I have searched and searched, but can’t figure this out. I am converting my 2019 E350 DRW to 4x4. Interestingly, Ford used the 8X 6.5 bolt pattern all the way through the E-series. I bought a 2006 F350 front axle for the 4.10’s. I am trying to convert it over to 8X6.5 to match the rear. Can I just remove the dually spacer and bolt an 8x6.5 adapter to the 8x170 hub or replace the wheel bearing/hub assembly with SRW 8x170 wheel bearing/hubs? Do SRW wheel bearing/hubs even bolt up the same as DRW wheel bearing/hubs? All of the wheel adapters online say to use on a SRW truck. Is there a reason for this? Hub-centric versus lug centric maybe

 

First off vans, and especially DRW 4x4 vans, are awesome. I grew up at the tail end of the van craze, and watching the A-team, so I've always wanted a van with wheel well flares, a small wing and some crazy paint, maybe some murals on the side.

Are you keeping it dually? If you are and the hubs are in good shape, you can have a machine shop drill the stock stuff with a 8x6.5 bolt pattern between the existing studs. If you're going SRW, the aftermarket sells pre-drilled 8x6.5 hubs for those axles. There's probably new pre-drilled DRW hubs, but I've never looked for them. I'm pretty sure you could also swap the rear hubs to a 8x170 hub off a truck an run the SD wheel pattern all around. Unless you already have 8x6.5 wheels you want to use, I'd go to the SD pattern on the rear, there's a way better wheel selection for them.

 

Yes, I am keeping it a dually. Also, I already have rims with the 8X6.5 bolt pattern. I do not think there is enough meat on the adapters to drill. I’m pretty sure it is 8 x 200 and it only has material right around the studs. I just do not see why I just can’t take the spacers off and bolt the 8x6.5 adapters to the 8x170 bearing/hubs.

 

As long as the conversion adapter is the right width and hub centric, you shouldn't have any issues just bolting that on, it's pretty much just gonna replace the stock drw adapter.

 

That is what I am hoping. I just haven’t checked the hub/bearing yet.

 

Well everywhere I looked it said “not for F350 duallys” for each wheel adapter, so I’m still looking and scratching my head. Hopefully, someone has done something similar.

 

I found a few places that do the custom re-drill of the unit bearing, then they drill the rotors, last you need the dually adapter in 6.5, maybe a mid 90's f-350 could donate that? This is alot of work and the rotors would forever be customs at 150+ each. Maybe think about moving to the metric rear hubs and doing metric dually wheels all the way around. Then all your parts are just off the shelf and easy to acquire.

 

Your wasting your time. You will not find a dually wheel with 8x6.5" lugs that will clear the bigger brake calipers on the 2005 and up dana 60 front axles.

The answer to your last question is all of the 2005 and up dana 60 front axles use the 8x170mm front unit bearings. There is no difference between the axle under the front of your truck
and the axle under a SRW superduty pickup. The only difference is that the dually truck has the big dually adapters bolted to the 8x170mm unit bearings.

When ford started using 17" inch wheels they went to the 8x170mm lug pattern on the superduty F trucks. Your front OEM dually adapter is 8x170mm on the hub side by 8x200mm on the wheel side.

You could take the adapter off and find a 17 inch 8x170mm wheel but it wouldnt be a dually wheel and you would have to figure out what offset you need.
The only wheels you will find with an 8x200mm lug pattern are OEM dually wheels.or Alcoa wheels. The reason being is because the 8x200mm lug pattern was only used on the dually trucks.
Once you resolve the front dilemma, you now have to carry two spares because the rear will still be 8x6.5".

That said when you buy front wheels and resolve that issue you have to keep in mind that you will likely want the same wheels on the back eventually. You can purchase an adapter for the back that is 8x6.5" to 8x200mm but it wilI be a minimum of two inches thick which obviously will push your wheels outward those 2" inches and you DO NOT want aluminum.. It would probably be a good idea to crawl under it and see how much clearance you currently have between your leaf springs and the back side of your existing tires.

You will likely note that it isnt very damn much. So now you see the critical importance of wheel offset and backspacing. Meaning, any wheels you might buy must share a common offset, backspacing, and width
with your existing dually van wheels. Other wise your tires will be rubbing the leaf spring when you mount them up. Of course that becomes a non-issue if you install the 2" inch adapters on the back axle.

