Sprinter 4WD Conversion Idea, GMT-800 IFS.

[luthj]

After doing a pretty exhaustive search. The only option that seems viable is to use a dually wheel. These have ~120mm offset. I would need to use the GM 3500 front wheel spacers up front, and a custom wheel adapter in the back. The sprinter uses 75mm offset wheels, so the rear axle is quite wide. Not ideal though. I would need to source the 3500 front wheel adapters and hardware, and also made custom wheel spacers for the rear.



For that cost, I would buy a used 2500 9.5" GM rear axle with ABS. It would need shock brackets, brake hardware, and possibly a shorter driveshaft. Though it looks pretty close. It would avoid the use of spacers and wheel adapters, and if I wanted to go with a LSD or locker later I could. I would also gain vented rear discs, which is an improvement over the solid MB units.

 

[shade]

At least with Toyota IFS hubs, wheel spacers decrease bearing life. I'm not sure if that's from the additional side load on the bearings, or by seal wear, which allows grease contamination. Would that be a factor with your bearings if you use thick spacers to adjust the offset?

 

[luthj]

At least with Toyota IFS hubs, wheel spacers decrease bearing life. I'm not sure if that's from the additional side load on the bearings, or by seal wear, which allows grease contamination. Would that be a factor with your bearings if you use thick spacers to adjust the offset?

In this case the effective wheel offset would be unchanged, or slightly changed. So the bearing load would be the same. The only downside is extra fasteners, and weight.

 

[luthj]

Of course the Bro trucker drivers are all about the negative offset...

 

[shade]

From what I've seen, that's very popular in Hawaii. I'm guessing it started as wider tyres were useful on sand.
If you have wider ones, why not show them off? Sort of like breast implants, I guess.

 

[luthj]

Reduced backspacing is needed once you get past the 7-9" wide wheels which are stock on most vehicles. Which of course are necessary when you want to run 12" wide tires.

Having negative backspacing however, that's a fashion choice... One that screams, "I am never leaving the pavement". I do get a perverse enjoyment from watching these rigs try to park in crowded lots.

On gravel roads, if the wind is just right, tires like that will throw gravel into your windshield...



There are some long travel kits which need to widen the track width to work. Of course these typically come with a wide body kit or wheel flares to be street legal...

 

[DzlToy]

I love build threads filled with engineering and cool custom parts.

As I am only on page 5 of 56, I will go back to reading now.

 

[cabnetguy]

I've been watching your project from the start and I think that what you're doing is great!
I see that you are looking at dually wheels, and I noticed that you didn't have your spacer drawn up being hub centric. Dually wheels are all hub centric with flat not tapered seats for the lug nuts. Thought that I would point that out in case you didn't know already.

 

[luthj]

If I went that direction, I would have a hub centric lip.

 

[shade]

Reduced backspacing is needed once you get past the 7-9" wide wheels which are stock on most vehicles. Which of course are necessary when you want to run 12" wide tires.

Having negative backspacing however, that's a fashion choice... One that screams, "I am never leaving the pavement". I do get a perverse enjoyment from watching these rigs try to park in crowded lots.

On gravel roads, if the wind is just right, tires like that will throw gravel into your windshield...

View attachment 559800

There are some long travel kits which need to widen the track width to work. Of course these typically come with a wide body kit or wheel flares to be street legal...

I understand the LT route, but I usually see that look attained with a giant drop bracket & blocks. I'm sure the ride quality and handling is spectacular.

It's not too late to give your van a memorable stance. I say go for it. YOLO!

 

[b dkw1]

Swap the rear diff and be done with it.

I have a severe dislike of wheel spacers/adapters.

 

[Len.Barron]

I grabbed a Dodge ram 2500 wheel with 245/75R16 tire from the junkyard. This one is around 43mm offset. It fits fine, but the center bore is larger, and the lug seats are a different diameter. After giving it some thought, if I can keep the track width at 69", I think I am okay with that. Its about 3" larger than stock, so I will need a 1-1.5" flare to keep the rocks under control.

I think I want to get the suspension mounted up before I start playing around with wheels and tires too much. There are too many unknowns with wheel well clearance etc.

I run ram wheels on my Chevy 11.5AAM rear, I had some hub centric spacer rings cut to make up the difference. You can find acorn lug nuts with the larger flare to work with the large ram countersink profile.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

The big width started on long travel Independent frontends where it was a byproduct of the technical benefits then the aesthetic was copied for...well aesthetics. Then it was observed being wider (or obviously narrower, though that's more difficult) than the existing ruts and tracks in beach approaches made traversing them easier and allowed greater stability in the dunes so then the actual technical benefits caused a resurgence in the design's popularity which lead to the aesthetic being copied for...well ya know...

 

[cabnetguy]

I have an idea. If you don't find a solution for your wheels, you could use the dually wheel as you were talking about, but find someone that is good at banding wheels to widen the convex side of the wheel and section out he concave side to give you the offset that you require without the spacer. Their is a gentleman in Georgia,an oldtimer that will band a wheel for what I feel is a very good price. I am planning on using him for my truck.

 

[luthj]

Definitely a consideration. Typically most metro areas have someone who can work steel wheels like that.