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By Jim - 14 Years Ago
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I just heard from Ted Eaton this afternoon and the old 312 motor dyno'ed out at 313 hp. The new 292 with aluminum heads, rollers, etc, etc should produce substantially more hp. Given that, I will have to go to wider meats on the back. I don't want to cut axles, tub it out, etc but will need to go as wide as possible. Also will most likely be installing a set of Cal-Traks to combat wheel hop.
Any comments on how wide you have been able to go with a stock setup?
Thanks,
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By speedpro56 - 14 Years Ago
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Jim, I run 225/70s and they should hold you ok. Stepping up to 235/70/15s start getting tighter but still work with the right back spacing. Going 245s can be asking for trouble even though I've used them with modified back spacing on my tbird.....still too close for for me.
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By Jim - 14 Years Ago
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Any special backspacing on the 225/70 tires?
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By speedpro56 - 14 Years Ago
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No.
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By PWH42 - 14 Years Ago
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215-75X15 worked fine on my original wheels.I changed to 6 inch wheels and had to use a spacer on the front to keep from polishing the top ball joint.The rear sometimes rubs the skirt locking handle on hard turn.
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By Jim - 14 Years Ago
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Thanks for the responses, at this point, I am not even thinking about the front tires and wheels, just trying to get enough rubber under the back to help combat wheel hop and shredding the tires so badly. It is a neat problem to have though!
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By charliemccraney - 14 Years Ago
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Perhaps you should wait until you have the cal tracs and then worry about tires. I can tell you, when I went from 225s to 275s on the back of my truck, I couldn't tell the difference. They seem to spin just as easily. That's almost 2" wider! No traction devices... yet.
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By Grizzly - 14 Years Ago
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Jim, I have a mainline ute which has 255/50/17 rears I copied the idea from here http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/featuredvehicles/1011rc_1956_ford_park_lane_wagon/viewall.html my wheels are 17 x 8 4.5 backspace and 17x7 3.5 backspace. The car when I bought it had 235/70/15. The wider tyres are narrower overall by 5mm because there's not as much of a bulge with the lower profile tyres. Be cautious I think the utes and wagons are different. Cheers Warren
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By junkyardjeff - 14 Years Ago
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I have 235/75-15s on the rear of my 55 and I have a maverick 8 inch that is a little narrower then the original,I still have to let the air out of the tires like I did with the original rear end.
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By Doug T - 14 Years Ago
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Hi Jim, I believe T birds and pass cars have the same rear wheel well. In any case I am running 235/45ZR17 on 8" wide Torque Thrust II's with 5 3/4" back spacing on my Bird. The axle is well located from side to side and I get a bit of rubbing on the insides, I don't know much movement that leaf springs allow by themselves. I have had no tire damage but the tire has polished a small part of the inner fender well. Nominally I would guess I have about 1/2" on each side. Before you order wheels and tires, measure, measure, measure. I made a wooden "T" that I could bolt to the rear axle flange and then cut cardboard profiles that matched the wheel and tire combinations I was considering. You really need to rotate the profile through the entire wheel well on both sides of the car and you need the car's weight on the axle. I think there can be variation from side to side. You can get actual tire dimensions for individual tire cross sections which vary somewhat from vendor to vendor, from Tire Rack and probably other web sites.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 14 Years Ago
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Jim - While you are researching this - look for some sticky tires - not just the biggest that will fit. Most of our outfits won't go enough miles in a year to not just put some "cheater slicks" or drag radials on there. I put some Goodyear "F-1" sticky's on my old Z-28 (2002/LS-1 motor) and it quit spinning and started hauling a$$. When they'd had enough (20,000 miles on my daily driver) I went back to the regular street tires and it was pretty boring......lots of smoke - but no go.
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By Y block Billy - 14 Years Ago
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I don't know what else you have stock under your car for rear end, tranny etc, but going wider, stickier etc, you are apt to break other things if you don't have those areas beefed up already. When I put my motor in my 55 I snapped a u joint and splayed the yoke apart. I had a 9 inch ready to go in so that was the initiating factor to get it in there.
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By speedpro56 - 14 Years Ago
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Jim, 225/70/15s will hold more than you think. I'm running 225/70/16s on the back of my Tbird and they do a very good job holding my car under a strong acceleration with good traction. If I hammer it from a dead stop position yes it would smoke them really good taking off but how often are you gonna do that!! This bird was putting out 400+ HP. I'm still gonna run these tires on the street. At the drag strip I'll change to something with alittle more grip. However I do have a posi under it which helps with the traction and I assume you do as well.
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By Jim - 14 Years Ago
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Ya, I do have posi there, 1957 9" rear with 370 ratio. Ted also suggested that I have two sets of meats for the rear, one set for street and the other for the strip or for when I am just messing with the pony cars! With a little tweaking, Ted did get 331 hp out of the old motor. Now it is time to start stealing goodies off of it for the new alum head engine. Stuff like timing chain cover (aluminum), intake (aluminum), MSD ignition, etc. I'm not counting chickens yet but Ted says that we should see upwards of 400hp out of this new powerplant. As you can imagine, I can hardly wait to make a run down to his shop and chronicle the dyno pulls!
