Rear end width in tube chassis car.

[spencerforhire]

My new 72 Vega drag car project is still a few weeks from being delivered from half-way across the continent and in order to keep moving forward I'm finalizing measurements for the rear end WITHOUT actually having the car here( no lectures please!). With 14x32 Goodyears(17" section width) on 15x12 Weld Draglites with 4.5" backspacing and a 24" wide frame with 40" tubs, I came up with a 39" wide rear end(flange to flange). This is with a theoretical 1" clearance to the inside of the tub and about 2" at the fender lip( because the tub narrows up under the quarter window) . Not much room for error, so if any members with a tube chassis(or back-halfed) Vega can remember the measurements for their combination, please let me know.

[speedphreake]

I know you don't want lectures, but do yourself a HUGE favor and wait for the car to get your actual measurements. Set the tires exactly where you want them then take the measurements. Last thing you want is to have tire rub on the quarters or have to run wheel spacers to keep from rubbing the tubs. I just finished narrowing my housing and am off a bit cause I didn't have the wheels i am running to take measurements. Don't goof it up just to try and get it done sooner.

[Yenkoboy]

Its very easy to do, just draw it out. One problem is your rear rim and tire 17" that's if its on a 14" wheel, you have a 12" wheel. That should pull in the tire 1", down to 16" that's a guess. You can only figure the rear end width if you have all accuate measurements. I would not guess don't, please wait

Sorry if this is a lecture. Mark

[spencerforhire]

Thread is only 12 hours old and 2 lectures already! I would settle for a maximum outside sidewall to sidewall width measurement from a Vega with 14x32's under it; if it's around 60" my measurements are accurate and I can move forward.
Note: the Goodyears have 8-10lbs in them and measure a lot closer to 17" than 16"; also I measured the sidewall width on my stock chassis Vega and come up with 59.5" with some clearance to the lip.

[72 SS PNL]

keep in mind youll either want the rear end to droop enough , or the tires to sit inside more , so you can pull the tires off

also the more the axle sticks inside the rim the harder it will be to get off

[Sirshredalot]

I'll tell you what...I have all those things in my garage...the slicks on the wheels...same size.
I can do some measuring if you want.
My housing is 42" wide for my 57...but the frame is 24" wide, the wheels have the same spacing as yours and I have coil overs.

Lemme know what you need and I can measure my monza and all the other stuff.

God bless
-Shred

[spencerforhire]

the car arrived 2 weeks ago; all my careful measurements done without the car were VERY close. I've only adjusted the width from 39" to 39.5" which centers the slicks in the tubs. This leaves me enough room to switch from my 12" wide 4.5" backspace rims to 14" wide 5.5" b.s. should the need arise, as I've been warned that a car as light as mine might not get full width tire contact on the narrower rims.

[tzoom]

the car arrived 2 weeks ago; all my careful measurements done without the car were VERY close. I've only adjusted the width from 39" to 39.5" which centers the slicks in the tubs. This leaves me enough room to switch from my 12" wide 4.5" backspace rims to 14" wide 5.5" b.s. should the need arise, as I've been warned that a car as light as mine might not get full width tire contact on the narrower rims.

How is this working out for you? I bought a 39" wide Ford 9" last fall to put under my Monza. I'll be using the same tires as you with 14" rims and 3 3/8 back spacing. I'm figuring i want to have the 4-link as wide as I can. To do this I will have to push the sides of the body out a couple of inches for clearance.

[spencerforhire]

You might be OK with a Monza because they're a bit wider than a Vega; especially if your car is "back-halved" with the tubs not all the way up under the quarter windows(like my round-tube chassis car) My tires are 2.5"- 3" inside the fender lips and will clear the outside skin of the quarter panel all the way up to the 40" tubs. If I can scare up a set of 15x14" Draglites, I might even switch to 15/33's; if you look at some of the pics in my Project Journal, the 14/32's look lost in the fender openings.