D44 wheel backspacing

[lilnapsak]

I'm currently building a 77 f150 hp Dana 44 with Chevy knuckles to run high steer/ ford 5x5.5 yadda yadda. I know I need to run 17" wheels to clear the calipers, but im unsure on how deep of backspacing I need to clear the knuckle steering arms/ high steer arms.

I was planning on running 17x8.5 Walker Evans Beadlocks with 3.5" of backspacing, but just found a used set with 4.5" backspacing that I plan on picking up if they will clear.

So I guess my question is, what's the most possible backspacing I can run without interference on a d44 with the Chevy knuckle/ ford 5x5.5 swap?

Any info would be gladly appreciated

 

[XJLI]

you don't need 17s, you can run 15s. The big 8 lug ford brakes are the only ones you need 17s for. The 4.5" BS should clear the high steer, but I'm sure someone else will chime in with a more definitive answer.

 

[RoyalXJ]

I ran 15s w/ 3.5" bs with 8 lug. A little bit of caliper shaving and you're good. The 5.5" you can run 15s without shaving anything. 4.5" will work fine with 17" rim

 

[Begster]

I ran Cragar 15x10's on my HP44 with high steer and 5x5.5 pattern. Looks like they were 4" backspacing, so you should be fine with the 8.5" wide rims and 4.5 backspacing.

 

[clean4drxj]

As others have said 4.5 bs is suficiant, I have that very same setup with large bearing Chevy outters and a 35 spline big bearing 9" in the rear with custom axles via Dutchman and run 6 on 5.5(Chevy/yota bp)

 

[lilnapsak]

I mocked the parts up and measured and it seems like 4.5" will work just fine. Thanks everyone!