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Dually Suspension \  Lug Cover Clearance Issue w/ Semis!?!?!?!

Lug Cover Clearance Issue w/ Semis!?!?!?!

Dually Suspension Dually Tech
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replies 24
following 10
 
uncivlized1   +1y
I know I will probably catch hell for my choice of wheels here but I am having an issue and hoping someone can help me figure it out. After months of staring at them I finally mounted my tires and bolted on my 22.5 Steel Semis. they went on the truck fine like I knew they would since the previous owner had run 22s up front and 24s out back. So front wheel clearance was not an issue since there was already no inner fender and the firewall had been tubbed. However after putting my lug covers on and going to lay the truck out I ran into a problem of the fender laying on the spike lug cover and not allowing the truck to go all the way down. Since the fenders were junk anyway I went ahead and just cut them out in order to get the truck back on the ground. Now I am ready to put the the new front cap on the truck and want to find out what i can do to solve the problem and not have to cut up a good set of fenders.
I got the truck second hand (actually like 3rd or 4th)so I dont know every detail of it since I havent touched the truck since ending up with it almost a year ago. I know it is a 99 model with a 3.5" stock floor body drop and assumed it had always been a dually but I quickly found out it had either started life as a single wheel or had a single wheel rear end put in it at some point b/c I had to remove the adapters out back. So I am unsure of what the front setup is other than it having ART lower control arms.
In order to pull off the look, which is why I chose steel wheels, it will require the lug covers to be in place. What options do I have to correct this problem??? I definitely dont like the look of the 3/4 ton sunk in looking setup and am hoping I dont have to resort to that considering wheel clearance is not the issue, only lug cover clearance.Can anyone help me figure this out so that I dont have to try several things until I get it right!?!?!

Here are some pics of the truck after getting it to lay out again by hacking up the fenders and the last picture is from when the previous owner had it on 22" semis:

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lockone   +1y
That is a problem with most of the longer lug covers. What we did on my black Chevy was sectioned and raised the fenders around 2.5". We didnt just do this for lug clearance but it was also to get the stock Chevy fender lips in the Caddy fenders.

Here is a pic of mine boddied with 24s.
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blazerpimp   +1y
that looks a hell of alot better than the sucked in look of the 3/4ton suspension
bobby morris   +1y
how did you get those steel wheels cut down and what size tires you running?
wide load c-30   +1y
I don't think they are cut down. Probbably a 22" tire stretched onto a 22.5" wheel.
liljlowrider   +1y




you dont get steel wheels cut down... cant be done so you just stretch the tire on there.
uncivlized1   +1y


The tires are a 265/35/22 and the replies from the others are correct. They are a true 22.5" wheel with the 22"tire stretched over them. It is viewed by some as unsafe and probably isnt the best idea but you are able to mount the tires with minimal stretching of the tire. People have very mixed emotions on going this route which is why I said I would probably catch hell about them on this thread
uncivlized1   +1y
LOCK:
That is a great idea about adding the body line to the caddy fenders and raising it at the same time. I am actually putting the Caddy fenders and hood with the GMC bumper like yours apparently. I had hoped to not have to actually raise the fender since I saw that as my only option but after seeing yours I think I might just have to bite the bullet and go that route since it looks great. Its always fun when you are beyond the point when anything will simply bolt up!!! LOL
Do you happen to have any pics of how you went about doing it that might help me spend less time trimming and measuring
nvrdoned50   +1y
kelly, this might of been posted already and i just didnt see it but in the pic when the dually was on 22/24 they didnt have lug covers on cuz they prbly ran into this prblm of them hitting the fenders and just didnt run them... btw the dually looks good on the semis that we had SOOO much fun getting the semi tires off that day...
tofnlows10   +1y
what adapters and a-arms are u running up front? cause if it started as a single wheel truck, im surprised it doesnt have 3/4 stuff there...

i started a thread sorta like this one...