The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 1961 Rear Axle replacement Question

General question with regards to a donor axle that I'm using for my 1961 Project Truck. My donor axle is approximately 3/4 to an 1 inch wider than my original axle. Will an offset in my rims make up for this if I go with a slightly deeper rim? i.e. 5 1/2 vice 4 1/2?

As always......thanks.....

The Project

If you truck is at stock ride height with stock wheels, it probably won't make much of a difference. If it's truly 1" wider overall, it's only 1/2" per side. If on the other hand your truck is lowered, it probably will matter, depending on how wide the tires are. If they are skinny wheels and tires, there's a lot of room in the wheel well. But for fat wheels and tires to fit under a lowered truck, the backspacing would need to be increased, moving the centerline of the rim further under the truck. Depending on the size and depth of the rims you want, this may not be an issue other than perhaps needing to have rims built with a custom offset which may cost more than off the shelf items.

Markeb,

I may, in fact, be in trouble then. I have lowered the rear by 4 inches. I was hoping that a simple offset of rims would suffice. Hopefully with tires, not too wide, I will be able to set these under the rear fenders (step side) cleanly. Thanks for the feedback...