I am sick and tired of looking for 6 lug rims, so what I need to know is will car hubs of the same year fit on 59 truck spindals, and is there any late model 5 lug chevy axels that would fit a 59 chevy rear rear end or a chevy 5 bolt rear end that would be close to the same width?
Six lug wheels aren't that hard to find. I've had piles of them over the years and could probably found up another pile with little effort. Not the same year. You want the '53 or '54 car hubs and maybe a year or two earlier. I would not pay a lot for those hubs and drums because a 5-lug disk conversion isn't real expensive, and while not real traditional I believe safer trumps tradition if you're driving it on the road. No. Or at least not that I've heard about and I think I'd have heard. Yes, lots of them. You're looking for anything about 62 or 63 inches wide wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface. A '73 Chevelle rear worked perfect for me. Others use Camaro or Firebird or various Ford rears. You should probably start by thinking through what your next problem will be after swapping rears and choose one that suits. For instance don't put in a wimpy 10-bolt if you are also putting in a hot motor and plan to run it hard.
A 1959 Chevrolet pickup rear end is 62 inches wide. That is measured from the wheel mounting flange to the wheel mounting flange. 1968 to 1972 Chevelles and 1970 to 1981 Camaros are 62.50 inches wide. I installed a 69 Ford F-100 instead. ( 1957 to 1972 are the same width ) Those Ford F-100 rears are 61.50 inches wide. The big advantage to the F-100 rear end is that they are of the 9 inch Ford family. Vastly better selection of gear ratios, easy to work on and plentiful. Re drilling the wheel pattern is not a PROBLEM ...
51-54 chevy car front hubs/drums will fit 51-59 chevy half ton trucks. 71-81 Camaro rearends are usually a good choice, but think about gear ratio
It has been a good while since I installed the Ford F-100 rear end under the Chevrolet pickup but If I remember correctly ... It was almost a BOLT IN Both the Chevrolet pickup and the Ford pickup had the axle mount perches on TOP of the rear end. I do not remember even having to change the mounting pads. If you install a car rear end .. you will need to weld some perches on top the axle ... or the rear of the 59 will hit or come real close to hitting the frame rails. But you can alwasy " C " the frame for clearance.
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