Rear Wheel Well Clearances/Dimensions Needed

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Alan H. Tast
Posts: 4214
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:52 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Rear Wheel Well Clearances/Dimensions Needed

Post by Alan H. Tast »

A lot of people ask "what size tire will fit my '64-'66." I've been asking for some critical dimensions in order to develop a drawing to determine clearances inside the rear wheel wells, but to date nobody's given me any. Since I don't have a fourth-generation T-bird, I need someone to measure and post this info for each model year.

First, I would like someone to get measurements off of a '64 and '66 rear axle/differential to determine what the overall rear axle width is from the rear axle flange/face of brake drum to rear axle flange/face of brake drum. You can do this on an axle that's off the car or, if the axle is on the car, take a framing square or a plumb bob and make some marks on the floor that correspond to the face of the brake drum/axle flange.

Second, take the plumb bob/framing square and make marks on the floor for the outer wheel well's lip edge as well as for the inner lip edge for the fender skirt. Do this on both sides of the car, and measure the width between the marks. Having the overall width of the differential off of the brake drum faces and the overall dimension/width between the inner wheel well lips will help establish what remains for outside clearance and verify if the axle is centered on the body.

Third, drop the plumb bob at the front and rear points where the rear leaf spring is closest to the sidewall of the tire. Make marks on the floor. This will help establish what the inside clearance is.

Foruth, drop the plumb bob at the spring/shock mounting plate. Make marks on the floor. This will also help establish what the inside clearance is.

Fifth, drop the plumb bob at the body structure/subframe rail faces across from where the wide point of the tire sidewall would be. Again, make marks on the floor. This will again help establish what the inside clearance is.

Sixth, measure and write down the distances from the marks for the rear brake drum face to each of the points noted above. Then feed me those dimensions. Hopefully someone can get me this info so that, once and for all, there is a record of what clearances are available. If you can get this for me, thank you in advance.
Attachments
Wheel Clearance
Wheel Clearance
Wheel and Wheel Well Measurements
Wheel and Wheel Well Measurements
Rear Axle-Wheelhouse Section
Rear Axle-Wheelhouse Section
Determining Wheel Fitment
Determining Wheel Fitment
65-67 T-bird Wheel
65-67 T-bird Wheel
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
User avatar
Alan H. Tast
Posts: 4214
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:52 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Re: Rear Wheel Well Clearances/Dimensions Needed

Post by Alan H. Tast »

Just to bring this up and renew my request for dimensions for wheelwells in '64-'66s.
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
jtschug
Posts: 1472
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:33 pm

Re: Rear Wheel Well Clearances/Dimensions Needed

Post by jtschug »

unnamed.jpg
These are the measurements I took when I measured for my new wheels. As you can see there is almost an inch different in the rear from the right to the left. This winter I completely replaced the rear axle and springs, and this difference persists, so it must be part of the body build variation. This may be the reason why this question has remained unanswered.
1966 Thunderbird Convertible (Emberglo / White-Emberglo)
Modified 428 - stroked, rollercam, aluminum top end, headers
Livermore, CA
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