Was this ever popular?

Years and years ago, most folks couldn't afford the work to do it right. Throw in the fact that there were very few wheel offsets and sizes available, and most guys wound up with L60s on an 8" wide wheel with air shocks to get them to clear. We didn't have the tools to do much better. I.E. MIG welders were still in the future, ditto TIG. Arc welders were prohibitively expensive as well as oxy/acetylene torches, and a plasma cutter would have been like handing a cave man a Zippo. Quaint custom, eh?