel comfortable with messing with the structural integrity of my brakes nor the hassle of having to re-powder coat and figure out the Wilwood logo. Then, there was longer studs and wheel spacers. I tried adding washers to see how thick the wheel spacer would need to be. Half inch was way too much to feel comfortable with. So, I figured my only other option was to increase my wheel size. I kicked this around for months, feeling disgusted and defeated. I thought maybe I could get away with 18" wheels not looking so big. I was ready to settle on Detroit Steel wheels, since my center caps would still work with those. Then, I stuggled finding a tire size in 18" that was 28" in diameter. I can't go any shorter than that because of where my scrub line is with the 5" drop springs and 2" blocks. Do I just do a 6" drop with a shorter tire? Naw, that won't look right. Driving me crazy. Then, I stumbled upon this new Wilwood product...the answer to all of my issues.
This eliminates the need for the external e-brake and having to fab brackets. The Willwood measurements say this will clear my 15" rally wheels with no issues!!!
Now a 6-8 week wait to get them...ugh. Time to check the front wheel clearance.
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