I finally ordered some new wheels but have a few questions for those who have aftermarket ones on their Super Duties.

They are M/T Classic II's, and have the conical lug seat. Does anyone make an open conical nut or do you have to buy the 2" long closed end nuts?

Has anyone been able to use the factory lug covers with wheels that use the conical nuts?

National Tire & Wheel only carries the closed conicals as well as 4wheelparts. The salesman also didn't know about the factory covers fitting. Thanks for any help on this!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 16-Dec-02 AT 03:24 PM (EST)]I thought about doing the same thing. When I got the after market lugs they are a different size, so I never tried. I now carry a 1/2 breaker-bar and a socket just in case. The reason I thought about it was that the aftermarket open centers that are needed for the front are bigger then the factory hubs. I figured that all kinds of crud would get stuck in there and rust them out. 20000 miles and so far so good.

 

Forgot about the size! The stock nuts are a 21mm if I remember correctly.

That was a concern about using a different hub cover, most aftermarket covers insert into the rim from the back which also means you have to remove the wheel to clean between the gap. If I have to go with the 2" closed conical nuts I will most likely just paint the hub and leave it exposed. Rear isn't as big a deal since it would be a closed hub cover. But I really would like to keep the factory covers as they look pretty good all shined up!


I guess I would have to find an open end, conical seat nut that was a 21mm to even attempt to snap it in place. So far no luck on-line with these criteria, and nothing helpfull at Pep Boys.

Thanks Hobert, anyone else with aftermarket wheels running the stock hub covers, or found an open end conical in a 21mm??

 

The more I think about it, I think I saw a guy running the factory centers on aftermarket wheels at Bloomsburg last year. Mabey he had a wheel that took the factory lugs though. I think thats why I thought about doing it because they did look good. I think I talked to the local speed shop and we looked but we couldn't find anything so I just gave up. As for pep boys they have everything but what you want, I never had any luck with them guys.

 

I was under the impression you could not use lug centric wheels on Super Duty's, you are suppose to use hub centric wheels. Using lug centric wheels reduces your weight carrying capacity due to the weight of the truck being on the lugs not the hubs. You want a tight fit between the wheel and hub for the weight carrying capacity. That's why you see a lot of Super Duty trucks running factory wheels with 285's, 295's and 305 sized tires. Last year when I replace my tires I also shopped for wheels. Trying to find a hub centric wheel that fit a Super Duty that I liked the appearance of was impossible. I found some that looked so close to the factory wheels I just stayed with the factory wheels. Maybe I'm wrong here, I thought you should not put lug centric wheels on a Super Duty.

GAV10 Mark

 

I am not sure on lug centric vs. hub centric and weight capacity, but it does make sense. I did pay attention to weight rating when shopping and Mickey Thompson claims a 3400lb rating on the Classic II wheel.

The original Classic accepts the factory lugs, not the conical type. The guy at National did know that you could use the factory lugs and hub covers with them but at $200 a wheel they were a little pricy.

M/T's site has the Classics weight rating at 3000lbs. though. Made me kind of curious as to why the hot forged wheel has a weaker rating than the cheaper cast wheel.

I am thinking I might have to abandon the idea of using the factory hub covers now, can't seem to find any open 21mm conicals anywhere!

 

I like the cone heads that are available for some weld wheels. There are 2 styles... One that covers the lug nuts and hubs on all four wheels and one that covers the lug nuts but leaves the center open to utilize manual hubs on the front wheels. They both attach to weld wheels using 2 allen screws per wheel.

 

I have the wheels you're talking about. If you look closer at your factory lugs, there's a ridge in them. This is what the factory hub cover snaps onto.
I have at this time anyway, functioning auto hubs. So I used the closed hubs that came with the wheels. I've wheeled this several times in deep water and very little leakage occurred.
Downside is if my hubs fail to lock I have to remove the wheel.

Steve

99 SD, V10, EC, SB, LARIOT.
315-75-16 ProComp XTerrains M/T ClassicII 16x10
Fabtech 3.5 lift kit, Bilstein shocks
More to come I'm sure.

 

Hey guys,

I've only posted a couple of times 'cause I like to sit back and learn, but I'll try to be more sociable. I put Eagle Alloy 589's 16.5x9.75 and BFG A/T 33x12.50's on my duty.
I too, wanted toretain my factory center caps and could find no open conical nuts. I went to a machinist friend of mine and had him to turn a full set of spacers/fillers to fill in the recesses that the conical nuts would normally fill. The spacers were made with the same radius as the conical nuts and a shoulder the same dimeter and depth as the recess of the lug holes. this made the face of the wheel flush so I could use the factory lugs and the factory center caps. I hope this helps.



Always Be Happy
BUT
Never Be Satisfied!


redhawk99

 

Here's the phone numbers for tech.help at M/T.
East Coast-(330)928-9092
West Coast-(909)587-0101

Tell them what you have,and if they make it for your application,they can tell you what center caps you need.

I bought the forged Challenger wheels(hub centered) for my 02 back in May for $169.95 ea.plus shipping from NTW.IMO,good people.I bought the center caps from Ford.

I have the older forged Classics on my 96 and M/T lined me up on the part #'s that I needed for this application.

They are on the trucks in my gallery,if you care to look.

Let us know what shakes out on your application.