Its really that simple, even if you found someone to fab an adapter 4 inches thick, which is the maximum thickness most companies will make them, your 8x6.5 16 inch wheels will not clear the brake calipers on any 2005 and newer F series axle. You also have to keep in mind that your axles require a hubcentric wheel. There isnt a 16 inch wheel on this planet that is going to have the correct center bore diameter in the wheel to mate with your existing 8x200mm OEM dually adapter As a side note you "CAN" buy a 4 inch thick 8x170mm to 8x6.5" front adapter to replace your existing front dually adapter but its not going to do you any good because again the 16 inch wheels will not clear your calipers. Beyond that your much safer leaving the OEM dually adapters on the steer axle and using an aftermarket steel spacer on the rear to make it 8x200mm.

You opened a can of worms, there is a solution but i spent three years and endless dollars finding it. Unless you have a mechanics tool chest and lots of spare time your best option is to simply buy a full set of used OEM ford 17 inch dually wheels with the 8x200mm lug pattern. The fronts will bolt right on your existing axle and clear your calipers, then you buy steel adapters for the rears that go from 8x6.5'" to 8x200mm.
But dont forget both of your axles are hubcentric not lug centric. That means the inside of your adapter must be machined to fit the rear axle hub of your E350 and the outside of the adapter must be machined to fit the center bore of your wheels.

There is a better way to resolve the rear dilemma but its costly, time consuming, and the parts to do it are extremely difficult to find if not nearly impossible since ford has decided to stop manufacturing certain key parts and made them obsolete with no aftermarket units available on the market at this point. None the less it took 3 years for me to solve that puzzle so i likely wont tell anyone anyway even if the parts were widely available.

So there you have it in a nutshell. The reality of your situation is that youre limited in how you proceed by the availability of wheels that are appropriate for your application. You turned your van into an F-350 dually pickup. That said you need to be looking at F350 wheels not trying to install van parts on a pickup. You opened a can of worms, you arent the first and wont be the last but eventually your going to realize the only practical solution to your dilemma is buying some Ford OEM dually wheels with the 8x200mm lug pattern, which of course will have the proper wheel hubcentric center bore size. There are other wheel options but they require machine work to match the hubcentric wheel center bore diameter so we will stay away from that topic.

Heres the front of mine, its a 2005 Dana 60 which is the same thing as yours. My hubs look different because i despise unit bearings so i trashed them and installed a Spyntec Freespin kit in their place.

 

So what did you end up doing? I have 17 inch dually rims right now, but maybe I can find matching single rear wheels. Did you convert it to a SRW or keep it a DRW?

On second reading I’ll see you kind of told me. Thanks.

 

I just did a bunch of reading on this. IDK what the difference is, i was trying to find dimensions, but the 05+ F350 DRW hub/bearing is different than the SRW, but they both use the same rotor, so they have the same bolt circle and mounting depths. I'm assuming it's just a better/bigger bearing?

What I think you need to do is have a set of the DRW hubs drilled to the 8x6.5 pattern. You could probably use the aftermarket drilled hubs/bearings, but if they're SRW hubs, they might not hold up..IDK. Then use the van 8x6.5 rotors, or redrill some 8x170 rotors if the van rotors have a different hat height, you can do this at home using a 8x6.5 rotor for a template and some transfer punches. Then use an OEM bolt on OBS 8x6.5 DRW adapter and it should be pretty close to stock on the front. I just couldn't find anything about length differences between the SD and OBS bolt on adapters.

What rims do you have? You'll need at least 17's to clear the calipers. 2003+ Dodge 3500 rims are 17" and still 8x6.5, you'd just need to check the offsets, but they should clear the calipers cause Dodge also went to bigger calipers at the same time. If you have 16" rims, depending on the inside profile, you might be able to grind the calipers for clearance.

 

They are 17” Ultra Predator II in 8x6.5 bolt pattern. I can get both SRW and DRW, unit bearings from the local auto parts store and physically compare the two, but it sounds like I am grasping at straws. I will have to look at different approaches. I could also drill out unit bearings and rotors or get ones already converted.
I wonder if the 17”Dually rims will clear the calibers with a 3 inch spacer in place of the 4 inch spacer from the factory. I just am not that keen on that much wheel spacer.
Does anybody know the difference between a SRW and a DRW unit bearing?

 

I’ve done some more searching, and worst case scenario I could get 8xx200 wheels in the same style for the front and have two different bolt patterns.

 

I told you the simplest method for accomplishing what your attempting to do if you dont want to carry two spare tires. It isnt how i did mine, it is however the quickest easiest solution to your dilemma.

