Ain't she pretty?
I'm a new member to the forum. Awesome resource! I love cars and trucks but have never really done a lot of project cars etc. Got a lot to learn!!!

I was fortunate enough to buy a 2WD 1995 F150 Centurion CCSB this weekend and got it for a song. High miles 244,000 on a 351 but it runs great. The truck has lots of small issues that I'll tackle as I go since it will be my DD.

One immediate issue is that the tires rub the radius arms at full turn left and right. It has 17" rims that were already on the truck. My local tire shop recommended 1/2" spacers to help the clearance. I've never run spacers. Any thoughts on that?

Also, I've looked under the bed but I see no hardware to mount a spare tire. Does anyone have a Centurion that can tell me if that is normal? I think I'm missing something on mine.

Overall I am pumped. Looking forward to bringing her back up to speed over time. I have a few minor mods in mind but mostly just repairs and restoring to a nice functional ride.

 

I'm not a big fan of spacers, but people do run them. If the tires are roughly stock width (235s) then stock rims would have 0 offset (the mounting surface right in the center of the rim). That's a good place to aim. Most newer trucks have a ton of backspacing, so it could be that your 17" rims do too.

A lot of trucks are missing the spare tire carrier. It's really a pain to use, so a lot of people give up on them , especially if it gets rusty. You can buy replacement parts from LMC.

 

Use longer wheel studs, and then a spacer.

On my Chevy C20 I drilled the PYO rim holes larger for shouldered wheel nuts. I felt this was the strongest option as the PYO rims are stupid light, and strong.

That may work for your rims but the pics, but the pics are not clear enough for that kind of veiw.

 

What size tire is installed. I'm guessing 245/75r17. That's as much as four inches taller, and about a half inch to one inch wider than what came stock. My actions would depend on how much tread is left. A lot of tread and I would look into spacers, or selling the wheels and buying a set with the proper backspacing. Little tread left and I would wait until they need to be replaced, then look at tire options that don't rub.

 

Those trucks are just cool and you don't see many of them. My neighbor has one setting in the weeds, don't know anything about it though.

 

Centurion did weird things when they built these trucks. My four door bronco was built on an extended cab frame, so I have 2 small tanks, and a spare mounted below the rear one, instead of 1 large bronco tank and tailgate mounted spare.

I would get a bed mount, and put the spare up there. The hanging mount tends to ruin the tire over the years.

 

I appreciate the feedback. The installed tires are actually 265/70R17 so there lies the problemi think. I spoke to the gent I bought the truck from and he thinks it will run a 245 with no rub. I'll have to see about new tires at some point soon I guess.

on the spare holder, I'd like to go underneath just to keep it out of the way. I'll be using the bed a lot.

For fun I'll probably raise the front and add adjustable camber bolts. Any feedback on the rough country springs vs the insert kits or other options? Anybody have pros or cons?