49 woodie tracking

[mrtexas]

I have a rod 49 woodie with fat man front end and Ford 8 inch rear. The car came with 2 inch spacers on the rear hubs. Took the 8 inch out to fix a leaking gasket and mounted the rear wheels without the spacers. The track measures the same on the front and the rear as measured with the tires. With the 2 inch spacers on the track would be 4 inches wider on the rear than the front. Measured the distance from the tire to the top of the fender on each side as 4 inches without the spacers.

How is the track supposed to be set up front vs rear?

[19Fordy]

Does that 2 in. offset on each side effect the bearing life?

[woodiewagon46]

Well Tex, I think most cars have equal distances front and rear. I think it's probably an aesthetics issue. I tend to agree with 19Fordy, that the more it's spaced out, the more it will affect your rear end bearings. If it bothers you, I would get reversed wheels for the rear.

[tubman]

The picture you posted looks good to me as is!

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by woodiewagon46

Well Tex, I think most cars have equal distances front and rear. I think it's probably an aesthetics issue. I tend to agree with 19Fordy, that the more it's spaced out, the more it will affect your rear end bearings. If it bothers you, I would get reversed wheels for the rear.

Frankly, I don't believe the outboard spacing will affect the bearings as much as it will put the wheel studs under a greater tensile strain. The axle bearings do not perform any function besides supporting weight of vehicle. The bearings do not support the axle in such a way that keeps the axle parallel with the rear end housing. The inner end of the axle being captured by the third member is the force that maintains axle parallelism with the rear end housing. If anything, the spacers might cause a little more downward force on the center section carrier bearings, but it's likely that they will comfortably absorb any such load. DD

[V8COOPMAN]

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Originally Posted by tubman

The picture you posted looks good to me as is!

I agree! If the tire looks to be too far inboard aesthetically, order-up a couple of wheels with an additional 1-1/2" to 2" more positive offset. That has been done for going-on 65 or so years now, with no ill effect on outer wheel bearings. DD

[TJ]

Were the spacers put in for looks or were they needed for inner fender clearance? 2" spacers are a lot of load on the axle studs.

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by TJ

Were the spacers put in for looks or were they needed for inner fender clearance? 2" spacers are a lot of load on the axle studs.

looks

[A bones]

Should be fine without spacers.
Though not a factor in your case, it's worth mentioning that the difference used on 'rail jobs' is for stability. The wider the front versus the rear axle width, the better the stability and control.