Did new spring installation cause this problem?

[sarapalms]

Thread watched
Why is the left rear wheel and tire of my '63 TBird impossible to remove unless we let the air out of the tire first? Not so with the right wheel/tire.

Steve Edwards
Lakewood Ranch, FL


sarapalms@aol.com

[Steverino]

Steve,

I know this sounds dumb, but you are removing the skirt first, right?

Also, are you running stock sized wheels & tires?

[Karl]

Also are you using a bumper jack or lifting the car on the body, not the axle?
Karl.

[MN63Tbird]

As Karl is eluding to if you use a hydraulic floor jack to lift with the rear axle or the at the differential pumpkin you will lift the car and the tires. The tires will come off the ground but the body and tire are still in the same relationship as on the ground. I have found it almost impossible to remove a rear tire in that situation. (obviously the rear skirts are off for this )

If you use a bumper jack the body will lift first. The springs will extended down by the weight of the axle until they have reached their limit . At that point the rear tires will start to come off the ground. This creates a much large space space between the body and the tire to remove the tire. Using a bumper jack does present more safety issues. You need to be on a nice flat surface with the front wheels chocked and make sure you bumper jack is on firm ground. When I use the bumper jack I also like to use jack stands under the car just in case that bumper jack decides to do a lateral move.

MN63

[ICON 1956]

using a hydraulic jack under the car's frame will help lift the weight off the rear wheels. then place a jack stand near the rear. I never trusted the bumper jack on these old beauties.