elcome to the second installment of of Project Longhaul! The Fabtech kit did an excellent job of raising the truck but with stock wheels and tires the appearance was still very stock.

We immediately turned to Weld Racing for assistance. We not only wanted to improve the looks but wanted to maintain the load rating on our wheels. Weld is one of the few manufacturers that can deliver an aluminum wheel with a load rating of 3,200lbs. We have always been a big fan of one of Weld's original designs, the Super-Single^TM II. We decided to try a brand new design, the Sidewinder, with the lug cover kit. The Sidewinder is one of six designs in the Super-Single series and is a heavy duty FORGED two-piece aluminum alloy truck wheel.

Fabtech suggested a wheel with rear spacing of at least 3 1/4". The standard 16x8 Sidewinder wheel has 3 5/8" of backspacing. This compares to a stock spacing of 2 1/2". The additional spacing will move the wheel out and allow the larger tires to clear the inner frame rails.

Next was choosing a tire. We wanted to fit a 33" tall tire and soon found that BF Goodrich was the only manufacturer with a 16", 33" tall tire, that also had "D" load rating. The LT295/75R16D is just slightly taller and narrower than a 33"x12.50" and comes with a load rating of 3415 lbs. at 65 psi.

Next was a trial fit. I knew this would be a tight fit and the trial confirmed that some amount of fender trimming would be necessary. With full wheel lock the new combination just cleared the back of the front fender by about 1/4" and the front of the fender by about 1/2". If you don't want to do fender trimming you should stick with a LT265 or LT285.

We fitted our die grinder with a cut-off wheel, rolled out the air compressor, and went to work.

We trimmed about an inch off the lower fender and the same off the corner of the front bumper. This appeared to give us pretty of clearance when turning so we headed back down to the local Discount Tires to get the package mounted up.

WOW! What a difference some quality wheels make to your ride. I really like the optional lug cover kit which allows you to use your stock lug nuts. This will make wheel cleaning MUCH easier. I always hate trying to clean the lug nuts and around the lug nuts.

The package cleared the now trimmed fender but NOT by very much. We are going to try this out and see if we should opt for some additional fender trimming or a small body lift on Project Longhaul. We will update you in the next installment.

Now that we have these brand new Weld wheels we wanted to make sure we knew how to take care of them. Just follow the steps below and you will have a very nice wheel for many years to come.

Weld Racing's 10 steps to Wheel Care

W eld Racing Wheels should be cleaned with warm water and mild non-detergent soap, using a cotton cloth or soft sponge applicator.
E liminate the use of spray wheel cleaners. They may contain caustic chemicals that could stain and/or spot the finish of your wheels.
L et the wheel cool-down completely before applying any cleaning product. Failure to do so may result in unwanted spots or stains.
D on not use tire cleaners that contain harsh chemicals, these too could stain or spot wheels. Weld recommends No-Touch or similar tire cleaners.

R ecomended use of 100% cotton cloths to clean and polish. This avoids unwanted scratches caused from synthetic rags or cloths.
A lways use a quality aluminum wheel polish, such as the following: PPC - Xtreme - Wenol - Mothers Polish - Eagle 1 Polish - Blue Magic Polish.
C arefully polish the wheel with the grain of the wheel. The use of baby powder for the final wipe down will remove finger prints and oils left from the polishing.
I nner bell (backside) of wheel should be cleaned occasionally to remove road grime, road salts, brake dust and grease.
N ow for the final finish apply a thin coat of car paste wax, allow to dry, and wipe off again using a cotton cloth.
G ood job and great finish, now Enjoy!

Watch for more exterior upgrades of Project Longhaul in the next installment and we will update you on the clearance of the 33" tires. In the mean time be sure to check out the Weld Racing website for more information on their high quality wheels.