How to run Ford wheels on a Chevy wheel pattern
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Why would you want to do such a thing? Is more than likely the first question that you can think of. The reason is, most hot rodders like to think out of the box and will take the best of different car parts and put them into their latest creation. Anyone who has ever removed the front end off an old Pinto or Mustang from the 70' and installed it in a 30 or 40's car has come up against this problem. After mounting the front end onto the chassis and setting up the upper and lower A-arms, mounting the spindles and springs, things start to get a little weird. They know how to take a set of Ford Granada disc rotors and mount pre-82 Camaro calipers which will more than provide sufficient stopping power for their 3000 pound hotrod. If they used a Ford nine inch out back for a rear end, there is no problem. But hot rodders being what they are, want to try something different. So, the Chevy 10 or 12 bolt rear goes in along with the TH350 or 400 transmission and 350 engine that they got from that donor Monte Carlo or Nova. Their short sightedness shows up when they go to put a set of (4)wheels on the car and find out that the bolt patterns (and back spacings) won't allow the wheels to go on the car. Sure, you could put the Ford wheels on the front and the Chevy wheels on the back and they would work, until someone tried installing the spare tire out of the trunk on the front Ford axle. Hopefully, we're going to be able to show you one or two ways to remedy that problem.
Identifying Bolt Circle Patterns
The bolt circle diameter is sometimes referred to as P C D(Pitch Circle Diameter). It is usually measured in mm but most people use the normal inches standard measurement, i.e. 4 3/4 or 4.75 inches converts to 120.65mm. In day to day reference, you would say that, "My rim has a 5 X 4 3/4 wheel pattern." Meaning that the rim has five bolts or studs and an imaginary circle of 4.75 inches is formed by the lug pattern.
How To Measure Wheel Patterns
In our case, we will be talking mostly about the 4 1/2 Ford and the 4 3/4 inch Chevy bolt circle patterns. The accompanying pictures will illustrate how we measure these bolt circles.
As you observed in the picture the bolt circle is projected through the centerline of the holes or studs. On the FIVE bolt circle, the spacing is measured from the centerline of the top bolt to the base of the arc of the bolt circle at the bottom. Another way to estimate that distance is by taking the distance between the centerline of a bolt hole across to the back side of the hole.
Just for reference, we included the way the bolt circle distances are calculated for other bolt patterns.
Ford Pattern
5 on 4-1/2 5 x 114.3mm
AMC Gremlin, Hornet, Pacer, Javelin, Matator, AMX
AMC - most models (exc. Jeep) '40-'89
Chrysler/DeSoto - all full size RWD cars (exc. Imperial) '37-'89
Dodge van (to 1985)
Dodge 1/2 ton PU (2WD to 1985)
Dodge - all full size cars & P.U.'s '37-'89
- Dart, Demon, Swinger '73-'80
Ford 1/2 ton van (1960s-era Econoline and 1968-74 E100s)
Ford Granada, Monarch
Ford - All full size cars '49-'72; '79-'85
- Fairlane '62-'79
- T-Bird '55-'71; '77-'79
- Mustang (5-bolt) '65-'73
- Maverick 5-bolt all
- Mustang SVO '85-'86
- Ranchero '68-'84
- Aerostar, Probe, Bronco II/Ranger to '89
Honda Accord FWD (mid-90s - present)
Lexus RWD
Lincoln - all '70-'72; '80-'89
Mercury - all full size cars '52-'54; '61-'72; '79-'85
- Cougar '67-'79
Mopar '73-up "A" body
Plymouth - all full size cars '37-'89
- Barracuda '70-'74
- Duster, Valiant, Volare '73-'80
Toyota 2WD pickup truck (Hilux, Tacoma)
Toyota Camry 92-present
Ford Truck Pattern
5 on 5-1/2 5 x 139.5mm
Ford F100/F150 late 1940s-1996; some F100s c. early 1980s have the 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern
Dodge Ram 2WD pickup/van 150/1500 1986 - present
Jeep CJ to 1986 (includes J-series 1/2 pickups to 1973)
International Harvester 1/2 ton pickups incl. Scout SUV to 1980
pre-1960s era Mopars
Lincoln RWD to 1960
Toyota Landcruiser early 2000s
Chevy Pattern
5 on 4-3/4 5 x 120.65mm
Buick - Regal, Century, Special (most mid-size) '64-'80's
Chevrolet - all (exc as noted elsewhere) '49-'89
Corvette all
Corvair '65-'69 5-bolt
GM compact and midsize
Oldsmobile - 442, Cutlass, F-85, Toronado
(most mid-size) '60's-'80's
Pontiac - GTO, LeMans, Firebird, Grand Prix
(mid size) '64-'80's
Things to consider
Center bore
The center bore of a wheel is the machined opening in the wheel that centers the wheel properly on the hub of a vehicle. Ideally this hole is machined to exactly match the hub or spindle so the wheels are precisely positioned as the lug hardware is torqued down. Keeping the wheel precisely centered on the hub when it is mounted will minimize the chance of a vibration. Some wheels are vehicle/model specific and will come from the factory with a bore machined to match that vehicle. Some wheels are designed to fit multiple vehicle models and will use a centering ring system to reduce the bore size to match the hubs of different vehicles. These rings keep the wheel precisely positioned as the lug hardware is torqued down.
Offset
The offset of a wheel is the distance from its hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. The offset can be one of three types.
Zero Offset
The hub mounting surface is even with the centerline of the wheel.
Positive
The hub mounting surface is toward the front or outer side of the wheel. Positive offset wheels are generally found
Negative
The hub mounting surface is toward the back or brake side of the wheels centerline. "Deep dish" wheels are typically a negative offset.
If the offset of the wheel is not correct for the car, the handling can be adversely affected. When the width of the wheel changes, the offset also changes numerically. If the offset were to stay the same while you added width, the additional width would be split evenly between the inside and outside.
Work required
