Question about stock wheels.

[SouthernM715]

I was looking at my spare wheel and tire tonight and got to thinking..3 lug nut holes were countersunk, 3 lug nut holes looked like they were raised. I flipped it backwards and the lug nut holes were the same..

So instead of having crazy backspaced wheels..why cant you flip them around the other way and get the tires stuck out a little farther and give the total width of the truck a few more inches?

THe only thing I saw was the valvestem would be inside the wheel..and the split ring would be inside too..

Is there a reason why you couldnt..or shouldnt flip the tires around??

[gimpyrobb]

Most guys will tell you it will ruin the bearings. I'm not sure I'm a believer though.

[george walker]

It would be easy enough to flip the wheels around jus to try it out. yes doing that does change the load on the bearings jus as in the way moving a lever around can change the amount of leverage u have on something, moving the wheel out moves the angle an force agianst the brgs. depending on how much it can become to much for them, also in this case the steering and handling may be affected a good bit as well. try it an see how it feels as for being good in the long term is hard to say an im sure you dont want to find out bybreaking something.

[randyscycle]

My old 8N Ford tractor, along with just about every other tractor of the time, allows the same thing. You can flip the wheels in order to travel down rows in the field.

Granted you aren't going very fast, but the weight of a tractor and its implements are pretty serious and I doubt the loads are that much worse than the 715. Plus the 715 has floating axles. The tractors of that era didn't and they worked just fine in either configuration.

[SouthernM715]

Okay, I was thinking about trying it..to me honestly the wheel "looks" better in then out. I figured the backspacing would be the big issue. I just thought it would give the truck a better stance but trying to put air in would be harder.

Just a thought thats all. Ill swap them around and see how it looks.

[gimpyrobb]

I understand the lever analogy, but my point is, my truck came with Firestone rims. They have a big offset. So much that my tires will hit any trees or rocks WAY before the fender flairs would. I have not worn out any of my bearings yet.