new dodge came into work today, 19.5 rickson steeliens with some michelins on them. Sounds boring but SOOOO badass.

basically its a big rig size rim with military type tires. Ide heard of the setup before but pictures do it no justice. So got me thinkin. some of these with some 35 inch equivalent Michelin XMLs (or possibly bigger) on the ranger would be REDICULOUS!!!

I did a quick photochop...




the problem (if you hadnt had the keen eye already) is that they only make them for eight lug trucks, but if i can figure out a way to have another bolt pattern machined or whatever, this is a definite dream to have.

one ride with 19.5 rickson steelies and michlinss...

rickson homepage


If i cant have these, im definately tellin my dad to put them on his 6 inch lifted superduty with some 38-39 inch Michelin XML equivalents. that would make me cream my pants...

what you guys think?


EDIT: change photchop pic a bit...

Nope. Better looking big rims you can choose some, that wouldn't be a hassle. Also, they sell uhh, rim adapters Gildo that you can buy. You don't want those michelin tires for offriading do you? Jus sorta onroa looks w/ a lil offroading potential?


Aaron

Meh... the wheels don't really do it for me. What are the Michellin XMLs you're talkin about though? Why are they so great?

I dont think that you are getting the idea aaron. im not looking for blingin 20s. these WOULD be one of my offroad setups. they look real tough and Michelin XMLs are BADASS offroad tires. they are military offroad tires and they kick a lot of ***.

and i wouldnt dare use an adaptor from a 5 lug to an 8 lug...

OK it's cool Gildo. I jus myself never really cared about bling tire.s I like black rims, i think they always make offroading trucks look better.

Aaron

Put some full size axles on, and you can get the big bolt pattern with it...

haha yeah thats what a dude told me at work too.

Hopefully in the distant future...

I like the idea -- it's just the track width that bothers me. I've toyed with the idea but I don't want a "fullsize" on some of the narrow trails I do. It sure would make it easier to do a heavy-duty SAS swap though. Cutting down axles, especially front ones, seems like a big hassle.

What all is involved? You have to cut the axle, get new axle shafts made (probably pretty $$$), reweld shock and spring mounts, remount/reweld the hubs and steering knuckles... is there anything else? That's just what I came up with imagining doing it in my head. I really don't know a thing about it though!

Yeah, that's it basically. I'm trying to do this with scavenged and salvaged parts and as little purchased custom work (like special axle shafts) as possible. I want to get an initial SAS done, even if it's with a lesser axle and get it working -- then later I'll build a heavier axle. Lazy or cheap or both, I guess...but that's enough of that -- the topic is "drifting"...

Sure it is, but this is more important! I think if I were to do an SAS I'd do it that same way. Get a sort of "rough draft" going so you can enjoy it while you build yourself a bigger better axle.

Of course with the way I am, I'd never get around to building the bigger, better axle until I managed to break the first one

I dont care aboutthe topic driftin. its a good direction.


Axle narrowing can be easy if you have the sources. basically you shorten on of the axle tubes, then get custom shafts made. not too bad. I wouldnt want full width axles either. but if youre gonna do it right, you can have the axle narrowed when being prepped for install. all the mounts are going to be custom anyway so thats not really a concern.

a good steady wait and search at the junkyards can yeild d60s for a reasonable price, ie a few hundred dollars. its definately worth it.

also I have yet to find XMLs made for 19.5s. Ive heard of them made for 16 inch rims even but the search continues.

the possiblities are endless and with the amount of scouting and collecting itde take for any swap a d60 can be put in with a little more effort!

WONDERFUL!!

So, who's gonna marry the rich chick with all the money to get this done?

Aaron

I will! I will! Pick me!

Is she cute?

If not, does she keep alot of alcohol in the house?

The narrowing and rewelding I can get done at work -- that's not the issue. But I'm going to be using the limited funds I can spend on other things I'll have to buy I think.

A D60 is a "wet dream" axle -- but it might be a bit more than I need in a 3.0 at this time, lol...maybe when I do some kind of powerplant swap in the future, which I believe will happen though it's probably some years down the road.

It's kind of cool since I decided to just keep this truck indefinitely. It widens the time horizon for doing anything and makes anything seem possible -- it's just a matter of time...

When I get rid of my ford and buy a Dodge...that's what I'm doing w/ dual stacks behind the cab.

Is she going to stay your daily driver John?

And where do you work that you could get the axles tubes chopped and welded?

And did you really mean "wet dream?" or would "pipe dream" be the right phrase?

I think he meant wet dream. Pipe dream would mean it's impossible to get.

Aaron

Ha ha! Yes, I meant what I said. Perhaps not the most politically correct way to phrase it -- but I thought it "made the point"...

No, it will not be my daily driver -- but I want it still streetable as I can. I'm going to get a beater to commute in. Maybe take my wifes old Honda and buy her a nice AMERICAN car, lol. Well, hers was made in Marysville, but I still don't like the trademark, lol.

As far as where I work: in a steel mill. We melt scrap, purify and alloy it, and cast the molten metal into slabs that are 10" thick by 80" wide that are cut into about 40' long sections as they emerge from the caster. They are sub-cut into smaller slabs weighing from 2 to 15 tons, heated to a "plastic" state and then rolled into plate steel from 1/4" to 5" thick and in widths up to 140".

So, as you can imagine, we have BIG machinery and BIG tools to service it with. It's not my department (I'm basically a computer geek/engineer/make coffee for meetings type, lol) but I'm friends with guys who do that stuff and for them, my stuff is SMALL and a piece of cake. They're the ones that did the welding on my rear axle for me.

heres the xmls

yes yes i love XMLs. the trouble is finding them in GOOD shape.

they have pretty stiff sdewalls, but I hear with 0 PSI, they flex pretty well...