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,

Jim (site owner)
'56 Club Sedan - Ted Eaton built 429 hp '292/318, '54 Sunliner - stock '302

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.

-Gary Burnette-

Any special backspacing on the 225/70 tires?

Jim (site owner)
'56 Club Sedan - Ted Eaton built 429 hp '292/318, '54 Sunliner - stock '302

No.

-Gary Burnette-

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.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

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!

Jim (site owner)
'56 Club Sedan - Ted Eaton built 429 hp '292/318, '54 Sunliner - stock '302

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.


Lawrenceville, GA

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

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

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.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

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.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.