Series 97 Rockcrawlers (and what I did to get them to work)

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WALoeIII

WALoeIII

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May 18, 2004
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Location
Seattle, WA
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andrewloe.com
Well, I went ahead and purchased 5 15x8x3.75" BS Series 97 Rockcrawlers from 4wheelparts.com. The short: they don't fit. The long: they can be made to.

I had some 15x8x3.75s that were rusting (check other photos in the gallery to see), so I wanted to replace them before I move out west. I wanted to keep the same stance that the vehicle had before, so I thought that buying the same size wheels would work. It didn't. After getting the wheels put on at the shop (they remount and balance for $13 a wheel) I could feel the drag. I ended up just driving home with them dragging, scraping most of the metal off. Then I ground the wheels down with a dremel and the calipers (easy to see after they had ground themselves most of the way). Then I painted the wheels where they were scraped off with black rustoleum. I also painted the calipers (will they rust? I played it safe). Anyways check out the photos and ask any questions, you have.

http://andrewloe.com/gallery/view/wheeling/fj60/wheel-issues/


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Wow I have the same wheels but mine are smooth on back. The punch is even with the wheel.
 
Here is what I think:

THey used to make those punchouts flat on the back of the rim. Now they make them flared like yours. So to run those you need spacers or a different backspacing. Or, like you did, more grinding.

I had the same issue except I had ordered the d-window style and they shipped the round holes. The d-window style are still flat on the back of the punchouts.

I got mine from discount and after letting them grind my caliper for a couple of minutes they decided it would be better to order the right ones and start over.

With enough grinding you should get them on, but forget about 4runner calipers. They aren't going to fit. At least that is my opinion. Mine barely clear the rims with no flared punchout.

Goode luck. Post back what you end up doing to fix.
 
Well, the guys at 4wheelparts clearly told me that 2.5" backspacing is the preferred size for cruisers. I went against their advice and went with these wheels, pretty much sure they'd work since they were the same as what I had on there. I wasn't expecting the flare at all. I don't want spacers or less backspacing because then the wheels stick out of the body, I hate that. I think I'm going to take the wheels and really grind them down hard on the insides of all the wheels. That way I know they'll fit. Still sucks, I want the flat ones!
 
I bought some US wheel black spokes two years ago for my 40 from summit and they fit fine. Then about 4 months ago I bought the same exact wheel with the same exact part # for my 60 from summit and the cutouts were bigger and they rubbed on my calipers but like a dumb A$% I didnt take off my crusty old wheels to verify the new wheels fit because i assumed they would. Guess whos running spacers.
 
I think you can find them auto parts stores I had them laying around for years and finally needed them. Dont have a price on them
 
easier to grind the caliper IMOP, thats what I did, didn't take much. I would think that grinding the wheels would make them out of ballance or harder to balance.
 
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