I am wanting to fix up my 86 flareside similar to what a lightning would have looked like if available in 86. I am going to do the 3/5 drop on it so it doesn't sit so high. I also want to use the Gen 1 or 2 wheels in our bolt pattern.

I have found the wheels, but was told our trucks front and rear fender inside depth is 1 in narrower and it won't be able to use the 17x8.5 or 18x9.5 wheels unless the truck is sitting up to clear the wheels. I thought the front caps and all would swap out. Are they really smaller in the wheel wells than the 92-96s or was the guy incorrect?

Anyone already using the Gen 1 wheels on a truck, lowered or not, that can offer some input?


Kerry

 

first off, the '80-86 flareside boxes are too old-school to be used as a custom truck. get yourself a shortbox '87-'96 or a flareside box '92-'96 if you want to do this. once you change the box, you can drop the back for the wheels to clear. run low-profile tires upfront and yu should be able to drop it another 2 inches with it clearing.

if you want to run gen2 wheels, you need to buy a set of wheel adapters. the offset and bolt patterns are different, so i suggest just try hunting gen1 wheels or aftermarkets

 

Not sure I understand the reason for the 80-86 flareside boxes being to old-school to be a custom truck? The whole point of using an 86 is to be unique.

I can also buy 18in Gen 2 wheels in our 5x5.5 pattern so adaptors are not needed so that is a non issue.

The 18in wheels will alse have low profile 45 or 50 series tires so should work.

Kerry