Aftermarket wheels on Econoline Cutaway Dually

[Daylite]

Hello,

I have a Ford Econoline E-450 Ambulance that is getting a Ujoint 8" lift and 4x4 conversion, the springs have just been finished and they are getting started on building the front axle.

I am having a hard time finding wheels that will fit the dual rear wheel axle. The bolt pattern is 8x65.1 which isn't an issue, I see several options with that pattern, the problem I am running into is the Center Bore size.

The Econoline has a Center Bore of 123.9mm and I can not find any wheels beyond OEM with that bore size. Thinking out side of the box, I do see wheels with bore sizes both smaller and larger than 123.9mm. The wheels I am interested in, the Fuel Maverick, are available in with a bore of 121.5mm.

The quick question is can I purchase the wheel with the slightly smaller bore and just take it to a machine shop to have 2.4mm removed? I understand that warranties will be voided, but if I accept that I am swimming at my own risk does this sound like a valid option? Seeing other options to purchase the same rims with much larger center bore sizes makes me think that ordering one size smaller and machining it would be a valid plan.

I also noticed that they have an option with a 125.1mm bore, 1.2mm larger than the Econoline. Would that be an option? Is that 1.2mm going to cause major issues?
I have also looked into hub centric rings, (uswheeladaptors.com) it looks like I can get rings made for dually wheels but they have to be at least 4mm, of course as I just mentioned the space between my hub and the rim I am looking at is only 1.2mm so it kind of tosses that idea out the window.

I'll be posting this question on a couple of other pages and forums so you may get a sense of deja vu if you are a member of those as well.

I appreciate any opinions, ideas, comments.

Thanks,

Daylite Ramsey

 

[Imbecile]

The econoline wheels are hubcentric so you can not use a larger centerhole unless you want your truck vibrating and possible damage. You can buy hubcentric spacers to fill the gap if you do run a larger center bore, but i wouldnt recommend it. Alcoa wheels are an option in the 8x6.5 and you can also buy them in the 170mm pattern. This is something that should have been addressed prior to even starting the conversion. After market wheels for the duals on the E series are nearly non-existent. The F series pickup wheels do not have the same backspacing/offset as the E series dually wheels and they have a different center bore. All of that said your stuck with steel wheels or Alcoa unless you have some wheels machined as you stated or custom made.

Who is doing the conversion for you? Are they going to leave you with an 8x6.5 pattern on the front when finished or are you going to have 170mm pattern on front and 8x6.5 on rear?

 

[Daylite]

The econoline wheels are hubcentric so you can not use a larger centerhole unless you want your truck vibrating and possible damage. You can buy hubcentric spacers to fill the gap if you do run a larger center bore, but i wouldnt recommend it. Alcoa wheels are an option in the 8x6.5 and you can also buy them in the 170mm pattern. This is something that should have been addressed prior to even starting the conversion. After market wheels for the duals on the E series are nearly non-existent. The F series pickup wheels do not have the same backspacing/offset as the E series dually wheels and they have a different center bore. All of that said your stuck with steel wheels or Alcoa unless you have some wheels machined as you stated or custom made.

Who is doing the conversion for you? Are they going to leave you with an 8x6.5 pattern on the front when finished or are you going to have 170mm pattern on front and 8x6.5 on rear?

Thank you, I appreciate the response. I was able to find a machine shop to increase the bore to match the Econoline hub. I just wanted to double check that it was a feasible option, as it's something I had not investigated before. U-Joint sent me their whole kit, front axle, transfer case, everything but the wheels, tires, drive shafts and I need to have the rear axle re-geared to 4.56 to match the one U-Joint built. Chris put non dually 8x6.5 hubs on the front so I can run a standard wheel on the front rather than a dually wheel. I have a shop in Auburn WA, Auburn Car Repair and Offroad, doing the work. It's scheduled to go in the shop this Monday. Thanks again.

 

[Imbecile]

The problem with using SRW hubs on the front of a dually truck is that now you will be forced to carry two spares. Obviously whatever wheel you pick for the front is not going to work on the rear dually axle due to improper offset/back spacing. A better solution would have been to install the 8x170mm SRW hubs on front and then purchase a custom dually adapter with 8x170mm lugs on the inside and 8x6.5 on the outside. This would have allowed you to run the larger brakes off of the late models without having to redrill rotors or unit bearings to the 8x6.5", it would have also allowed using a standard offset dually wheel on front. Unit bearings and brake rotors fail, a dually adapter is far less likely to cause failures of any type.

 

[Betarocker]

Get a Dana 80 from a DRW F350 pickup 2003 and 2004. 8x170 bolt pattern.

 

[willywalderbeast]

I swapped my factory steel wheels to 17” dodge dually wheels on my rig and had to open up the center bore. Super simple. I’ve also done it a bunch of times on wheels I’ve ran on cars in the past. ??

 

[ujoint]

Get a Dana 80 from a DRW F350 pickup 2003 and 2004. 8x170 bolt pattern.

The truck D80s won't go under the E series, caliper mounts hit the leaf springs since the e series frame is wider. Ask me how I found out! lol

 

[Betarocker]

The truck D80s won't go under the E series, caliper mounts hit the leaf springs since the e series frame is wider. Ask me how I found out! lol

You're the expert. I just know my buddy swapped out his Sterling for a D80 on his SRW F350, and all it did was push the wheels out further. Sterling axle shafts didn't like the 700hp compound turbo Cummins when he hooked up to a pulling sled.