I have been struggling with the front tire size on my 1940 sedan since I got it. 7.50's look great in the rear, but the only size that seems to clear the fenders in the front is a 500/525x16. The problem is that the white walls don't match the rear tires. I had come to accept the issue, but last week while in Vegas I stopped by the So Cal Speedshop there and there before my eyes was a 1937 Ford convertible coupe with 6.00x16 wide whites tucked nicely under the front fenders. I spoke with the owner and he said it had a 4" drop axle and a reversed eye stock spring, and the 6.00's didn't rub......ever. When I got home I decided to try and see what a 6.00 would do I my car. I bolted it up and....as expected.....there is no way it will fit. Let me clarify.....it will fit but I only get a half turn of the steering wheel each way. My car has a 4" drop axle and a Posie reverse eye front spring. I'm curious if there is anyone that has fit 6.00's under the front of their 40 with the same setup? My car looks quite a bit lower than the 37 in Vegas so maybe its a totally different beast under the frontend? The clearance issue I have is with the fender. I can turn it enough to see if there is a frame clearance issue, but since the stock tire size was 6.00x16 I assume there isn't. From what I see, the only possible solution at the current height would be to find a narrower axle (if they make such a thing). If I need to raise my car a little bit I'm fine with that as long as it will clear the tires. I'm hoping that someone has a 1940 Ford with 6.00x16's in the front and can tell me the secret to the suspension setup. I'd love to see pictures as well.
Here's the 37 that is running 6.00x16 Firestone's in front. Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
He probably has a narrowed axle......Now that I go back and read your post again, I see that you may have come already to this conclusion.
For my 39 sedan, I had my friend Jack Fuller drop and narrow a 36 axle for me. He narrowed it up as part of the drop. Using a 36 axle and a 36 wishbone you can put a narrowed and dropped axle in it with out have to split the wishbone and it all bolts right in.
Thanks for the reply. Nailhead Jason......do you have the front fenders on with that new dropped axle? I'm just wondering if the clear the frame and the fenders. Also, what spring did you use? A stocker with a reverse eye or a new one? A profile picture of the car would be really swell.
There are a lot of variables here including offset and spring height. Your car looks lower that the 37 by a bunch and the tire looks closer to the lip. Like you stated, could be a narrowed axle, could be wheel offset. I get you, I too like the whitewalls to match or at least be closer than what you have currently. I hope you post the answer.
I ran into the same issues with my 39. I had to rearrange what was in the spring pack, then I went back to stock length shackles with the shock mount studs for tube shocks, and I still get an issue with my 5 1/2" commercial wide 5s. The spring and shackle change raised me about 2" or less. When it was all assembled a 600 would not work because the car was simply too low. I'm wanting blackwalls anyway so size is the challenge. I'll also have to use my 3 1/2" wide 5s so I may end up with the only pair of 3 1/2" commercial wide 5s out there. Maybe not but I haven't seen one yet. It's entirely possible I'll have to suck it up and run the 5.50s, but I like the look of the 6.00 better. the 6.00... the 5.50 on the commercial wheel... The rim width to the inside won't clear the shock stud on the shackle set. I've already lost a little turn radius with the un-split bones. Whether it's enough to worry about remains to be seen. I don't know about WA roads but here in MI we have holes in some roads big enough for a family to live in (!) and there's no telling where you'll hit the nasty ones. 6.00s will help there too I think.
I have had the front fenders back on to check clearance and it clears with 6.0 barely. I am using the dropper 36 axle and a posies reverse eye spring no issues hitting frame, it tight on the fenders with a 6.0 16, but clears my 5.60 x15 white walls fine. The car is on stands now with the front clip off while the new motor and wiring are completed it may be too low for me but I wont know for sure till I can drive it. In that case I will switch the front spring out for a NOS stock one I have.
theHIGHLANDER.........the picture of the 6.00 on your car is EXACTLY what I want. I love how it fills the fender opening. The 5.50's don't look terrible, but you're lucky because you are running blackwalls. My problem is that the smallest Firestone with the white wall that matches the 7.50's is a 6.00 so I HAVE to fit a 6.00 to get them to match. I've looked at the Posie's website as well as the Speedway axle list and the only axles that are narrower between the kingpins are 1928-34. They are 46" vs. 48" for 1936-48......from what I can see. Can I use a 28-34 axle under my 40 and will 2" be enough of a difference? I'm really hoping that someone with a 1940 Ford can verify that they have done this and what it took. My wallet isn't deep enough to start ordering stuff to try just to find out it won't work. Nailhead Jason.......how much did Jack narrow your 36 axle? I don't know if I'll find the right axle off the shelf so I may have to find someone to custom drop/narrow one and I want to make sure I request the correct specs. I'm going to try and call Posie's tomorrow and get their input on the situation. With all the 40 Fords on the road I can't believe this is something that no one else has tried. Hopefully we'll get someone to post some pictures of their 40 with 6.00's tucked up under the front. I just want to see proof that it can be done.......
