My 29 Sedan body is about 53" wide and want to channel it. My question is am I going to be alright with a 10 bolt that is about 58" wide with 9" cheater slicks? I just don't want to rub the body. Any helpful info??
Unfortunately, mine's wider than I remember it from high school but I'm too lazy to exercise. What can ya do? Anyway, about YOUR rearend: My main question would be what kind of rims (offset) you plan to use with this setup? That's gonna make a big difference. You can take a lot of liberties if you're prepared to adjust your wheel offset. But of course that can be expensive depending on your wheel choice.
Is that 58" backing plate to backing plate? If anything you will probably end up with a pretty big gap between the wheels and body.
Depending on the back spacing on your rims the 53" should work. I have a 48" on my sedan and that brings them close to the quarters with 3.75 backspace.
I have a 30 which is less than 53 at the wheel openings. If I remember right my rear is 56 flange to flange and I have a 4 inch backspace and it works well on a fendered car.
The usual width for A's & 32's is 56" outer brake drum to outer brake drum. My 31 on 32 rails roadster has a 56" rear. Tires are 235-75R x 15 on 6" wide x 15" wheels that have 3" backspacing. The tires fit well, have good - but not too much - clearance between fenderwell & tire and fit well inside the bobbed fenders. (29 or 31 fenders incidentally. The 29's are wider by 1" and fit the 31 body just fine when bobbed. 29 fenders on a full fendered 31 - keep in mind we're talking roadsters here - with running boards won't work due to the different running board apron notch.) Fwiw - these tires, although radials, look a lot like bias plys as far as narrowness and height go. My 32 roadster runs a 55" wide rear axle. Tires on that are 285-70R x 15 on 10" x 15" wheels with 2 7/8" backspacing. Tire tread is 8"+. There are 4 bars between frame and tire and things clear well there. The pic below may help give you an idea on clearances. Your 58" rear should work fine provided you don't run too narrow of a tire. The proper choice in backspacing and width could work here. Note that many hot rods are built utilizing the 57 1/2" wide FoMoCo 9" and those work well too. If a factory wheel won't cut it in the backspace dept, Stockton wheel or similar could build some to your specs that would give you the look you're after regardless of tire used.
[ QUOTE ] Is that 58" backing plate to backing plate? If anything you will probably end up with a pretty big gap between the wheels and body. [/ QUOTE ] THIS is the best way to measure a rear end (automotive ...anyway ) Brakes vary in width and WILL mess your measuring up when comparing different rears with different backing plates. The best rear end width I have found for a Model A is the V8 Maverick ....which measures 56 inches .....wheel mounting flange to wheel mounting flange. Then adjust your wheel backspace.
WE've gone through this before but here is the BEST way to determine rear width. Get the tires you are going to use and mount them on the wheels you are going to use. Roll the tires up under the wheelwells positioned with approximately 1" clearance to the inside. this is with the body at ride height. Block the tires in this position making sure they are square to the axle centerline. We use a telescoping fixture with flanges on each end that have the various common bolt patterns drilled in them and mount the tire/wheel combination to them. After your sure of the location and clearances you want to run measure the distance between the mounting surfaces on the wheels. this measurement is the overall width of the axle that you need. We always start with an axle that is too long and cut it down to the exact width needed by narrowing the housing and getting the axles shortened and resplined. You can do an adequate job by searching for a correct length rear (they seldome show up), by jockying the back spacing of the wheels (not cheap depending on the wheel), and usually settling for something that is less than optimum. My experience has been that you seldome end up with the desired results by going with the other route, but this method will insure a correct fit. Frank
If you can't find the right backspacing on the wheels you could get something that would be a little to close to the body and make a spacer for it.
The rear end on my car is 58 1/4 inches from wheel mounting flange to wheel mounting flange. 10 inch cheater slicks. It leaves 1 1/4 inches between the body and the tire.. Its from a early Ford Bronco - 5 on 5 1/2 If you are measuring backing plate to backing plate , the wheel mounting flanges are about 3 in wider per side cause of the drums.
Flexicoker is right but keep the spacer to a minimum. I don't like spacers over 1/4", but you may get away with 1/2". Anything thicker is asking for a whole new set of problems. Frank
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