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Fatboy wheels on a deluxe, internal swap difficulty
I want to swap something like this onto my deluxe. Been told its a simple matter of swapping my own laced wheels internals. Anyone done this yet? How difficult, and do I need any special tools? I know the answers probably on here aoreads, but this is literally my first move. Ty
For the Deluxe, there is a change in bearings after about 2007. Also, a change in rear hub width a few years later.
I swapped out my 2006 Deluxe wheels for 2015 wheels that were the tubeless spoked variety. The 2015 rear hub was about .400" wider than the 2006. So that required some machine work.
The front only required bushings to adapt the 3/4" axle to the larger ID late model bearings.
Anything can be done. Wheels swaps are generally a lot easier if you find used wheels from the same year bike as the one you are working on. This eliminates lots of issues with axle diameters, offsets, bearings, rotor fitment etc. Good luck.
Any factory Harley wheel can be used on most Harley's, example sportster to sportster or softail to softail.. You just need to get the proper bearing kit for your particular axle. Now, depending on the wheels you choose, you may have to change to different spacers or possibly have to space the rotors or rear pulley or in some cases spacers to move the brake caliper. They sell all of these spacers online, you just need to put the bare wheel on the bike centered where it goes and start measuring. I build bikes and have had to deal with this several times.
They even sell the spacer to allow a rotor with a larger center hole to fit on an older wheel. I had to do this when I put 80's mag wheels on my wifes 03 sportster in place of her spoke wheels. The diameter of the hub was smaller on the 80's wheel than the factory 03 wheel. Which ever wheel you choose make sure the brake rotor is from the same year as the bike as they have changed the diameter of the rotors over the years and that opens up a whole new can of worms. .You also want to make sure you stay within the same tire width or your going to be trying to fit swing arms and that's where you get to a full on custom job.
I just did something similar to this on my 2005 softail standard I went from the stock skinny 21" front wheel to a 16" from a 2003 heritage softail both run a 3/4 axle but I did have to use different spacers to center the 16"
if you don't want to cut your own spacers there is a great chart at drag specialties web site that has many-many different sizes to choose from and they are chrome, just use your dial calipers to determine what you need!
I also had to shim the brake caliper slightly you can also get chrome spacers for this also!
not that big of a job just take your time getting your wheel perfectly centered! next step is to paint the fender that I fabricated silver pearl to match the bike!
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Fatboy wheels on a deluxe, internal swap difficulty