You can call this guy and he will make you spacers to whatever dimensions you give him. He makes them out of high grade timken steel not aluminum. https://www.wheeladapter.com/
Youre opening an entirely new can of worms attempting to use wheels with different offset, different spacers on front, etc.....

The ford F series pickups with this radius arm, coil spring front axle setup are prone to death wobble right off the showroom floor, brand new. My E350 had death wobble once i thought i was finished
and took it for a test drive. It was so severe i couldnt drive over 3 miles per hour to get around the block back to my driveway. Proper alignment is important with caster and toe being critical. Proper trac bar adjustment, steering stabilizer is a must, and believe it or not the sway bar plays a critical roll in keeping these things from doing the death wobble. If your steering box has any slop in it then replace it now, same with your tierods and balljoints. I run EMF balljoints and im using REID racing knuckles for reasons i wont get into on this post.

When youre finished and want to test drive it... exercise extreme caution the first time, dont just hop in and go, start out very slow less than 5 mph and increase your speed in small amounts if the truck doesnt start to death wobble. You been warned, when they start to wobble its so violent that it will literally destroy parts and or bend brackets. I saw pictures of one guy that literally ripped the frame apart where the steering box is mounted. The reason being is most of the conversion kits on the market use the steering box bolts to mount the new tracbar bracket. When it starts to wobble all the force that is generated is transfered directly to that area of the frame via the tracbar as well as the drag link which is attached to the steering box, it literally just ripped that area of the frame apart like it was tin foil.

To answer your question.... No, i did not convert my truck to a single rear wheel. It came as a dually for a reason. Tires have maximum weight ratings on them and short of converting to super singles there isnt a tire made that will safely do the job of two tires on my truck. Mine weighs in at 10,400 pounds dry, add fuel, water in the storage tank, personal belongings and my two dogs and myself and im easily pushing over 11,000 pounds, hook a trailer behind it and forget about it, i would be in a ditch someplace likely upside down.

 

I hear what you are saying and thank you. I have been stubborn for 43 years, so I might as well keep it up.
I am still confused, can’t you just remove the dually adapters, put a 8X6.5 adapter on and bolt the rims on if they miss the calipers?
If the unit bearings are the same, are the large brakes the problem?
If I need to, I think I might be able to send the front 8x6.5 rims back and get the 8x200 front rims in the same size. They make that pattern in a 17x6.5

 

Yes you absolutely can within reason, i say that because if you take the 4 inch factory adapter off and run a shorter custom adapter you run the risk of your tires hitting the swaybar or frame at full clock depending on the offset and backspacing of your new wheels and the tire size. You will also change the trucks turning radius. The reason i dont recommend it is because its on your steering axle on a 1 ton truck. So heres the dealio, if you take the 4 inch adapter off and throw a 2 inch adapter/spacer in its place and then you install an aftermarket wheel with an offset that is also different from the OEM wheel offset youre placing offset loads on the unit bearing that will eventually cause the unit bearing to prematurely fail. You will also change your track width and steering radius. Its your truck so how you approach the problem is up to you, just keep in mind changes like those can contribute to the trucks tendency to start death wobble.

A unit bearing isnt the same as the old style race and cone bearing axles where you have two bearings on each spindle. Increasing side loads (using a different offset wheel creates an upward sideload on the bearing). In otherwords it places a leveraged side load on the bearing instead of a centered upward loading of the unit bearing. This is one of the reasons i ditched the unit bearings and installed the spyntec kit on mine.

Answer to your question is yes, the primary problem is the size of the front calipers. If you currently now have 17 inch wheels they should clear the calipers regardless what lug pattern they have. Then the next obvious question is since they are only 8x6.5" lug, how big is the wheels center bore in comparison to your lockout hubs? Most aftermarket wheels are a universal type fit so the wheel center bore isnt specific to any certain vehicles hubcentric diameter.

Im not telling you what to do with your truck, just be aware that seemingly obscure changes can have a huge impact on the coil spring, radius arm suspension you chose to put under your van. Sometimes installing the fancy smancy pretty wheels isnt really such a great idea no matter how good they look.

Thats why the dually wheels have so much offset and back spacing. Yes they are mounted to a 4 inch wide adapter, however the offset and back spacing place the tire back underneath the unit bearing to minimize any side loading of the unit bearing. Even if you look at the factory SRW van wheels you will notice that the wheels are such that they keep the tire centerline under the unit bearing.