I'm curious whether much benefit would come from keeping the 5" bolt pattern discs on a tall-spindle swap. I plan to use a 9" rear, so I'd need to have the rear BP re-drilled anyway.

Would it eliminate some deflection of the wheels in hard-cornering or add strength or rigidity?

One draw-back would be that I'd have to do both swaps and buy wheels all at the same time. :rolleyes:

I think the stress on the lug studs would be reduced by a small factor.

The rotors and calipers would be the same as the donor car, so you'd save a little money on the rotors and you'd save some confusion by not having so many different cars to remember the parts for.

I think you are on the right track. The only problem with keeping them is the rims. If you are getting new or have 5" rims then problem solved. Yes, the 5" should be a little stronger however I have never seen lug nut as being the weak link in the Chevelle suspension. In circle track racing we would snap the axle under hard cornering before anything else. So, 6 of one and a hlaf a dozen of the other the choice is up to you.

i am going to the 5" lug patterns. i wanted new rims anyway! :D but i have broken all my rear wheel studs on my yellow chevelle. right after i screwed the tires to the rims after ripping them off. but i am now working on my wagon and i am putting the tall b-body spindles and wanted the stronger bolt pattern since it was there already. it is stronger! look at it in the simples terms first off it uses 1/2" studs instead of 7/16" the shear are is much bigger. 3.1415 x 7/32 squared compared to 3.1415 x 1/4 squared. the area increases by the square of the radius. but also look at the bigger pattern like a torque wrench. if i have a longer lever and i apply the same force i can turn the wrench easier. therfoer the bolts being on a larger bolt circle have to suffer less load then if they were closer. grantit, it is only 5/2 divided by 4.75/2 stronger thats only 1.05 % more but when coupled with the larger diameter studs, why not use it its almost free. i thought buying new rear 12-bolt axles was good anyway. i had to pull out the old axles anyway to put my rear disc brakes. so you just have to see whats right for you. the caprices use it and my wagon is faster, heavier, and corners harder then them, i felt a little too close to the smaller patterns safety limit for a hard and often drive streeet rod.

If you don't mind buying the new rims, then I'd go for it! That way, you can use the stock B-body rotors and save a ton of money in the future as they can be had for less than half of the 1LE rotors! Everything else should stay the same...

Bill C.

A 9" rear should have the 5 on 5 pattern already if you are using the stock axles.

Then all you need are some of them chrome-reverse wheels off Grandma's Galaxie and you are set smile.gif

K