1. The new wheels came in, and they fit great and look even better. I called a few tire shops to have the old golf cart tires taken off the other rims and installed on these. It took several calls to different places before I found a place able and willing to do it. Supposedly most hydraulic tire machines only go down to a 10” wheel, these are 8”. After dropping them off to the willing shop, they called me a few hours later saying they were unable to get the tires off the old rim. They are probably 12-14yrs old... and apparently as hard as a rock.
They were able to have some new golf cart tires in by morning, so new rims and new tires.
2. Next project: tie rods and the new 8” steering rack.
First obstacle was finding a way for the standard thread rack to attach to the metric thread tie rod. The rack came with a heim joint, but with the tie rods having a ball joint, I figured it might be easier to just fabricate my own rack end from plate steel and a bolt end welded together. I feel pretty comfortable with the turn out.
3. Still have a “bump steer” issue. I measured the center bolt holes off the steering rack and compared it to the pivot point of the A-arms. I’m still 2” off. Instead of buying a 4th steering unit (and this was the smallest I could find), I’m just going to fabricate some more. Time to cut/grind the hinge brackets off and add 1” to both sides. It’s tedious work, but manageable.