Technical '49 Ford coupe rear end swap question

I know the factory '49 Ford club coupe rear axle is 57" wide.
I want to lower the ass end 8 to 10" from where it sits now. It looks like it sits way higher than factory judging by other pictures, but maybe not. Either way, I keep reading that going any lower than a 3" drop makes it really hard to remove the rear wheels.
It currently has the factory 16" wheels on it but I'll be swapping to a set of 15x5s with 3" bs. I'll be using a set of 215/70r15 tires.
In my research for rear axle widths I found that 2wd s10 rears are 54.5" wide.
My question is, can I use an axle that much more narrow with the wheel and tire combo I said or will the tire hit the inner wheel well or frame?

 

Don't know about shoeboxes but the rear tires on my '54 Ranch wagon are a PITA to remove and its stock height with 215/78/15's. Also, any chance your rear shackles are flipped? When I changed the rear springs on the wagon I initially had the shackles in a down position. Popped them up and the ride was where it should be.

 

I wondered the same thing but the shackles are in the correct orientation. The problem is the cars still at the guys house bought it from so I can't take any measurements at all. I figure if I can swing the narrow rear end that would give me about an inch and a 1/2 of extra room to squeeze those tires through, which I would think would be plenty of room. I could also buy skinnier tires, I just had 2 left over from my '51 Bel-Air since I bought a set of 4 but only needed 2 of them due to nails so I planned on using them

 

Looks like since not a single person has used an axle thats more narrow than stock, I'll be the guinea pig.

 

I have the Maverick 8" rear in my 50 with 2" blocks. Running 205 X 15 radials and it's a tight fit. Have to put a bottle jack between spring and frame to remove tires. If you run bias ply tires 670 X 15 you probably wouldn't have to do that.

 

What rim width and back spacing are using? With the Maverick rear being the same width as stock is there any way I could get you to measure how much space you have between the tire and the inner wheel well/frame? If there's 3 or 4" of space before the tire touches then I'm in business with the S10 rear.