1939 Pickup Hub Conversion

[bfoley]

Any information/resources available that I could use to figure out how a person would modify front and rear hub/brake assemblies to run a more modern-day wheel on a 1/2 ton pickup instead of the original artillery ones? I have been scouring this site and others and am having trouble finding decent info. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Seth Swoboda]

Why not go to a set of later brake drums and wheels like 1940 and up?

[JSeery]

Or F1 or F100 with a little modification.

[bfoley]

It's that simple? Different brake drums? Nothing else (hubs, etc.) need changed?

[hotcoupe]

the hubs from `40 thru `48 [along with the corresponding brake drums will bolt right on your spindles/axle. finding useable brake drums may be a problem. reproduction Lincoln brake drums are available, make sure that you have the "outer" hubs [brake drum attaches to the outside of the hub]. hope this is not confusing to you.
tom

[V8COOPMAN]

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The absolute SIMPLEST way is to find 4 1940-'48 car or 1/2-ton pickup front and rear drums/hubs. They are a DIRECT bolt-on, which yields a 5 X 5-1/2" bolt circle. Wheels from any '40-'48 Ford, and Ford 1/2-ton pick-ups well into the '80s will bolt-on. The hardest part will be finding used drums that are still usable (NOT turned beyond 12.060" diameter limit). You can always purchase NEW Bendix-type stuff that will bolt-on. MT Products makes some beautiful (NOT cheap) stuff that WORKS! See originals below.......'40-'48s! DD

FRONTS



REARS....'42-'48 (TOP), and '40-'41 (BOTTOM)

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by hotcoupe

..................... make sure that you have the "outer" hubs [brake drum attaches to the outside of the hub].
tom

EITHER type will function correctly. Either type is completely INTERCHANGEABLE. DD

[bfoley]

Thanks for all the info. This makes sense and gives me solid direction. I figured it would be way more complicated than it seems to be.

[twostickmutt]

Originally Posted by bfoley

Thanks for all the info. This makes sense and gives me solid direction. I figured it would be way more complicated than it seems to be.

I know this is an old thread but thanks for the info. I want to get rid of my wide 5's and this seems the simplest.

[JM 35 Sedan]

You may not want to completely get ride of your wide 5's if you have somewhere to store the stuff. If you convert to 5 on 5-1/2 hubs, drums, wheels, etc, it's possible that you may want to convert back to your wide 5's some time down the road. On my modified 35 tudor sedan, I have the option to run 5 on 5-1/2 with original wire wheel, smoothy '40 type wheels, or change to wide five hubs, drums, and wheels. I like to have the option to change the appearance of my car from time to time, just because I can, and like doing that. I can also change it back to completely stock/original if I decide to sell to someone that wants a completely stock/original car.

[Tinker]

What shape are your wide 5's in?