Hot Rods WHY is it so...many people have a hard time...

Yeah, why is it, that SO many people have a hard time, when modifying a car / adding a different front suspension than what the car came with, AND even sometimes the rear, they have such a difficult time putting the front tires/wheels in the ...CENTER of the wheel opening, or at least where the factory put them ?

Has no one ever heard of a "plumb bob", or even just a long straight edge, and a tape measure ?

I know that doing 20's and 30's cars are somewhat subjective, as the OEM front axle seems a little far back in the front fender, but...

And yes, I have done my own front and rear suspension in a 1960's car, and yes, a plum-bob was used, along with a visual of the OEM placement !


Mike

 

I ain't rocket science! HRP

 

Some cars didn’t come with the wheels centered in the first place.

 

Some wheel openings are shaped such that the "center" is difficult to find.

Is it always perpendicular to the horizontal tangent of the opening?

Do most folks understand what that means?

 

You guys are making my head hurt!

Ben

 

Even the factory designers and engineers didn't get it right.

Proportion is everything.

 

Always nice to tack things in place , roll it outside and get a longer perspective view. Even if the factory didn't center it, I tend to correct it because that's the way I like things.

 

My guess is they don't use a tape measure, or take the time to figure out where center is of the fender opening. Or maybe they don't even think about it, and simply look up the factory wheelbase specs and base their fabrication on that?
I personally think that for a hotrod or custom build not considering centering both front and rear wheels in their openings just screams amateurish, or incompetent. Every hotrod I've ever built required some adjustment to relocate the front and rear axles so the wheels looked correct in the openings. My last build ('39 Chev coupe) I moved the rear axle back 1.5" and the front axle forward 1" to get both looking better than the factory location.

 

damn amateurs!

 

Even getting the axle centered side to side seems most difficult. I saw an OT 4x4 pickup last week with the rear axle at least 6" more on the passenger side. It looked like it was going down the road sideways..

 

A foot is good, an inch not so much.

 

Eliminate the damned fenders and you don't have that problem anymore.

 

... too much, "Hey- yer takin' TOO LONG, hold my beer... I GOT this"

 

These are the same folks that put 7" wheels with the same size rubber on all 4 corners

 

If you’ve read any of my stuff you’d know I’m no pro compared to many here. But I think I covered up the fact that I moved the rear end forward 1”.

 

Now that's what happens when you accelerate too fast and the body can't keep up!

 

On my 54 I ended up trying 3 different locations before I settled on one that looked best and it WAS not the "move it X amount" that everyone quotes

 

If enough do it then it becomes normal and 'right', right? Or the odd prolific builder or influential/ respected person in an area and the fashion (error) flourishes. Could even be an underground club thing?

Chris

 

I think I remember Jimmy Smith "Jeem" moving the wheel opening on a early 60's F-100 because they didn't line up from the factory.

 

Hence all of the ugly East Coast cars back then?

 

I've had two guys over the years tell me they want to do this (on a hot rod) so they can rotate them for proper wear.... I was dumbfounded, I didn't even know how to respond.

 

You don't, just walk away real quick

 

Because the 2 minute YouTube video they watched instantly made them an expert !
You see it a lot in frame swaps, people will go to the trouble of removing a whole damn body off an original frame, make new body mounts but just can't understand that you can lengthen or shorten a frame or find one that has the correct track width either.
I did add an inch up front on my new chassis

 

^^^^^ Media for sure.

 

With the exception for drag cars, lots of times it’s $$$$ and or not a priority.
the frame swap guys that fit the body to the engine and not the other way around. Seen several that the wheel placement was done to save moving the engine and trans.

And some just could care less

 

There are sometimes when wheel placement is not dictated by astetics.......but still looks good. Squirrels car is an example of something that was done for performance reasons and actually has its own "look"........and it looks right for the purpose it was built for.
For most other cars that sit lower and somewhat at a more normal attitude, wheel placement or mis-placement can make or ruin the cars appearance. But its not just fore and aft, its also the distance from the fender inward as well. I bought 6 wheels for the 32 I'm building. 2 different widths of rear wheels and 2 different size rear tires. When I narrow the rear, I will have exactly what I think I want, in order to get it to fit right. I'm also going to narrow the rearend an inch or 1 1/2 inches and make some spacers (1/2-3/4) for each side. Then if I want to change anything because of tire rub or a different brand of tire, I have some latitude in fitting things. Using a 4 link also allows some fore and aft adjustment if I do get it wrong. I always try to build things so there is some adjustability if possible. I understand that on a 32, its best to move the front suspension forward slightly to "center"(?) it with the front fender. Not sure how much though.

 

When lowering, the front suspension tends to move back. Caster does that.
Lots of c10s look odd when just dropped and the front wheel not moved forward.
Then ya got the factory “mistakes”.
Mid 50s f100 front axles are reward.
AD gm truck rear axles need moved back

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of the "layin frame" look. Most cars and trucks that are mildly modified have a certain point where lowering further just doesn't compliment the looks of the car. I have never seen a vehicle sitting on the ground that I thought "wow, that really makes the vehicle". I've seen some pretty close to the ground, usually some welldone custom that looked great sitting close to the ground though. I guess its kinda like thinking a woman who dresses modestly looks better than the one who overdoes things.

 

I like em in the low
Tuck the important stuff out of the way, let what occasionally drags…..drag
I don’t build mine with anyone else in mind but me

but a well stanced ride is cool as well

I’ve seen many rides that sit way too high. but if that’s what they dig then Yee haa

 

That's the first thing I look at on any car or truck, second is the alignment of the fan belts .