I've got an 82 Brat DL and after repairing a rear flat I reversed the wheel for grins and giggles and really liked the way that it looked. Anybody ever tried this with spacers on the lug studs to provide a flat mating surface? I just wonder if I'm the only one goofy enough to try this, or if I'm kickin' a dead horse. Love to hear if it's been done before.

sounds cool, pics?

Years ago on my first BRAT I ran my wheels flipped for well over a year. The only mod I made was to countersink the other side of the hole so the lug fits right. I never had any bearing problems and steering was not really impacted much. That said it will increase the load on components but if the potential for increased maintenance is something you can live with, give it a go, throw on some flares and enjoy.

Well - on many cars, doing things like this can be a problem because of the difference in the inner vs. outer bearings. If you change the wheel geometry either in or out (especially out tho), you will change how the wheel bearings are stressed. On a lot of cars, you will notice that the outer bearing is considerably smaller than the inner. By moving the wheel out, you put more stress on the small outer bearing, and this can cause failure. In some cases, it can cause the wheel to fall off. On soobs, this really doesn't apply to the front, which have the same size inner and outer bearings, and on the rear you *may* have the same inner and outer - or if you have the conical bearings on the rear, they are very strong, and the wieght of the rig - especially in the back, isn't enough to harm them. Fronts are usually the problem on other cars because of the weight up there, and the alternating loads from steering.

 

As long as you don't have any rubbing issues with em, I say go for it.

 

GD

i did this to my 83 turbo wagon. it drove ok, the wheels fit good. the only thing in question was the holes from the back and the lug nuts.

but with this way, just re-torque the lugs a few times each so many miles, and it will be fine

 

i posted this and got a lot of wheel bearing responses, but now that i think of the bearings how they are (4wd) it doesnt seem too much an issue.

 

so if you can go a year on them, i dont think its too much a bad idea

 

but with mine, i ran thru some mud, had no wipers, and hit a curb. it popped the tire, and slightly tweaked my alignment, so i put them back to normal.

 

but that doesnt mean i wont do it again. just give me some wagon rims