Is there any way to convert a 1946 Dodge Truck dually rear hub to a single, so that i can put new wheels and tires?
I don't know the specifics on a Dodge but if you were asking about a '48 to '54 Chevy or GMC the rear would be easy, just bolt some single wheels on. The challenge would be the front, where the hubs place the tires several inches further out than where a dually type wheel would put it.
Geeez, I thought this might be an easy one.... Although I have a '47 Dodge 1 1/2 I haven't give thought to making it a single...I'll have to look. It might end up being easier to put in a Dana 70 or 80 unless you need to keep the 2-speed. Or perhaps custom wheels ?
Probably very similar to Studebaker trucks which I am very familiar with and am doing just that. If you want to keep the original and probably very low geared rear for some reason, you can add a spacer to the drums to space out the wheel to the correct width. That is what Studebaker did on my 1 ton pickup at the factory. The spacer on mine was factory and riveted to the drum using the stock lug bolt holes (5 lug being my case and probably yours). The spacer would not be that hard to duplicate. Since my rear was geared so low and I want a bit more modern driving range, I decided to change my rear to a dana 70. The problem I made for myself was that I really want to keep the original split ring 17" 5-lug Budd wheels. So, I found a 5-lug Dana 70 at a local junkyard that came off a early 70's Dodge motorhome with a M500 chassis. I also go the matching front axle for the disc brakes and plan to use that on the front, but that is more difficult because the width and spring plate location do not match and is more complicated to convert. I still need to make the spacer for the rear wheels too, just as Studebaker did, because the Dana 70 was dual wheels too. But with a Dana 70, you can get tons of parts and gears for it.
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