oem wheel width?

RICH MUISE · 2015-08-13 08:18

Somebody here...I'm thinking it was Jim/Hiball, had ground clearance problems with a lowered front end. I'm hoping whoever it was sees this and chimes in. I'm hoping to find out how their front end was lowered (dropped spindles like mine?), if they had the concorse sway bar, and what their front tire sizes are.
I was originally thinking about picking up an additional inch of rake on the car with the tires. The diameter of the 235/70-15's on the back is 27.95, and I'm looking at 205/70-15's for the front, which has a dia. of 26.3. Not sure if that's gonna get me into a ground clearance issue or not. Kinda hard to tell on a dirt floor.

hiball3985 · 2015-08-13 09:39

Rich, thanks for the info, I've read so many post on this subject that I get confused LOL. The biggest problem for me is getting the wheels off and on, once they are on everything as far as clearance is fine. The more I thought about it, and thats dangerous LOL, I'm wondering if part of the problem is the Ranchero/Wagons use a wider brake drum, so I assume the axle and drum set out a little further toward the fender ?.

PS; I hope your rims weren't setting on the dock in China that blew up

RICH MUISE · 2015-08-13 10:10

Dock blew up??...probably! but I will say I had thought more along the lines that the ship sank in a storm, or the US dockworkers would go on a 6 month strike.

hiball3985 · 2015-08-13 10:14

Just saw the dock handles hazardous materials so you are safe on that one.

RICH MUISE · 2015-08-20 08:37

Quote from: lalessi1 on 2015-08-12 15:56
Very interested in the shock thing. I have Gabriel Hijacker air shocks now, wondering what a modest extension might do. I haven't tried disconnecting the shocks to put the wheel/tire on. Seems I remember jacking the rear end up to fit the shocks...For me at this point rear discs and/or narrowing the rear end are way down my "wish list" as well.

Lynn...several guys on the Hamb are using extensions, and have been for years. Both say they have had no issues with them.

(some info moved to brake related)

hiball3985 · 2015-08-20 09:38

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2015-08-13 08:18
Somebody here...I'm thinking it was Jim/Hiball, had ground clearance problems with a lowered front end. I'm hoping whoever it was sees this and chimes in. I'm hoping to find out how their front end was lowered (dropped spindles like mine?), if they had the concorse sway bar, and what their front tire sizes are.
I was originally thinking about picking up an additional inch of rake on the car with the tires. The diameter of the 235/70-15's on the back is 27.95, and I'm looking at 205/70-15's for the front, which has a dia. of 26.3. Not sure if that's gonna get me into a ground clearance issue or not. Kinda hard to tell on a dirt floor.

That was me

I have the Granada spindles which lowers the front and I've had the sway bar brackets bottom out a few times, but I'm also running 215/70/14's which doesn't help.
I found another issue on the rear also, after installing the rear sway bar you can't jack it up one one side and remove the rear tire, you have to jack up both sides so the sway bar allows the rear end to drop evenly

RICH MUISE · 2015-08-20 10:22

Carry two jacks on a road trip??.....I think I'll see how my car does without a rear sway bar. I'm glad you brought that up, thanks.
front tire sizes..probably a redundant question, but what is the backspace on your front wheels? Do you have tire rub on the sway bar at full lock?
BTW, the 205/70/15 tire size I was contemplating for the front is less than a 1/4" difference in height vs yours. Your dia. I think is 25.85, mine would be 26.3
If you ever want to raise your front end an inch, I believe the Granada spindles can be reamed out so they drop all the way down on the ball joints giving a 1 1/2 drop. I think most of us probably ordered the 2 1/2 drop from drop n stop, and I'm assuming that's what yours is.

hiball3985 · 2015-08-20 10:37

Rich I have the same 215/70/14 on the front, I'm not sure of the backspace on the Cragars but I think Lynn said it was 3.5 in an old post. I had never thought about the tire hitting the sway bar until after reading an earlier post about it. After all the driving I have done I couldn't see and mark on the tire or bar indicating a rub. But one day when it was jacked up I turned the wheel to full lock and the tire did hit the bar. I guess under normal driving and I've made some sharp turns/ and a few U turns I guess it never went to full lock.

