The Ford Barn - View Single Post

jeepguy1948 · 04-17-2024, 12:38 PM

Here is the best answer I have: There have been plenty of people disappointed about the width the brakes add but most, if not all, have apparently chosen to live with it. If using original 21” or 19” wheels the brakes definitely create an odd look but no clearance issues. When using 16” wheels the clearance get’s really tight but can be lived with by most. I am apparently using a wider tire and I am also trying to lower the car as much as possible but still have decent suspension travel hoping to have a decent ride. I think that a great many messing around with old cars are the same as me, very detail oriented. Even the small details matter (a lot). I had the fit I wanted with the stock A axle so it stands to reason that adding 1.5” on each side is going to cause a problem. Options are (1) raise the rear spring and limit the travel and live with the look (pure 1970’s) (nope, not gonna do it). (2) abandon the wire wheels and use a wheel with more offset (nope, not gonna happen). (3) change tires (nope, not gonna happen). I want the look that I want (and that I had actually) and in the end that’s it, there is no better explanation. I call this a problem because I had the fit I wanted and after installing the brakes I don’t and I am not willing to compromise. Maybe people could accept my thinking better if I just quit saying a problem and just state what it is I want to accomplish. I suppose that I am on a forum not oriented to hot rods and customs but even so I would think that for most people it is understood that you are building a car to suit your own taste. Unless you are building the car to sell then your own vision is all that matters. I cannot understand the number of commments that simply state that I don’t have a problem. To those I can only say that I want the look I want and I don’t have it anymore. I should not have to argue my point, isn’t the fact that I want it good enough? Do I need to prove it with pictures (I can’t right now because of recent surgery but I’m sure the clearance issue would not show up very well because it’s subtle and there are many that would still say it’s ok). A photo would not help at all because why should I have to prove my point? I want want I want because it’s my car and I want it. Why, when I get tired of having to explain over and over what I want and justify my wanting it, then I’m considered a turd? I just do not understand what is going on here. Would you like to post pictures of your car so that we all can find fault with it (keep in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder)? Does anybody at all have the right to tell me what is and is not a problem on my car? Does anybody have the right to tell me what my car should look like? Simply put, if I ask you for your opinion about how my car looks then absolutely you can and should give it but if I’m not asking you for it than it’s none of your business. Is it not sufficient for me to say I want to get from point A to point B and I would appreciate help figuring out the best way to accomplish it? I’m not putting my car and my wife in the same category but as a point of reference would you like to post pictures of your wife and ask our opinion of how she looks and what is and isn’t wrong (maybe you like women with 3 heads, it’s none of my business). I am told that “we just need more and more info and more and more pictures because we must have them to “help” you. Respectfully, no, you don’t. Every single person on here knows what the rear suspension on a Model A looks like and that is all that is all you need to know. What would be the best way to narrow the stock axle width? Can somebody narrow a Model A axle (at a reasonable cost)? Is an axle swap needed to accomplish the desired goal? The question is not should I want it or need it, that is for me to decide. I really appreciate the comments and advice that would help me achieve my goal, I really do, however a number of posters are not trying to help at all.

04-17-2024, 12:38 PM	#23
jeepguy1948 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 739	Re: Narrow V8 Rear Axle Here is the best answer I have: There have been plenty of people disappointed about the width the brakes add but most, if not all, have apparently chosen to live with it. If using original 21” or 19” wheels the brakes definitely create an odd look but no clearance issues. When using 16” wheels the clearance get’s really tight but can be lived with by most. I am apparently using a wider tire and I am also trying to lower the car as much as possible but still have decent suspension travel hoping to have a decent ride. I think that a great many messing around with old cars are the same as me, very detail oriented. Even the small details matter (a lot). I had the fit I wanted with the stock A axle so it stands to reason that adding 1.5” on each side is going to cause a problem. Options are (1) raise the rear spring and limit the travel and live with the look (pure 1970’s) (nope, not gonna do it). (2) abandon the wire wheels and use a wheel with more offset (nope, not gonna happen). (3) change tires (nope, not gonna happen). I want the look that I want (and that I had actually) and in the end that’s it, there is no better explanation. I call this a problem because I had the fit I wanted and after installing the brakes I don’t and I am not willing to compromise. Maybe people could accept my thinking better if I just quit saying a problem and just state what it is I want to accomplish. I suppose that I am on a forum not oriented to hot rods and customs but even so I would think that for most people it is understood that you are building a car to suit your own taste. Unless you are building the car to sell then your own vision is all that matters. I cannot understand the number of commments that simply state that I don’t have a problem. To those I can only say that I want the look I want and I don’t have it anymore. I should not have to argue my point, isn’t the fact that I want it good enough? Do I need to prove it with pictures (I can’t right now because of recent surgery but I’m sure the clearance issue would not show up very well because it’s subtle and there are many that would still say it’s ok). A photo would not help at all because why should I have to prove my point? I want want I want because it’s my car and I want it. Why, when I get tired of having to explain over and over what I want and justify my wanting it, then I’m considered a turd? I just do not understand what is going on here. Would you like to post pictures of your car so that we all can find fault with it (keep in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder)? Does anybody at all have the right to tell me what is and is not a problem on my car? Does anybody have the right to tell me what my car should look like? Simply put, if I ask you for your opinion about how my car looks then absolutely you can and should give it but if I’m not asking you for it than it’s none of your business. Is it not sufficient for me to say I want to get from point A to point B and I would appreciate help figuring out the best way to accomplish it? I’m not putting my car and my wife in the same category but as a point of reference would you like to post pictures of your wife and ask our opinion of how she looks and what is and isn’t wrong (maybe you like women with 3 heads, it’s none of my business). I am told that “we just need more and more info and more and more pictures because we must have them to “help” you. Respectfully, no, you don’t. Every single person on here knows what the rear suspension on a Model A looks like and that is all that is all you need to know. What would be the best way to narrow the stock axle width? Can somebody narrow a Model A axle (at a reasonable cost)? Is an axle swap needed to accomplish the desired goal? The question is not should I want it or need it, that is for me to decide. I really appreciate the comments and advice that would help me achieve my goal, I really do, however a number of posters are not trying to help at all.