The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 52 & 56' track width

hey guys what is the " stock" track width front and rear for a 52' and 56' chevy 1/2 ton panel (3100?) and has any one put a 97' vette' front & rear suspension into one of these? the track width is 62.4 front/ 62.6 rear thanks

Couldn't find the track dimensions for a '52, but the '56 is 60.5" front and 61" rear. Considering the offset of the '97 'Vette wheels, it might actually come out a tad narrow for a '56.

Corvette front suspension can probably be mounted to set the width wherever you want it. I'm not sure what the kits available look like, but the installs I've seen did not appear to use any Corvette front cross member.

The published track width measures on a C4 or later Corvette might be the wrong way to evaluate the width. The wheel surface that meets the hub on one of these is offset to the outside a long way.

Without measuring one I'm sure the offset is several inches past the centerline of the wheel, not INSIDE which is the usual offset you see in wheels.

i've got a 96 vette front suspension with the flat out kit. here's pics http://brent5631.myphotoalbum.com/

the 97' wheels are: front 17x8.8 with +58mm (2.285") offset rear 18x9.5 with +65mm (2.561") offset. the specs i have are directly from the corvette c5 forum, 97-2004 platform are the same. the next hurdle will be extending the "torque tube" and driveline 12" without any adverse affects.thought it might be kinda cool to keep the 52' with a torque tube drivetrain if you catch my drift. thanks guys stay cool and happy thanksgiving!

'05 to '07 have a similar drivetrain layout to the '97 to '04 too.

The reason for doing this on the 'vette makes sense. It might be harder to balance front rear weight distribution on a pickup. In addition to mounting the components and lengthening the driveline you also have shift linkage that has to be extended.

Keep in mind those offset numbers are moving the wheels inboard. If the wheels had zero offset the track width would be about 4.5 inches wider. Tread width is also dependent on tire size, but keeping the same tires the impact of zero offset wheels would do the same thing, making the tread width much wider.

Somewhere I've seen some details of some one extending one of these. If I can remember where I saw that I'll post a reference.

C5 Corvette's are getting cheaper but I've never seen one cheap enough to consider it a parts car unless it was wrecked pretty bad. They are delicate cars make sure you check a wrecked on over real careful before paying much money for it.

Going to run the motor too?

If you proceed with this I'll want to swing down to Tacoma and see it.

i also have a 54'chevy sedan delivery and thought the idea of the torque tube would be kind of novel. i had planned on using the complete drivetrain including motor.when the project gets green light i will have lots of pic's

In My Chevrolet specs. manual it shows for
the 52' (3100 series) 56 3/4 front and 61 rear...
Bill

I'll look forward to seeing those pictures, though currently I drive though Tacoma about once a week and would love to stop and see this project sometime.

I usually drive my 'vette unless I have to carry something big.