I'll need two jacks or disconnect the sway bar on one side. I haven't given it a lot of thought because I don't even have a spare tire

gasman826 · 2015-08-20 19:51

Buy good tires...no jacks...no spares...carry plastic in your wallet!!!!

For the stray nail, I carry a plug kit and have on board air for the air bags. I've found you can't carry all the parts and tools you might need.

Ford Blue blood · 2015-08-21 08:39

Quote from: gasman826 on 2015-08-20 19:51
I've found you can't carry all the parts and tools you might need.

X2....found over the years just a couple of things to get you to help. Couple of scew drivers, wrenches, pliers, couple of feet of wire and a good used fan belt to keep the water pump turning. If you still run points, the old set that came out at the last tune up.

RICH MUISE · 2015-08-26 14:46

I called Rocket to get an update on my second 7" wheel for the back, and they couldn't give me a definite date but did assure me at some point in time...at least 2-3 months, the wheel will be available. So....I went ahead and bought 2 front tires and had them mounted.
just to review....front= 6" wide wheels, 15" dia with a 3.5 backspace. I purchased 205-70-15 tires which will give me an added .83 to the back to front rake (235/70-15's on the back). The good news is, at full lock I have about 5/8" clearance to the Concourse aftermarket sway bar. Yeah!!
Gonna go put the 2nd front tire on.
No issue with the lug studs (Granada discs), btw. I did get my Rocket bullet chrome lug nuts in today, and along with them I ordered one open lug nut so I could get a visual on the thread engagement. Their open lug nut ended up flush with the stud end at hand tight, so I'll call that good.

clusterbuster · 2015-09-07 16:09

Rich, how do you luck out getting a seven inch wide rim and tire to fit up and in on the back? I am running 14x7;s and have to let the air almost completely out of the tire to get it up and in. In case I get a flat rear tire, I bought a cigarette lighter plug in type of air compressor and keep it in the trunk. I can then let the air out of my new spare, put it up and in, and then re-inflate it. Also won't use the old style bumper jack, as they are hard on these new re chrome bumpers. Use a scissors jack and rigged up half inch drive socket system to crank the jack easier.

RICH MUISE · 2015-09-07 16:57

bigger dia wheel = more clearance to get by things. Also tire size has alot to do with it. I'm running 235/70/15's. May be a difference in backspace also... mine are 4.25. And, I don't have shocks on yet, but planning on shocks for a '55 passenger car, so shouldn't change the ability to drop the axel far enough.
How much clearance do you have when the car is sitting on the ground? Mine has actually settled back in after all the jacking up and down, and then driving it a bit. I now have a little over 1/2 clearance now tire to fender lip. I assume you are jacking the car up under the frame, correct?
Not really lucking out though...I ordered one to try it out. I hope the second one gets shipped before the end of the year.

clusterbuster · 2015-09-07 18:46

I am jacking it from the bottom of the frame. Do you think the rear shocks I am running with the coil spring on them are not allowing the rear housing to come down quite far enough? Measuring from the tire sidewall to the inner quarter flange, I have 2 5/8 inches. Measuring from the edge of the rim to the inner quarter flange, I have 3 3/4 inches. Didn't give any thought about shocks until you mentioned it.

RICH MUISE · 2015-09-07 19:20

You have 2 " more clearance than me?? wow! Are you running a wheel with a really deep backspace?
I didn't have that much with my old tires.
Yes, most guys with big tires that are pretty much otherwise unmodified have to loosen the shocks to let the axel drop far enough to get their tires off. We've had several threads going on this, mostly a result of Jim Nolan's experimenting with different shocks. He found '55 passenger car shocks would let the axel drop another few inches so he could get his tires on/off at the drag strip without it being a major hastle. I'll try and find the thread...think I have it archived. Downside only comes into play if you carry heavy loads, as the car will bottom out sooner than the stock setup, but I can't imagine even the Ranchero owners having a problem unless they're hauling engines with them on a regular basis.
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=2674.msg15175#msg15175

News:

oem wheel width?