New wider wheels

[dansct444]

I read in Turning Wheels about 6 months ago that a company may be manufacturing/selling a new wider steel wheel to better fit today's radial tires. Does anyone have an update?

[Mike Van Veghten]

A little junk yard searching will also turn up wider wheels.
many companies will also put wider rims on the customers centers with backspacing as desired.

Mike

[JoeHall]

Summitt Racing has them. If you do a search here, the part number has even provided. With the 6" wheels, be sure to get them with 3.75" backspacing, and not 4", which is more common.

[61Lark]

It looks like the Stude wheel centers are 12-3/4". Does anyone know of a 15x6 steel wheel with a rim ID of 12-3/4"?

[lumpy]

I have wheel vintiques on my lark but stude dog dish caps don't fit . So I found some similar looking chevy caps and my bud at the sign shop made some S emblems for the center of the cap. A purist will spot it right away but it looks period correct

[JRoberts]

I got the wheels for my Cruiser from Speedway. $49 each and free shipping. They work great.

[junior]

I have wheel vintiques on my lark but stude dog dish caps don't fit . So I found some similar looking chevy caps and my bud at the sign shop made some S emblems for the center of the cap. A purist will spot it right away but it looks period correct

photo please! thanks, junior

[dansct444]

Thanks JoeHall. I haven't fou d the part number or the wheels on the Summit Racing website. ???

[JoeHall]

Thanks JoeHall. I haven't fou d the part number or the wheels on the Summit Racing website. ???

They are same as Kelsey Hays 82552, and NWRA 40273, which fits 1979-92 full size FoMoCo. Pretty sure this is the Summitt part number I used, which is same as the KH and NWRA: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/w...2334/overview/

[RadioRoy]

They seem to be around $95 to $115. Where/when did JRoberts find them for $49?

[JoeHall]

They seem to be around $95 to $115. Where/when did JRoberts find them for $49?

They are $83.97 at Summitt. I bought brand new KH 82552s for about $50 each, out the door of a wheel specialty shop in Louisville. But that was around 2002. LOL

[BobPalma]

They are $83.97 at Summitt. I bought brand new KH 82552s for about $50 each, out the door of a wheel specialty shop in Louisville. But that was around 2002. LOL

Cool beans, Joe. Does that 3.75" backspace work OK on your Hawks; no clearance issues up front with either the tie rod ends or upper, outer trunnions? (I would think it would be OK; it's only .25" more than Studebaker's backspace.)

Also, with the full 6" width, you have no clearance problems with the inside edge of the rear fenders? Also, I'm sure our Studebaker dog-dish hub caps will not work, per other posts here. Right?

I ask to confirm these things, since we get many inquiries about this in / for The Co-Operator. Thanks. BP

[JoeHall]

Cool beans, Joe. Does that 3.75" backspace work OK on your Hawks; no clearance issues up front with either the tie rod ends or upper, outer trunnions? (I would think it would be OK; it's only .25" more than Studebaker's backspace.)

Also, with the full 6" width, you have no clearance problems with the inside edge of the rear fenders? Also, I'm sure our Studebaker dog-dish hub caps will not work, per other posts here. Right?

I ask to confirm these things, since we get many inquiries about this in / for The Co-Operator. Thanks. BP

Hi Bob,
I always use 205/75 tires, and have never had a clearance problem with the 3.75" backspace wheels, but have had problems with 4". The 4", of course, move the tire 1/4" inboard, and sometimes will scrape against the rounded corner on the front anti-sway bar, during max steer. They also sometimes cause the tire to kiss the rubber, fender apron in the front wheel well, on the drivers side. They also will not clear the huge 12" brake rotors, on the two Hawks with those brakes; must use 1/4" spacers, but I dislike doing that.

With the 3.75" backspaced wheels, all the above clearance problems are avoided. The full disc Stude hub caps also fit perfectly, but will still, "walk" so that must be dealt with. I use steel valve stems to address that.

No problems whatsoever on the rears with the 3.75. But then, there are no problems on the rear with the 4" either.

[thunderations]

If these wheels are available with SMOOTH centers, hubcap clips could easily be added to use the dog dish caps. I use the old VW clips readily available.

[BobPalma]

Hi Bob,
I always use 205/75 tires, and have never had a clearance problem with the 3.75" backspace wheels, but have had problems with 4". The 4", of course, move the tire 1/4" inboard, and sometimes will scrape against the rounded corner on the front anti-sway bar, during max steer. They also sometimes cause the tire to kiss the rubber, fender apron in the front wheel well, on the drivers side. They also will not clear the huge 12" brake rotors, on the two Hawks with those brakes; must use 1/4" spacers, but I dislike doing that.

With the 3.75" backspaced wheels, all the above clearance problems are avoided. The full disc Stude hub caps also fit perfectly, but will still, "walk" so that must be dealt with. I use steel valve stems to address that.

No problems whatsoever on the rears with the 3.75. But then, there are no problems on the rear with the 4" either.

Excellent, Joe; thanks for the report. BP