Thread: Replacement Rear axles that Fit 1946 Ford Coupe?

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granted I have a gm driveline in my 47, but I'm running a 92 firebird rear with disk brakes and 17x9.5 rims and 345/45/17 rubber with no rubbing. I adapted a universal truck leafspring suspension to work on my car. you have a lot of room in those wheelwells

I just measured the width on the 46 Ford rear axle I have and it is 62.5 inches from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface. Most of the info I have seen suggests circa 1969 Camaro rear axles to replace these as they are slightly narrower at 60 inches. I guess that is to allow some fatter wheels under there than the original 16 inchers. But I may actually go with a 79 Camaro rear axle under my 46 because they are easier to find and I may be scoring one in a 79 Camaro I am trying to buy. I will simply run inset rear wheels to make the tires fit where I want them.

Here is a very helpful chart of various rear end widths:

http://www.carnut.com/specs/rear.html


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I just measured the width on the 46 Ford rear axle I have and it is 62.5 inches from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface. Most of the info I have seen suggests circa 1969 Camaro rear axles to replace these as they are slightly narrower at 60 inches. I guess that is to allow some fatter wheels under there than the original 16 inchers. But I may actually go with a 79 Camaro rear axle under my 46 because they are easier to find and I may be scoring one in a 79 Camaro I am trying to buy. I will simply run inset rear wheels to make the tires fit where I want them.

Here is a very helpful chart of various rear end widths:

http://www.carnut.com/specs/rear.html


Don

What are "inset rear wheels"?

When you order custom wheels from someone like Vintique or Stockton wheels you can specify how much offset you want on the backside. For example, the rear end on my 23 is too narrow (S10 rear) so I ordered the deepest offset wheels I could get to move the wheels out. But on my 27 I am running a 68 Mercury Montego 9 inch rear that put the tires a little further out from the body than I wanted, so when I ordered those wheels I had the offset put to the inside of the wheels so they would set further in.

That is what I will probably do if I use the 79 Camaro rear under the 46. Once I get the rear in place I can figure out how much inset the wheels need to have to get the tires to set where they look good. The wheel people use the terms postiive and negative offset, and I always get the two confused, but if you just explain to the people who make your wheels how far you want the wheels to sit back they will build them that way.

Here, this site explains it much better than me..........

http://tunertools.com/articles/Wheel-Fitment.asp

Don

Originally Posted by tudorkeith

granted I have a gm driveline in my 47, but I'm running a 92 firebird rear with disk brakes and 17x9.5 rims and 345/45/17 rubber with no rubbing. I adapted a universal truck leafspring suspension to work on my car. you have a lot of room in those wheelwells

did you modify the frame or have to roll the fenders to make the tires fit?

Originally Posted by KOULAIDE

did you modify the frame or have to roll the fenders to make the tires fit?

nope. they don't tuck in but they don't stick out either, I just got real lucky . the new rear was like 61.5 long and the wheels were oricionally bought for a similar camaro. I have a set or wide whites II want to put on some 7" wide rims to see if I like them. I have some pics that show the clearance of tire to body, it is close but they don't rub