Trad wheels on an 8" Ford

Hello Group. I'm using Ford 16x4 steel wheels on my A coupe, and will order new axles for my 8 inch rear to match the 5x5.5 bolt pattern of the wheels. I can drill my brake drums for this pattern, but am unsure whether the drum offers enough support for these wheels. Is anybody else running this combination, and have you had success with it?
Thank you. Greg.

 

Some Broncos used eight-inch rears and 5.5 wheel pattern.

 

Broncos use a 9" or the 8.8 as far as I know. Broncos use the early bolt pattern. I've read that drums and axles from an early Mustang with an 8" supposedly fit a 9" housing if they both have the same size axle bearings, so I wonder if there is a combination of Bronco drums, axles, backing plates and wheel bearings that would work on an 8" housing? If so, that would get me back to the early bolt pattern on my 36 pickup w/8" rear.

 

Oh, ok. Thanks. My drums have kind of a bell shape around the axle flange, which is why I'm concerned about support for the wheel. There's enough flat area to fit the new bolt circle, but only about 1/8-3/16 beyond that. The drum seems to sit ok inside the wheel without wanting to rock back and forth. I wish I could post pics of it. Maybe I'm just over-thinking this:/

 

I ran a first series (full size) Bronco 9" in my 32'Roadster. The width is just right for a model A as well. These rearends are pretty common and are often posi units. As stated they are 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern.

 

first gen Bronco rears are HARD to find. and expensive!

 

Line them up please.
None to be had where I come from.
I had to narrow a exploder 8.8- which was cheap and easy.

 

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to just for 'trad' style early Ford steel wheels...
International pickups (1/4 ton and 1/2 ton both) used Kelsey Hayes stamped steel wheels in the '40s which were 16", 5 on 4.5", same center stamping as Early Ford; inner 'nubs' for hub caps are identical, and fit the early caps perfectly.

From 1954, the International steel wheels went to 15" diameter, 5" wide...If you look closely, they are 1/2" deeper (appearing) than a 15" Ford wheel. The wheel is positive offset 1/2"...(so what?)

These wheels are identical to Ford wheels, fit the 4.5" pattern 8" & 9" rears perfectly.
Yeah, I know..."But I'd have a different pattern on the front from the back!"

When are you going to run 7.50X16s on the front? '46 Ford caps cover up the real truth...

 

I think what he is asking about is the wheels seating up to the axle without any problems!

 

You need to run wheel adapter so the wheels are supported. I have run them for 24 years with no problems. You can also run Kelseys because of the small drum diameter.
The 8" drums will not go on an axle with the big pattern.

 

I had the same problem. My Fairlane 8'' rearend was also a bit too narrow for my '29 Phaeton. I solved both problems by making these adapters from a pair of old Ford hubs. It was a lot of work, but it worked great.

 

Thanks for the feedback. It looks like my best bet is to use an adapter, in the interest of safety. Having the tire a bit further out from the body will work aesthetically as well.
Greg.

 

I was gonna buy new 8" axles from Currie for my 65/66 mustang rear. And order them with the 5 X 5 1/2" bolt pattern and have them redrill my 8" drums to match and then use the 1/8" steel spacers with the flange to bolt the 16" ford wires on. Any problems with this method?
-Pat

 

If the axle flanges are large enough diameter for the 5 1/2" bolt pattern,they may be too large diameter for the brake drums to fit over. Check it out before ordering the axles.


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