32 ford rear end location?

I could use a little advice on where to location the diff on my 5w deuce highboy/ no fenders. I'm going with P&J ladder bars, model A xmember & spring. The instructions indicate centerline of the diff should be 17.75 " back from center of lower fender hole on the rails but it looks kinda funny with the wheel not centered in the wheel tub. what have you folks being doing with this problem?

 

a stock `32 with the 106" wheel base has the rear axle at least 1" too far forward in the wheelwell. http://americandreamcars.com/1932ford3wcp092403.htm check out this side view of a stock 3w. correcting this is difficult if useing the original rear crossmember and spring, because moving the banjo housing back would hit the crossmember. this must have been one of those engineering mistakes, they had to live with.

 

In the search archives its covered a few times, some move the rear crossmember back 1/2 to 1 inch to center tire in wheel tub(well). I left my wheelbase pretty close to stock, I used the 40 ford rear cross, and moved back any gets into the fuel tank. With fenders its a big deal, without its not so big of a deal, or at least not a big deal to me. Deuceroadster will probably post some good pics and comments about the subject. Any pics of the build to post?

 

Fit everything loose and car outside ,Need to find center of wheel well and mark body location ,Then do the otherside ,Have someone stretch the rope a couple feet past your car ,All this while lining marks ,Car should be at ride height and the wheels and tires you will be using should be on car ,The rope is for where you stand to see if it looks good there or move an inch or 1/2 or whatever ,Building a car and setting the rear is what is pleasing to the eye ,So you dont need measurements ......

 

I think that 1" is about the standard to get the wheel in the center of the stock wheel well. I've moved them anywhere from 1/2" to 1" and went with 3/4" on my 2 dr. I've also found that the bigger the diameter the rear tire the farther back (1") makes it look good. Another fly in the ointment is whether you going to run fenders or not. On a fenderless car the tire must be concentric with the rear fender reveal or it will look odd regardless of any measurement. I always tell everyone they had better mock up the pieces that are going to be used and get back about 30' and see for yourself. In car crafting sometimes a 1/4" will make or break the look.

Frank

 

thanks for the valuable tips...I've attached a pic of the wheelhouse with the measurement P & J recommend for axle placement between the 2 pieces of tape in the pic...looks too far back to me. I'm using a tall 31" tall 16" firestone . here are a couple of build pics you requested...I've set up of the car an old blackhawk frame machine which we use for a chassis jig...tubular crossmembers installed by previous builders will be removed and replaced.

 

Your right, it looks as if the body could move back to center it properly. If so, what does that do to you body hole alignment?

 

Use the P&J measurements, it'll work out great ! Or, you might use a chain instead of a rope .. :-( jat

 

I thought I had measured everything that a guy could measure when I solidly welded my flattened '40 crossmember into my 3w chassis. I think I even threw my body up on top for a lookie loo. When I was doing my final round of fitting, I realized my rear axle was too far forward. I ended up back in the jig and a day spent cutting the crossmember back loose. I bumped it back 9/16". It's not getting moved again.

 

thx for the pointers, I ended up using the P & J measurement that came with the ladder bar kit. Ready to sand blast, bodywork and paint frame and all chassis components this week. Hopefully the weather man up here gives me some decent weather to get the blasting done this week.

 

I've built a few 32's Always use P&J measurement's ( I helped develope them )
My own 32 Tudor has a 9" & stock '32 spring & crossmember.
It sits low & everything is right where it should be.

 

How cool is this to have Pete Eastwood contribute to this thread!! I often read thru HOT ROD GARAGES for inspiration/motivation.

 

I called Jerry Slover at P&J and asked about what he recommended for mounting a 9" in a 32 with the stock spring, he said they had spring hangers that Pete Eastwood had designed specificaly for this application, they worked perfectly.