Quote:
Originally Posted by bclemens
That is why we were told to replace all 6. The lugs are not long enough to just do (4), the supplier said all 6 was the only way to make it work
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I’m not sure I follow why the length of the lugs is pertinent to this situation. Here’s where I am coming from….
The OEM steel wheel which resides at the inner position of the rear axle is approx. 0.378” thick at the center bore (measured with a handheld digital caliper).
The OEM aluminum wheel which resides at the outer position of the rear axle is approx.. 0.730” thick at the center bore (measured with a handheld digital caliper).
That leads to the fact that, stacked together, they are about 1.100” thick at the center bore.
The actual machined portion of the axle that supports the wheels on a Ram 5500 (Dana S111 rear axle) is about 1.150” wide.
With that being said, the _axle_ is what should support the actual weight being transferred from the rig, through the axle and to the wheels and tires as that is how hub piloted wheels work. The lug studs and nuts provide the clamping force and should provide little more than that…but I’ll say again, there is plenty of length for the studs to accommodate most any combination of wheels.
Now that leads to my original point, when an OEM aluminum wheel is installed at the inner position of the rear axle, that makes the inner wheel 0.730” thick instead of 0.378” thick. That only leaves about 0.450” of available width on the rear axle to engage the outer wheel. If you try to install another OEM aluminum wheel in that outer position, then it won’t fully engage the axle. You end up with a situation where the outer wheel is not fully supported and _I_ was VERY uncomfortable with that in a rig that runs right at the GVWR for nearly every mile it goes down the road.
So, the question I would have for the Vision wheel company is: How thick are your wheels at the center bore? ….because if it’s greater than about 0.575” (width of the machined portion of the rear axle divided by 2), then stacking two of their wheels is questionable.