Taking out rear tires/wheels from a very very tight body/drum area.... <O</O Ive been battling this for a couple years, and have about had it....<OI could narrow of replace the rear-end (but dont want to have to spend money like that just to change tires) <OI could cut the damn fender up (but of course dont want to do that either!<O</O I dont even know how I ever got them on in the first place!!!! sheesh<O</O Anyway, I know this is a little vague, but I know there are guys out there with similar problems, and I was curious if there are any tricks<O</O
I always jack the car up by the frame so the rear tire drops down some.That way youre not fighting the tight spot.
If you're looking at options to remove the tire to say, change a flat, then the simple method would be to jack the car from the frame and let the axle droop. A bottle jack probably would not have enough throw, but a bumper style jack would take up a lot of room. Perhaps a jack under the axle to lift the tire well clear of the ground, then a jackstand under the frame, and lower the jack and allow the axle to droop enough to give clearance to remove the tire. This is assuming your shocks and brake lines have enough slack to allow the axle to droop.
That combined with a block of wood under the opposite rear tire for extra drop. It's a pain in the ass but the only way I could get the rear tires off a lowered 65 catalina I had.
Jack up car, put jack stands under frame in front of tires,lower jack. The rearend should drop down far enough to change the rear rires. Be sure you jack car up high enough before placing the jack stands to allow for sufficient drop of rear. Only thing that may keep this from working is the shocks reaching full extension before you have sufficient clearance to change the tire. Frank
As already said, lift the body/framy and let the axle droop. When doing this, sometimes the shock can be the next limiting factor. Unbolting them can allow the axle to droop even farther. Another thing you can do is let the air out of the tires. This makes them a little more flexible when trying to get them between the fender and the brake drum.
One trick I saw is to use extended spring shackles and re-arched springs like rock-crawling 4 wheelers do. Since your suspension will never travel that much normally, they won't be noticeable when your driving. When you jack up the frame (like others suggested before) you will get ALOT of additional axle droop...that should give you all the clearance you need. Could be a few $$$, but it's a solution.....
One trick I saw is to use extended spring shackles and re-arched springs like rock-crawling 4 wheelers do. Since your suspension will never travel that much normally, they won't be noticeable when your driving. When you jack up the frame (like others suggested before) you will get ALOT of additional axle droop...that should give you all the clearance you need. Could be a few $$$, but it's a solution.....
Ive had to use a bottle jack on top the rear to get the suspension to drop more to get them off just letting it hang on its own wasnt enough room
I have of course used all the frame jacking and the actual jacking up of the opposite site tire as well to get that angle to help out, but it seems that I will have to undu the shocks everytime as the travel is just not enough! and the tire(s) are deflated as well.
I had to do that on my 51 Merc. A small bottle jack doesn't cost much and even less if you buy it at HF on sale. It needs to be short enough to fit between the axle and the frame rail and have enough extension to push the axle down enough for the tire to clear the fender lip. It goes without saying to be damned careful when you do it an have the car blocked up or at least have the spare under the frame rail under the door to catch the car if the main jack starts to drop. Scotch blocks for the front tire are a must too to keep the car from having any forward/aft movement on the jack. It won't work if the shocks aren't long enough to let the axle drop enough though.
yes its not that hard. assume your on level ground to change a tire first. put car on stands , pull the shackel bolt. drop axle with leaf spring. change tire, jack up the axle into spot and aling holes put bolt back in. i could show you but im not in a pissing match. withall the other tricks others have discussed, it is just an idea.
I have even entertained making some skirts that I could actually hide some fender cut out to help with this, but the body stlye on the 54 is really tight between the rear dog leg and the wheel well. its only about 3 inches from the door to wheel well
Pulling the shock bolt shouldn't be that hard and should give you the room. Jacking the opposite side cab actually make it worse as that tips the top of the tire outward, decreasing clearance. This is one reason cars used to come with Bumper jacks, to allow more droop with small rear wheel wells. We just screw it up with bigger tires!
I know this is going to sound goofy but on my 51 Ford with a Mustang dif I have to jack up just the side where the tire I want to remove is until the tire clears the ground, then resist the normal temptation to pull the bottom of the tire out first, instead pull the tire/wheel clear of the studs lt it drop down on the drum and then try pushing the tire/wheel in at the bottom under the axle pulling the top out first. I have no idea why this works but it is the only way to remove the rear wheels on my Ford. Simply reverse the procedure to put it back on. It's worth a try!
My thoughts are "why are you having this problem?". This should not be an issue if you are using factory parts (rearend, wheel, tire). Since I do not have enough info to go on, I can only make some general suggestions. IF the rearend is not original to your car ... is there another rearend that would fit better? (In my case I went from a 1980 Camaro rearend to a 1968 Camaro rearend, the '68 moved the wheels in 1/2" on either side .. side note: I do not have the same type of car that you have, I am just using this as an example). When you are trying to remove the tire ... what exactly is hitting what and preventing the removal? If your tire is catching on something (?) either let some air out (as someone else has mentioned) or go to a smaller tire. If the rim is catching on the wheel studs, is it possible to shorten the wheel studs slightly, but just enough to allow removal of wheel. If the rearends overall width is the actual cause of the problem (and that is the case with my neighbour ... he has a '63 Falcon with a 9" that is too wide for his car), the only solution is to shorten the rear (you have already decided against that) or find another rearend from a different vehicle, that is slightly shorter. Again, based on the limited info supplied (don't know what rearend you are using) ... there is a possibility that you can actually shorten the axles you have (assuming they are not C-clip type or something similar) and then get the housing shortened the amount that the axles were cut. Axles generally have the splines cut longer than needed ... If you look at one of your axles, you will probably be able to see up to what point the carrier contacts the axle. If you have a full two inches (just picking a number here) of spline and you can see that the carrier only contacts 3/4" of the spline, then you have room to cut your axle. At this point the only thing you need to send out would be the housing (letting the shop know how much to cut) to get it shortened. If I recall correctly, shortening a housing is generally $150 or so. Simply put, this should not have been a factor when the car was stock ... so, find out what changed (enough to cause this issue) and change it back. Being able to change a tire on the side of the road is pretty important in my mind.
@borntoloze I have a 57 chev rear end, I know its a bit too wide, but that how I got it and like the gearing....but if this remains a problem beyond the removing of shocks then I will have to concider it.
The '57 Chev rear should be a "drop out carrier" like a 9", 8" and Mopar 8 3/4". That means the axle retention will be at the ends of each housing tube (meaning no C-clip axles). I would look into whether or not there is excess spline on the ends of the axles. This really "might" be a matter of trimming the ends of the axles and getting the housing cut by a professional shop. This way you keep everything the way it is (brake lines, suspension, shocks etc and get to keep the gear ratio you are happy with. As mentioned earlier, the cost to cut a housing is something around $150. Trim 1/2" off each axle (or maybe 3/8") and shorten each axle tube the same amount and your problem is solved. It probably won't take much removal to solve your issue.
I have the same car with the stock rear end in it. I need to jack it up by the frame and lower the axle. I think it's because the way the quaters come down over the tires.
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