Stock Humvee rims on a front 10 bolt?

[Pender1]

Trying to work out my 8 lug rear/6 lug front issue. If I put 2" thick 6 lug -> 8 lug adapters on my front 10 bolt can I run stock Humvee take offs? I'm pretty sure I can run them as-is on my rear 14 bolt, but the front is the big question. I'm not afraid of trimming sheet metal as needed, but I don't know how much clearance I have on steering components and such. Anyone have experience to share?

 

[colonel mustard]

find a 10 bolt 8 lug front. swap everything from the hub out. much cheaper than the route your trying to do. plus from my understanding the hummer rims need to be machined to fit. someone else will chime in on that I'm sure

 

[Pender1]

find a 10 bolt 8 lug front. swap everything from the hub out. much cheaper than the route your trying to do. plus from my understanding the hummer rims need to be machined to fit. someone else will chime in on that I'm sure

Not cheaper from what I'm finding. Can't find a 8 lug front for <$350 anywhere and the adapters cost roughly half that. And if I need to replace all the bearings in the new axle parts, I've spent even more.

You're talking about recentering, the hole pattern in them is already right, it's the backspacing that causes the issue, it's something like 7".

 

[colonel mustard]

Not cheaper from what I'm finding. Can't find a 8 lug front for <$350 anywhere and the adapters cost roughly half that. And if I need to replace all the bearings in the new axle parts, I've spent even more.

You're talking about recentering, the hole pattern in them is already right, it's the backspacing that causes the issue, it's something like 7".

gotchya. I got my whole 8 lug front axle for 150$

7" backspacing ?! wow...

 

[bucket]

You will need spacers for the rear too, so the track width isn't rediculously narrow. A 2 inch spacer should work fine on the front, but a tall tire may rub the drag link on a hard right turn.

 

[rpcraft]

Considering the hummer take offs are close to 37 inches you are going to have to go upwards and trim. If all you are trying to do is match 8 lug setups then converting the front axle to 8 lug is actually the cheaper option provided you can find the parts to do it because all it really takes is the rotors, hubs, brake calipers, and backing plates, but the problem is with military take offs is you will still need to look at lifting the truck to clear the tires. Also you are going to need to swap to 5.11's to have any appreciable take off, or use of third and 4th gears (if you have an OD trans)....

 

[Pender1]

Considering the hummer take offs are close to 37 inches you are going to have to go upwards and trim. If all you are trying to do is match 8 lug setups then converting the front axle to 8 lug is actually the cheaper option provided you can find the parts to do it because all it really takes is the rotors, hubs, brake calipers, and backing plates, but the problem is with military take offs is you will still need to look at lifting the truck to clear the tires. Also you are going to need to swap to 5.11's to have any appreciable take off, or use of third and 4th gears (if you have an OD trans)....

Why such a low gear? According to the calculator online, 4.10 and 37s are very drivable. I've got a SM465, high gear is 1:1.

 

[dvdswan]

Why such a low gear? According to the calculator online, 4.10 and 37s are very drivable. I've got a SM465, high gear is 1:1.

Drivable, yes. Off-road, not so much. The 4.10 rear end works great on a 31" tire, on a 37" tire the 4.10 turns into a 3.30 gear (this is just a swag). Great highway mpg, not so great torque and fun factor.

 

[Craig 85]

The elephant in the room is what tires are you going to run? 16.5" tires are hard to find. Like stated above unless your going to get some cheap used 37" military tires, you're looking at about $300+ for new tires.

 

[Pender1]

The elephant in the room is what tires are you going to run? 16.5" tires are hard to find. Like stated above unless your going to get some cheap used 37" military tires, you're looking at about $300+ for new tires.

Well I was planning on military take offs, but I may have found a different path with a set of 17s now, I'm going to explore that.

 

[Pender1]

Drivable, yes. Off-road, not so much. The 4.10 rear end works great on a 31" tire, on a 37" tire the 4.10 turns into a 3.30 gear (this is just a swag). Great highway mpg, not so great torque and fun factor.

Well this thing will probably spent 75-80% of its life on pavement, so drivable is important. I'll probably wind up on 35s long term. I'm on 33s with 3.73 right now and it does pretty good for what I use it for.

 

[rpcraft]

I think you will be better off with the 17's. Tires are readily available. I have them on my Frontier, stock and can run anything from 260/70-17 up to 33's on a 17, and there are plenty of bigger tires if I wanted to force them to fit.

I am doing the 14 bolt conversion on my K5 my own self and have the backing plates for the 3/4 ton brakes/gear for my front 10 bolt but the thing you want to remember is once you go over a certain size (and offset) you are going to be putting a lot of sprung weight on the axle. The 14 bolt can take it fine but the front 10 bolt won't like tires bigger than a 33 inch tire for very long. It is definitely going to wear out the ball joints faster. You will start to wear stuff out more rapidly than a smaller tire. I honestly wouldn't go much bigger than a 33, and with your 4 speed on a 3.73 that is kind of the sweet spot because of your 1.1. If you had an OD trans I say 4.10 is the better option but it seems like you are doing it right. 2 inches more of tire isn't going to really clear that much more of an obstacle, considering it is less than an inch in total height, and then your gearing is going to be a wreck and I am pretty sure you will not be happy with that.

Just my .02$ though.