Hey guys. I'm fitting wheels to my project truck to get rid of those ugly chrome f150 rims. The frame is from a 1998 f150. I have 15" rims, steelies with centre cap from an older f150. The bolt pattern fits perfectly.
Trouble is up front. 1997 and up has dual cylinder brake calipers that require 16" rims. I need new brakes anyway.
Is there any way to put earlier brakes on this truck to accept the 15" rims?
I checked all the other clearances. With the caliper off everything clears great. These rims came off a 72 f150.
I don't think theres any way around it, I sold a fella a set of aluminum wheels awhile ago and I even told him they wouldn't fit his 99 ford but he was having none of that, well he then wanted me to give him his money back , which I would have but he kept them, he attempted to find a way to make them fit with no luck so hard ot say what else might fit, the problem being is I think ford totally changed the design of the front end after 96 so nothing is cross compatible. perhaps see how much the interfere maybe the caliper could be shaved a wee bit.
Since the 15" steel rim is a drop centre rim, the caliper hits the drop centre. It has about 1/4" clearance to the larger diameter. I made a temporary wheel spacer out of some wheel nuts. The wheel spins free and does not contact the caliper.
So, long story short, I need a couple 1.25" wheel spacers and the 15" wheels will fit the stock brakes just fine.
spacers are not technically illegal, a vehicle which has them wont safety, spacers are not good anyways, wheel adapters are, just run ones the have the same pattern on both lugs and holes, since adapters bolt to the hub they become part of the hub, then the rim bolts to the adapter.