What's the backspacing on those wheels? If it is greater than about 3 inches, I suspect you are going to go thru hub/bearing assemblies pretty quickly... Might wanna look at a free-spin conversion.

 

Look great man! Glad you were able to get the spacers. Bummer it boosted the cost up a bit per wheel.





Been running 4.5" BS for 7 years, not once an issue, included running 33s. You bust wheel bearing in that condition?

 

bought them off craigslist so i don't know the exact backspacing. i needed a new left bearing anyways so that's on the to do list anyways.

can you explain the free-spin conversion?

 

Stock BS is 4.5 inches. Yep. Trouble is, he now has 1.25 inch spacers in there as well. If BS on the new wheels is greater than 3.25 inch, he is pushing his wheels further out than the bearings were designed for. The trouble with unit bearings is, the inner and outer bearings are very close together, so, adding side loads to the bearings (such as, altering from stock backspacing.....) gives the wheels more leverage on the bearings, which leads to early failure. (accelerated wear.)

Edit: Oops, doing my math backwards..... Greater than 3" backspacing will tuck the wheels further into the wheel well. (might rub.) Less than will have them stick out further. Wouldn't hurt to check BS on the wheels, and see where it's at.


Here is an excellent article with mucho detail. (thanks zman for that link. )

 

Stock BS is 5" or more per this reference.

I think you mean he would have a problem if he had LESS BS (i.e,. tire starts to stick out further. At least when I read you saying "more than" it was meaning numerically higher. lol

His BS to me looks just about right, admittedly from the angle of the picture its a bit hard.

Free spin kit is prohibitively expensive and unnecessary for these trucks, imo. Cheaper alternatives to obtain it, but means swapping to a Ford axle. Funny, I was the one that brought that reference here.

 

Yep, realized my mistake, and edited my second post.

As for if the conversion is 'necessary' or not, to me, that's more a matter of use, than anything else. If you off road a fair bit, the free spin conversion will, in the end, save you money in hub/bearing units you DON'T have to replace. Sure, the KITS are hideously expensive, but, scavenging the parts from the junkyard makes it much more financially appealing. (and is the main reason I always look at the ford section when I go to the yard. )

Another issue would be.... I don't think there ARE any 'easy' parts donors for the D44 front axles.... I have the 60 on mine, so, that's a different story.

 

For those not willing or not wanting to swap in a Dodge or Ford Dana 60 the hub conversion kit is a great up-grade imo.

Average cost to swap in two 3/4 or better diff's is about $1800+ in parts/rims without labour to install them.

Hub conversion kit $800

http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...roducts_id=262