Chevrolet NASCAR racers late 50's-early 60's: 5 lug v 6 lug wheels

[Maineboy]

What is the straight scoop?

From the mid 50's into the early 60's one can find Chevrolet NASCAR race cars with both 5 lug and 6 lug wheels. I have looked at pics of some of these cars this morning and seen both wheels used.

From reading the "Ghosts of NASCAR" book regarding John Beauchamp and Dale Swanson I saw that when they first went to racing actual STOCK cars, in 1955, they had to indeed be factory stock and equipped with nothing other than what came from the factory. This argument was huge when Chrysler went with the 426 Hemi and we saw things like the fast back Ford Torino and the "winged" Chrysler cars. The factory had to make somewhere between 50 and 100 of something in order for the NASCAR guys to use it.

Swanson, who had connections to Chevrolet, as early as 1955, lobbied them to make the pickup truck rear end an "option" in the Chevrolet cars. The reason given, in "Ghosts of NASCAR was that the rear axle ratios were lower in the pickup truck. I think there may be more to it than that. I had a lot of first hand experience with Tri-five Chevy stuff. We wanted a lower gear set in our 56 racer. A friend had a 55 Chevy "Tradesman" 2 dr station wagon, built on the cheap. That wagon, with 235 6 cyl and three on the tree came from the factory with 4:11 rear end. I have held one right in my hand and counted the teeth, no doubt on that. So Swanson could have already had access to that gear set. So there must be some other reason.

The pickup truck had 6 lug wheels and had had them for years. The 3/4 ton pickup rear ends also had floating axles with much stronger bearings and hubs. I think it may have been possible to mount pickup truck spindles and backing plates on the Chevy car front suspension. That would give you 6 lugs on the front. Now I have read this morning that the stock Chevy 5 lug hubs and wheels  had both hub and wheel strength issues when used on the cars on the big tracks at higher speeds.

If you look at pictures of the real cars you can see both 5 lug and 6 lug used. This morning I read some info that said this issue was moot after 62 as then everyone went to the 5 lug Holman and Moody wheels.......based on the Pontiac pattern! The first I think were 9 inches wide then 10 1/2.  So no more arguments.


Here is a photo of a 57 half ton. Clearly see 6 lugs, no floating rear end, more likely on 3/4 ton.
55 pickup by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr



So what do you guys think on this issue?  I was going to use 9" H&M wheels on my 60 Chevy but think that is incorrect. I have some 6 lug 7 1/2 wheels coming which I think will be closer to the real thing that was used.

Thoughts?

MB

[Brian Conn]

...you sort of answered your own question, I'll elaborate...
  I can offer you the perspective as provided by Ford.
  The 5 lug wheels design shared some of the same issues as its G.M counterpart (center section cracking on Right side wheels, vibrations, lug nuts backing off due to vibrations etc. etc.) ...as you stated Holman/Moody solved that problem in '62.
  The 6 lug wheels design used on 3/4, 1 ton, ton and halfs, etc. where heavier and thicker which was great for durability but was a huge draw back as far as unsprung weight goes.  The 6 lugs had more contact area between the nuts and the wheels center section which helped spread the load or force being placed on the center section....same principle applies today to a heavy duty truck.....lots of torque going to the wheel via engine and trans. coupled with heavy load at highway speeds.
  I think that it would be safe to presume that the builders of the 1:1 G.M stock cars where trying to come up with an available alternative to the 5 lug wheels and their inherit issues by going with the heavier, more durable 6 lug wheels.  As far as a 1:25 build goes, I would think that's its plausible to go with either the 6 or 5 lug wheels...and who's to say that at the start of the season it was shod with 6 lug wheels and by mid season it was 5 lug or visa versa.           

[Maineboy]

Thanks for the responses to my question.

Found these from Bandit Resin.  They are NOT resin but both wheels and tires are well made of plastic by the PPP company. They carry other NASCAR wheels and tires too plus others are selling them on ebay too.

DSCF0004 (11) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

I don't know if they used these 6 lug wheels on any other cars than Chevys or not. I don't think I have seen them on any others. My research shows this was a 7 1/2' wide wheel. May have been the standard pickup truck wheel or maybe made for the purpose. They obviously started changing the idea that everything had to be factory stock, along in this particular era. Some of those cars were capable of 140 mph on the big tracks so safety was becoming a huge issue at that point.

! am quite happy with my purchase and would recommend them to anyone looking for wheels/tires of the late 50's/early 60's era.

MB