My axle was narrowed about an inch on each side. so 2 total, I can measure it, tonight when I get home. If you can find a Chassis engineering axle, That should work, they were 47 3/4 inches wide, and you could use them with a 35 36 wishbone. I haven't Checked but I was told that Pete and Jakes Was selling them now, as Pete and Jakes Forged I beams, but I have not looked into it yet. I Prefer to use a stock axle and have it dropped, just preference really, you can use any 33 to 36 axle in a 35 36 wishbone with no issues and they are usually pretty cheap and easy to find.
As I re-read what I wrote above, the car will now be higher by nearly 2". Not sure I was clear on that, but what I didn't say was the pics show the car before I raised it a bit. My axle is a 4" drop, but it was on the car when I got so that's the total of my technical input to this topic. If I find out the origin of it I'll be sure to share. Even raised up some the car should still present itself with a bitchin stance. And, for the record, this is really helpful to me on my gig. Power to the HAMB...
I used a chassis engineering 47" (Stock is 48.5") axle, the narrowed axle is the way to go to get them low with good tire clearance. I had 500/525's on mine, but I agree, a bigger whitewall would have looked better. Chassis engineering doesn't make these axles anymore, but there are other comparable axles available. You would need around a 47" KP TO KP, around a 35" perch width. This axle also requires a different spring, one that will work with 35" perch width. (I think stock is 39") You would also need to split the wishbones, and heat and bend the spring mount on the wishbones back to parallel after you narrow the perch width. You are basically narrowing the wide end of the wishbone triangle.
Nailhead Jason.......that's what I'm finding as I look for axles. It looks like the 40 drop axle is 48" king pin to king pin and the earlier axle is 46". I have a couple wishbones I'll need to measure tonight. I assume that it isn't worth trying to "tweak" a 40 wishbone to fit the earlier axle? theHIGHLANDER........thanks for the clarification. I am not upset about having to raise my car a little in the front. Right now I can't even roll a floorjack under the nose without driving up on 2x4 blocks first. I want a rake, but the white wall issue is way more important to me. birdman1.........any chance you have a picture for us? I did some searching and it appears Lucky7 has been out of business for a few years so that's not an option. Do you know the specs? Thanks.
Dan Hay.......SWEET CAR! Looks a lot like mine and it looks like you're running the same tires. So from your description it seems like quite a bit of work to swap to the narrower axle. Do you HAVE to split the wishbone or can you get away with the narrower early wishbone? Thanks for the picture.
Some 13" Tru Spokes would fix all your problems! Are your wheels 4" or 4.5"? '40 should be 4". If you're extremely lucky, and I know you are, you might be able to score some 3.5" '40 V8 60 wheels. That'd help. Otherwise you're going to go the narrower axle route. Dropped '34-'36 axle & '35-'36 wishbone route or split your '40 bones (don't). You should've just kept your '47!
Also look up @CTaulbert 's old '40 standard build & how he narrowed the stock wishbone setup. You know the car, now owned by Colin of Mac's Tie Downs.
You don't HAVE to split the wishbones, as mentioned in the above post, Cory Taulbert massaged his wishbones to accept the narrower axle. The rest of us who aren't as talented as cory need to split the bones. If you can find his thread all the info is there. To answer your question: No, an earlier wishbone will not work, it would need to be split as well. Also, 35-36 wishbone spring perches are 1" higher than 37-40, meaning that if you use the earlier bones, the car will sit 1" higher. As for the work, yes, it takes some work if the car is already done, but I was starting from scratch, so I knew that stance was of high importance so I stepped up for the narrowed axle and spring. Then I bought some bones that were already split, so then I just bought some split wishbone mounts from Chassis engineering.
Sid can drop your 40 axle and it will have a 46 1/2" king pin to king pin length when done. $250.00 plus shipping. https://droppedaxles.com/ford-dropped-axles-0
Nostalgia Sid is a great guy and I recommend his product. However, when you narrow the track width but not the perch width, the tire will then rub the wishbone, and sometimes the tube shock mount, (depending on what kind of shock mount you have. So yes, this axle will get that done, but you won't have quite as much turning radius.
On a non split wishbone setup, your moving the wheel in 1" per side. If it hits the wishbone, just how much turning radius will it be reduced? How much can this be mitigated with say a 15" wheel and tire as opposed to a 16" wheel and tire?
a little late but here is my 39 with dropped 36 axle on unsplit 36 wishbone, with 5.60 X 15 tires on the front. clears everything perfectly and rides like a dream.
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