OK guys, I've got an extremely annoying problem that I'm hoping one of you will have the answer to. I have a 53 Ford Customline. It's been lowered using Jamco Suspension's drop coils, shocks, and leaf springs. So it's maybe lowered 4". Ever since it's been lowered, it's been damn near impossible to get the back wheels off. They get wedged between the drum and the fender. Right now I've got a bad wheel cylinder that needs changing, but I don't want to shred my new white walls getting the tires off and on. Has anybody else had this problem with a lowered 52-54? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks. Adam BTW: The tires are stock size, so it's not that they're too wide.
Yes, it's horrible even with bias tires. You gotta put air shocks on those cars. I managed to squeeze mine in by deflating the tires and tilting the rearend a bunch by jacking one side way up.
Damn, I was hoping there was some trick to it. How much do you have to deflate the tire? Can you still drive on them? I don't have a pump, so I'd have to drive to the gas station. I normally love working on old cars, but this problem is just a huge pain in the ass.
Gotta deflate them all the way, at least on mine I did. Do yourself a favor, and put air shocks on it while you're under it.
Even stock they're a bitch to get outa there,,, So what did I do? Welded on fender skirts... Momma always said I was sharp as a marble.
I had this problem way back when I was a teen, 1963-64. I would jack up the rear of the car, place stands under the frame, disconnect the shocks and let the rear hang down, place a small bottle jack between the rear at the spring and jack up against the frame. This would let me get the big old tires and mag wheels out. As I remember I also bent the wheel opening lip up and in to keep it from scuffing the tire. That is how I remember it, could have been some other stuff but I think that is the way I did it. ALLWAYS use Jack stands!
Welded skirts, I bet it looks cool but ouch on getting the wheel out you might have to deflate the tire and drop the shackles and shocks.
I'm planning on a swing down rear end thats on removable pins. I posted something like that here once and got a wave of " Are you fing crazy "responses
I have a 56 and I have to run the stock skinny wheels,pull the core out of the valve stem,unbolt the wheel,pull it out enough to stuff it up into the top of the wheelwell,reach in behind and pull off the brake drum and then the tire will come off!
I had a 4 door years ago and thought the problem was that they were built here in dodgy CKD form. Then I imported my Victoria and it's even worse! I'm on bags with 2" blocks and skinny's and I think the only way I can solve this is to carry a puncture/plug kit and mount a fitting with air line to one of my air bag tanks. That'll at least get me out of trouble if I get the unexpected on the side of the road with the family in the car. Guess if my wife's with me she can start thumbing a ride...
OK, I'd gone as far as disconnecting the shock on the side I wanted to take the wheel off of, but I hadn't thought of using a bottle jack. So you'd place the bottle jack on the rear axle and use it to push against the frame, thereby lowering the axle enough to get the tire on/off? I'm going to try this after work tomorrow. I'll be fu#ing thrilled if this works. I'm sure it's a pain, but anything's better than spending 30 minutes wrecking your white walls trying to wedge that damn thing under the fender. I was also thinking about pinching up the lip on the fender, since it takes up an extra inch and doesn't serve a purpose that I can tell. How'd you do that, by the way? Did you have to cut anything? Thanks much.
I have to do the bottle jack trick. 4" blocks on a shoebox. AND deflate the tire!! I think the air shock deal would make it better. It's a price you have to pay to be cool. Sparkxxx
I don't like the bottle jack because of the small surface area on the jack head. I use the scissor jack out of my Jeep, it's also not as tall as a bottle jack. Either way it's a bitch to do. I put it between the rear axle and frame. One other thing you might want to think of, it was a real bitch before I rounded in the inside lips of the rear fenders. Once that was done, it gave me another 5/8" to work with, and the rounding let the tire slide against it smooth instead of catching on the sharp edge and tearing my sidewalls up.
if they are the stock style skirts, yes, they clamp on the inside lip at the top. Air shocks will raise the rear suspension temporarily... they kinda act like helper springs, but they put the extra weight on the shock mounting points, so you kinda hafta be careful. In this application they would only be used for pushing the rear end down to get the tires off. I run them on my s10 daily when I pull a trailer to keep it from bottoming out.
Funny, I posted something similar not too long ago! I have the Jamco 4" drop springs AND 3" blocks in the rear, so I know what you're going through... I took everyone's advice and I (1) Installed air shocks (2) Cut and rounded the fender lips (3) Use a scissor jack between the axle and frame....and I still mess up my wide whites when I pull the wheels off! I'm just glad that I can pull the wheels off! People on this board are super helpful! Be careful if you decide to trim some of the fender lip off. I bought some skirts, but I don't think I left enough lip to clamp them to......Whoops!
Yep. It's to push the rearend down after you've already got the car on jackstands. I've just got 2" blocks in mine and the tires are a bitch to get out... you guys with 4"+ are a glutton for punishment.
Air shocks! Genious! I'm gonna do that to my '53. Currently have to drop the springs to get a wheel out.
Yeah, I was thinking of doing that, but if I took too much of the fender lip off, I might not be able to hang my skirts, which would really suck. I think the 52-54 really looks a lot better when it's skirted.
I didn't cut any of the lip off, or completely bend in over. I just rounded the inside of the lip in around the top of the wheel well where there would be any rub from the tire. Don't know if that would interfere with your skirts. Like previously said, that would depend on the hardware I guess. I have 4" blocks on the rear of my 58, and it's a bitch to get them off using the scissor jack, and having the car jacked up on a floor jack. I seem to have more of a problem getting the wheel off the drum, then out of the wheel well. Once I rounded the lips in, it made that chore a lot easier. I could tilt the wheel up towards the inside of the car and then slide it down and out. I hope that made sense.
I also got a set of repro Foxcraft skirts off ebay and noticed how the 3 clamps need the fender lip. It's okay for the 1 on either side (cause you don't trim down there) but the one in the middle can be replaced by tacking a piece of flat onto the back of the skirt that is like a tongue and holds it against the back of the fender. On the inner guard you weld a small u shape piece for the tongue to slide into. Did this on my 4 door and it worked fine
To anyone else who has this problem: Rodland's solution, posted above, TOTALLY WORKS! I jacked up the car, threw a stand under it, then put a small bottle jack on top of the axle and jacked it up against the frame. This kept the body high and brought the drum right down to where I needed it to be. The wheel didn't even TOUCH the fender. It literally slid right on. I've had to WRESTLE with that damn thing for so long I never thought I'd find a way around it. Thanks!
Thats exactly what I had to do on my '54 Ranchwagon. That was with the skinny bias. I went to a wider WWW radial and was even more of a pain in the ass.
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