Jack up the vehicle, take off rear tires/rims, install 2 lug nuts to hold the drum on. Start the truck, put it in 1st and low range of the transfer case - this makes the drums turn REAL SLOW. If you have an auto, you may not be able to do this - whatever you do - make sure the drums turn REAL SLOW so not to hurt yourself. I then used a 4 1/2" grinder to remove metal from the outside of the rim so that the new rims would fit. If I had the time would I do this again - maybe. If you have the time to take the drums to a machine shop to have them turned - That would be much faster and no where near as messy (grinding dust everywhere).

The approximate dimensions of the rim's outer lip width was .325 before - and approx .25" after - note - these measurements were not real accurate since I don't have accurate instruments!!

After I did this, I checked the rims on a balancer. They were off just a tad - most people wouldn't even notice (one was .1 oz the other was .2 oz). If you have a balancer - go ahead and true them up.

Then I installed the rear rims - yes, it is a tight fit. Make sure you remove enough metal from the drum to allow for some expansion of the drum. I have about 1/16" clearance.

The front bolted on w/o any problem - BUT you need to check clearance of the brake lines. I found the right side to be fine. The left side I had to bend the hose bracket to make sure the tire wouldn't rub on the hose when turning. According to one of the attached posts - there are steering interference problems that need to be addressed in the 98-99 trucks

Attached are a couple of photos.

A
OEM Chrome rim on the rear

B
Here is a pic of the new (2002) aluminum rim on the rear axle


Oh Yea

I found this out the hard way - do NOT leave the dust from ginding the drums on the vehicle - remove it immediately! If it gets rained on - you will have to buff/compound the vehicle to get the little rust spots off - grrrrrr.

C

 

when i bought my truck it had the 01-02 aluminum rims on it. mine is 2wd and you cannot turn the wheel all the way either way other wise the inside of rim, where the weights go on outer lip and weights themselves, rub. i hope i dont have to take the weights off becuase theres nothing left to em. i like the wheels but dont like them rubbing.

just my .02

Cody

 

16x8 weld wheels rub horribly on the brake calipers in my model trucks, its actually the little sheet steel piece that bolts to the spindle that holds the caliper in.....



easily fixed with a hammer...........