Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Shift axle over to fit wider tire? #2952205
08/09/21 09:10 PM
08/09/21 09:10 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 115
Tampa Bay
BadFishy Offline OP
member
BadFishy  Offline OP
member

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 115
Tampa Bay
Wanting wider rear tires. 255 now, want 275. Problem is the passenger quarter panel lip is too far in by 1/4”. That panel was replaced. I figure I only need another 1/4” - to be safe - so the lip won’t rub the tire. Lip was already trimmed to the welds. Not enough left to roll it. Plenty of room on the driver side. Not wanting to change the wheels. Not wanting to reposition / re-weld the spring perches.

So my question is how much might be gained by loosening the leaf spring U-bolts and shackles on both sides, wiggling and prying the axle toward the driver side, repositioning the U-bolts and tightening it all back?

Besides this, open to any other creative ideas! Thanks a lot.


1971 Cuda, 440 custom-build
Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: BadFishy] #2952229
08/09/21 09:27 PM
08/09/21 09:27 PM
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 6,174
nowhere
S
Sniper Offline
master
Sniper  Offline
master
S

Joined: May 2019
Posts: 6,174
nowhere
Might want out bust out a tape measure and see if the axle is square in the chassis. The FSM will give you the spits to measure against. Might find you are out of square as is, or will make it out of square shifting it and then you dog track.

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: BadFishy] #2952231
08/09/21 09:28 PM
08/09/21 09:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,843
Pattison Texas
CSK Offline
master
CSK  Offline
master

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,843
Pattison Texas
Take the rear shackles off, get new rubber bushings for them, loosen the u bolts then push on the shackle end of the springs & measure the side to side room, tighten u bolts, reinstall shackles but DO not over tighten them like most people do, I did this but I have sliders in place of my Shackles worked great.

118993485_3355550241170328_2276588052076515874_n.jpg

1968 Charger COLD A/C Hilborn EFI
512ci 9.7 compression, Stealth heads, 4.10 gear A518 ODtrans 4100lb,10.93 full street car trim
2020 T/A 392 Stock 11.79 @ 114.5

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: Sniper] #2952243
08/09/21 09:38 PM
08/09/21 09:38 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,788
Hamilton, Ontario Canada
Magnum Offline
master
Magnum  Offline
master

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,788
Hamilton, Ontario Canada
Originally Posted by Sniper
Might want out bust out a tape measure and see if the axle is square in the chassis. The FSM will give you the spits to measure against. Might find you are out of square as is, or will make it out of square shifting it and then you dog track.


/\ excellent answer.

If the front fender was rubbing on one tire, would you run a negative camber to clear it?

end of thread.


69 Super Bee, 93 Mustang LX, 04 Allure Super
Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: Magnum] #2952246
08/09/21 09:46 PM
08/09/21 09:46 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,843
Pattison Texas
CSK Offline
master
CSK  Offline
master

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,843
Pattison Texas
LOL, like these cars were square when new LOL, moving the rear over 1/4 of an inch will not cause a problem & yes I said to measure things I used the inner wheel well to measure off of

Last edited by csk; 08/09/21 09:49 PM.

1968 Charger COLD A/C Hilborn EFI
512ci 9.7 compression, Stealth heads, 4.10 gear A518 ODtrans 4100lb,10.93 full street car trim
2020 T/A 392 Stock 11.79 @ 114.5

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: CSK] #2952319
08/10/21 07:35 AM
08/10/21 07:35 AM
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 9,791
MI, usa
dvw Offline
master
dvw  Offline
master

Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 9,791
MI, usa
My car has all the OE sheet metal and was still off. I cut the spring perches off, slid them over 3/8", and rewelded. Doesn't change the way the car drives at all. My Challenger has been like this 17 years.
Doug

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: CSK] #2952360
08/10/21 10:02 AM
08/10/21 10:02 AM
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 140
Missouri
R
randavis Offline
member
randavis  Offline
member
R

Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 140
Missouri
Quote
LOL, like these cars were square when new LOL


I am the original owner of a '74 Challenger. When I took it for it's first front end alignment, the shop found that there was a one inch difference in wheelbase from side to side. I took it back to the dealer and complained until they fixed it. IIRC they cut the perches off of the rear axle and welded on new ones.


74 Challenger, bought it new. In 1978 I replaced the original 318 with a 446 and 727. Mild cam, Jardine headers, and Holley Sniper EFI.
New engine! 511" RB, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, Eagle rotating assy, Comp hyd roller cam, Doug's 2" headers.
Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: randavis] #2952405
08/10/21 11:29 AM
08/10/21 11:29 AM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,239
north of coder
moparx Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"
moparx  Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"

Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,239
north of coder
and yet a "trick"[?] for drag racing is to get one wheel ahead of the other by 1". biggrin
beer

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: moparx] #2952408
08/10/21 11:34 AM
08/10/21 11:34 AM
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 172
Suffolk,VA
D
dragracedr Offline
member
dragracedr  Offline
member
D

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 172
Suffolk,VA
I do believe the 1" stagger refers to the front end. You don't want the rear end steering the car.

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: dragracedr] #2952419
08/10/21 12:01 PM
08/10/21 12:01 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,239
north of coder
moparx Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"
moparx  Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"

Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,239
north of coder
yes, the front end. never the rear ! biggrin
beer

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: moparx] #2952623
08/10/21 08:26 PM
08/10/21 08:26 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,486
Freeport IL USA
poorboy Offline
I Live Here
poorboy  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,486
Freeport IL USA
There were advantages of having the rear end steer the car a bit on the old dirt track racer...

If I remember correctly, the allowable body tolerance on the late 60s Mopars was + ? - 1/4". That could easily add up to 1/2" difference. Don't really remember many where the rear axle was actually centered in the wheel wells, most had one side wider the the other side.

Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: poorboy] #2953080
08/12/21 10:25 AM
08/12/21 10:25 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,788
Hamilton, Ontario Canada
Magnum Offline
master
Magnum  Offline
master

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,788
Hamilton, Ontario Canada
Not all cars were as crooked as you guys think. I measured my 69 Bee's rear axle with plumb bobs. To check the thrust angle to the center of the front suspension. I was within a 1/16". This is less than a 1/16" over 117".

So what if you are correct and it is off 1/4". Then you want to move it over another 1/4". That is now 1/2". Unacceptable. Try a little harder to get things correct and stop accepting the fact that these cars had poor tolerances.

I can understand not wanting to unweld and reweld a car together to make it a little better but do not reweld to make it worse. If the problem is in the body/quarter. Adjust the quarter. It would not take much to pull an outer quarter over a bit.
Square cars for the road, this is not dirt racing or moving a wheel ahead to catch a win light.

Last edited by Magnum; 08/12/21 10:27 AM.

69 Super Bee, 93 Mustang LX, 04 Allure Super
Re: Shift axle over to fit wider tire? [Re: Magnum] #2953262
08/12/21 08:35 PM
08/12/21 08:35 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,486
Freeport IL USA
poorboy Offline
I Live Here
poorboy  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,486
Freeport IL USA
I have nothing to do with this project, I only added a short comment about the dirt track days, and factory tolerances.

I've seen some really messed up original stuff through the years, but I've seen some nearly perfect original stuff as well.

When I welded stuff together, I worked really hard to get things as even, side to side as possible.

That is unless it was the dirt car. With those, having the "right" poor body tolerance was usually a good thing. "Factory stock" by the rules, poor tolerance in our favor. Gene







Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1