U.S. Wheels

[JimNolan]

Guys,
  I've got to tell you about this cause there's some good information you can take to the bank in this post.
  I got my U.S. Wheels 8" 462 mag wheels in today and tried them out on the car. These wheels look EXACTLY like the Cragar SS wheels I have. The back is a little different but the front is the same. You'd think the same manufactor made both. The center caps are exactly the same also so I'll be able to run the Cragar center caps. Mounting holes are the same size and shape of the Cragar's but they suggest using round washers instead of the excentric washers like Cragar uses for mounting. The biggest backspace for the 15 inch 462 wheel is 4.750".   During my calculations I'd figured the 4.750" offset would put me in the center of the wheel well. WRONG. The correct backspace I needed to put me in the center of my wheel well is 5.000". U.S. Wheel doesn't make this big of backspace in their 15" wheel. Neither does Cragar. So a 4.750" backspace is what I got. Now the fit.
 The distance from the edge of the mounted wheel to the closest place on the fender lip is 1.125". The distance from the mounted wheel to the closest place on the spring is 1.625". The section width of the Hoosier tire I'm putting on is 9.75". That will give me .750" clearance from tire to fender lip and 1.250" clearance from tire to spring. ( I'll never forgive myself for giving a guy grief on here about wheel clearance when I didn't know what I was talking about.)
Anyway, I could have used a bigger tire if I had wanted. My wheel well ended up being 11.740" so basically if I'd used a wheel with a backspace of 5.00" I could have put a tire on there with a section width of 11.250" and still have had almost a 1/4" of space on each side of the fender well. I had no idea you could put that much tire underneath a 57 Ford. As for mounting, the 55 Ford Shocks should let me mount a 27" tire without any problems. Hope this information helps someone. Jim
 

[JPotter57]

How about some pics, Jim? 

[JimNolan]

That's a good idea. The tires are shipped but they aren't here yet so I can get a picture from the back of wheel well showing the wheel in the housing. I'll do that tomorrow. Jim

[Hoosier Hurricane]

Jim:

I think you'll find that the fender lip is not the tightest spot in the wheel well.  The inner fender curves toward the center of the car rather quickly, and that's where a wide tire rubs first.  Be sure to look at that area when you get the tires.

John

P.S.  Enjoyed meeting you at Columbus.

[RICH MUISE]

John...I know from your background experience you've dealt with this many times and know what you are talking about, so I'll ask 'cause I'm not understanding why the backspacing on the wheel wouldn't make the difference of whether the clearance is tighter at the inner wheel well vs. fender lip?
Maybe it's not undestanding whether you meant "curves towards center of car" meaning center of car front to back, or center of car side to side.  Thanks Rich

[JimNolan]

John,
   I was having such a good day. Jim

[JimNolan]

Ok, I'll try this again. Here are the pictures. I'll have to split them up in different posts. These pictures are what the wheel looks like. Jim  PS. The top picture is the US Wheel and the bottom is ithe Cragar. The center section of the Crager is a smiggin bigger than the US Wheel.

[JimNolan]

OK, the measurements this time. The glare won't let you see it but the spring side is 1 5/8" and the fender side is 1 1/8". I could have ordered a 5.00" backspaced wheel and had 1 3/8" space left on each side of the 8" wheel. Jim  PS
    John, I'd have to have a very tall tire before I got into the top of the inner fender well where it curves back into the center of the car.

[BAMA_57]

Good info. Any mods to the suspension? You mentioned the '55 FORD shocks, did you mean the mounts, can you elaborate?
Thanks
Ron

[JimNolan]

Ron,
   I found out by accident that if you put 1955 Ford rear shocks on a 1957 Ford that the rear axle will drop 3.5" further down to enable you to put a 27" tall tire straight onto the drum without having to worry about the tires section width having to fit between the fender and the drum. This is why we couldn't put big tires on our cars without having to loosen the shocks to get big tires on the car. The drawback to using 55 Ford shocks is that you have to jack your car up another 3.5" to get the tire off. I carry a small section of 6" X 6" wood post so my scissor jack won't have to go up too high. Look in previous threads for all the perticulars and part numbers.
   This isn't a big concern if you only use your car now and then at a race track. But, if you use your car alot, especially trips, you want the security of knowing you don't have to take your car apart to change the rear tire. Jim

[Hoosier Hurricane]

Rich:

I meant curved inward side to side.  If you look in your trunk at the wheel wells you'll see what I meant.  If you use tall tires or lower the car a lot the interference will be in the upper part of the wheel well.

John

[Lgcustom]

Guys,

Regarding the '55 Ford shocks, I bought a set and installed them. They fit as advertised and the axle drops lower as noted above. BUT, CAUTION WILL ROBINSON!!! The flex hose for the brakes needs to be longer also or have an extension bracket made to drop the connection to the body hard line down lower. I had both sides jacked up and sitting on stands to work on the axle and noticed the line was tight as a rubber band!

[JimNolan]

LGCustom,
     Thanks for bringing that up. I didn't notice if mine did that or not. I apparently haven't broken anything yet, brakes still work. I will look at that very carefully next time I have it in the air. Jim

[F570RD]

A friend of mine sent this to me last week.It was taken in 1990.Couldn't help think of Jim's Fairlane.

[JimNolan]

F57ord,
   There's a bigggggg diference in the two cars. It has everything to do with the numbers on the windows. Super cool car, nice paint and wheels. I bet it's a fun ride. Thanks for sharing. Jim