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By Mike1956 - 13 Years Ago
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Great Post. Im a newbe here. Thanks to everyone for the experienced input. trial and error can get expensive. I have a 1956 customline and I like wide tires on the back. Sort of 1970 thing, just like the way it looks. Currently have 245/60/15s on 6.5" rims with 4" back space. (On the back) After weeks of looking, researching, measuring, going to the dump and picking out old tires and trying them on. I believe 255/60/15 on 7.5" to 8" rims with 4.75" to 5" backspace will fit. (right side of the car has more space on the inside and left side has more space on the outside) Sounds wierd, but not totaly uncommon on old cars. Currently having a Explorer 8.8 (3.73 Limited Slip) being shortened and will reline to remedy that. Panhard bar a must. Biggest problem is finding the right rim. Special order rims with those specs lots of money. Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all the great info on this site
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By miker - 13 Years Ago
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Some years ago Wheelsmith built me a set of 7" rims with 5" backspace, on stock 55 centers, so I could use ford dog dish hubcaps. They weren't free, but a lot less money than alloys. And sneaky, which appealed to me. I don't know about the full size cars, but centering the body on the frame wasn't that tough on my Tbird, and was necessary to fit 235/50 15's on the back, with 7 inch rims, 4.5 backspacing (all that was available on those wheels).
It's thewheelsmith.net, I think, the .com is bicycle wheels.
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By Mike1956 - 13 Years Ago
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Miker, Good Idea on the wheels. As far as centering the body, How did you go about that? Im from Wisconsin so just about ready to park it for winter, this would be a good time for the project. Thanks Mike1956
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By miker - 13 Years Ago
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I guess I really should have said "centered the body on the rear axle". My car has a triangulated 4 bar coil over, and it was centered on the frame, at least prior to a final 4 way alignment.
We put the car on my buddy's 4 post lift, and loosened all the body bolts. 14 or 16 as I recall. We spent a lot of time looking for interference, pinched lines, etc. but since most is frame mounted, nothing was a problem. The fuel line is an exception, as the tank is body mounted.my fuel line routing had enough give in the bends to work.
Using a lot of odd 2x4's we picked the body just off the frame with two jacks under the doors, and one on the rear center. More 2x4's under one sill, and a bottle jack sideways to the frame, and the body easily slid 3/16", all I needed. The bolts still cleared the holes and went back in, but it was just barely in the trunk and rear.
We had some furniture moving pads (as seen on TV) to let the jacks slide,and went very slow and watched everything on any visible movement. I'd rather rounded up 4 other friends and just lifted, but that wasn't possible that weekend.
As an aside, Summit sells a roller tool for fender lips, and cheap knockoffs are available. We used one of those on the front on buddy's 56 scrub, and it worked so slick we couldn't believe it. More clearance, and no shaved rubber if it rubs.
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By LordMrFord - 13 Years Ago
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I have a Panhard bar to keep axle in line when using the 235's, but car is '59 not '56.
I now turned my spring leave's long sides to forward if that gonna reduce the twisting.
And I try go with nylon bushings, cause you cannot hear the noises over rear locker and loud pipes.
Those hard bushings can help to reduce the rear axle side movements also.
Traction bars and other stuff dont work or dont fit with lowered rear and the air shocks.
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By Oldmics - 13 Years Ago
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Interesting how this old thread gets resurected just as I am finalising the race tire setup for my T Bird. I end up using a 14 wheel to fit a 7" wide M & H slick. Wanted a 15 inch wheel but the desired M & H tire is not currently availiable. Wheel is 7" wide with a 4 9/16 backspace and the remaining 3 7/16 on the front side.Remember a 7" wide rim is still 8" wide on the O.D. measurements. Gets me the 28" tall tire that I wanted and no body hacking necessary.Heres a link to the gumshoes. http://www.mandhdragtires.com/racing-tires-drag-slicks/800-850-14-vintage-drag-slick.html Oldmics
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By Mike1956 - 13 Years Ago
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Thanks to everyone for all the tips. Most certainly going to be checking out the roller tool for fender lips. I was considering trying to cut some of the lip off, but feared messing up the paint . Thanks again, Mike56
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By miker - 13 Years Ago
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It's hell to get old, it's an Eastwood tool, not Summit. Watch the video with the heat gun.
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By slumlord444 - 13 Years Ago
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oldmics Where did you get the 14" wheels you used with the M&H slicks? Specifics to order them. Just what I am looking for to use on my '57 Bird when I get it done and go racing again.
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By Oldmics - 13 Years Ago
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Slum (I love your handle ) Heres the link to the wheel guys. http://www.trudesignwheel.net/contact_info.html Took some trial and error (mostly error) to get what I wanted. I really wanted to use 15 wheels but the slicks just were not being manufactured till the end of October so the 14s are a compromise that I can live with. Hope this helps, Oldmics
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By slumlord444 - 13 Years Ago
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Thanks. Will contact them. Sometimes a phone call is quicker. If you haven't guessed I am a part time landlord. Most people get the joke.
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