I bought a set of what I think are Maverick Grabber rims. They look like ford rims and they came with the Maverick center caps but when I went to the local tire place yesterday they showed me that the centers diameter was too small and would not fit over my factory hubs on my 76 Maverick. What year did Ford start making five lug Mavericks? I thought it was 1974. Does anyone know what year these could be for?
You must have disc brakes. I think the disc brake cars had wider hubs. You can have the wheel centers milled out on a lath so they will fit.
I think that V8 cars as early as 71 had the 5 lug axles. 74 was the first year a disc brake was offered. The 74 disc was based on the Mustang II and is differert from the 75 and later disc brake that was based on the Granada. I'm pretty sure on this, but I may be wrong, if I am somebody here will set me straight.
Disc for Mavericks came out in 74. The center hubs are larger. The rear axle hub is also larger to match the front. In 76, disc became standard. I have used older rims on disc cars, you just have to take them to any machine shop and have the centers cut out. As I recall, it isnt much.
the diff. is so small, you could take a "rat tail" file and clean the center hole up enough to fit. the steel rims are a little harder but can be done. ...frank...
Those are Mustang Aluminum slots ... They won't fit on a Maverick ... I've done the same thing and had to send them back ... I never understood why people on eBay would always list Ford slots as for Mustangs and Mavericks .... they are definitely different and you found that out. I was told this information many years ago at the First Roundup in Ohio by a wheel vendor at the roundup. I bought a set of Maverick slots from him and he told me Mustangs slots wouldn't fit. When I needed slots for my Grabber I bought a set of Mustangs slots from Perogie knowing I could return them but I wanted to test the theory. Sure enough they did not fit and I sent them back.
Dan is correct. Now, I have a question related to this, so forgive me for hijacking the post. My '74 GT came with the factory forged aluminum wheels. They are on there as anyone who has seen pics knows. Mine did not come with factory disc brakes. I did buy Stephen Moore's disc brake rotors/calipers off of his '74 GT. I did not get his spindles-he's using them. I did buy a complete setup of disc brakes-spindles, calipers & rotors off of a '75-'77 Maverick in a boneyard. Am I going to be okay using those later model spindles along with whatever turns out to be the best set of rotors? Are the '75-'77 rotors going to be too big for my '74 forged aluminum wheels? I have not measured or test fitted anything. Is it possible that the '73 Grabber/GT forged wheels are the same as '73 Mustang aluminum wheels. The Mustang body style changed in '74 and only 4 lugs were available. Maybe the change came for '74-up wheels due to the disc brake upgrades in '74. If so, my '74 front drum brake hubs are bigger than earlier years. Correct? Seth
Seth - My complete disc brake setup on my Grabber is from a 75 Comet ... the Ford slots fit with no issues .... Also ... 1973 was the first year these rims were available on both Mavericks and Mustangs. They continued as an option on Mavericks. I'd say Ford engineers knew discs were coming and built the Maverick wheels to support them. Ford engineers also knew 73 was the last year of 5 Lug Mustangs so probably built them for drum only.
Even if they are mustang wheels and they have the opening for the smaller hub, it is a very simple thing to have the center cut bigger. Mustang wheels will work on disc.
I got the Rims back from the machine shop today. They look great so far. I only wish I saw the meassage about the steer head centers earlier.
