Narrowed rear end

[scott araujo]

Hi guys.
Okay I've moved the springs onboard, and installed mini tubs. Anybody have a true and true rear end width? I was thinking 54" total mounting pad to mounting pad. Any suggestions?

[chevynut]

The rearend width should be decided along with the offset of your wheels. If you already have wheels you want to use, they will determine the width of the rearend. If you're going to use new custom wheels, you should determine what offset you want, then make the rearend width to the correct width to use them.

[markm]

A Mini tub job is 2 to 2.25 narrower than stock . Stock rear is 60 wide so I went 56 wide. My wheels are 10 wide with 3.75 BS. A 4.00 would be better but was not available.

[JT56]

The best way which has already been said, is to have the wheels you want and measure to fit. Mine is 55" rotor face to rotor face with a 5.5 BS wheel

[scott araujo]

Thanks guys. Your right I should have the wheels for this, but I'm allowing myself to possibly change my mind on style. I have worked it through on the rear tire calculator and i just wanted to be sure i was in the ball park before i had things cut. I want to run an 11' wheel, possibly a 12 (Im just like that). Looks like I have plenty of room, depending on back space and wheel. I appreciate your wisdom on this.

[chevynut]

The wheels width is irrelevant, all that matters is the offset as it pertains to axle width.

What size tire do you want to run? A 12" wheel will require a 335 or 345+ tire (13-14" section width) which will also require minitubs. What backspacing and/or offset do your chosen wheels have? The rear axle width has nothing to do with how much room you have for a tire, it's determined by where you want the wheel mounting surfaces, which is in turn determined by the backspacing or offset you want.

[BamaNomad]

if *money is no object*, then obviously you can probably have wheels with any width/offset MADE just for you... BUT... if you are like most of us, and have to choose Off the Shelf wheels, then you'd better select your wheels before you specify your custom rear end width... i went thru this recently and it took me a LOT of looking to find wheels that were even *workable*...

Note: Most wheels have near 'zero' offsets (ie. wheel mounting point near the center of the wheel)... so if you choose your rear end width so that the mounting surface is 'near' to the center of the wheel well, you will have the most options with wheels... but as CN has suggested twice now, you should choose your wheels FIRST if you are going to build a custom width rear...

[markm]

I have some room left on the inside with 295/50/15s on 10 inch wheels and can tell you a 12 inch wheel and bigger tire will be tight regardless on offset and width. Everything will have to be perfect to fit.

[chevynut]

Scott, if you have moved your springs and added minitubs all the way to the frame, you should have about 14 3/4" of space in each wheelwell, with the wheelwell centers at about 56 3/4" across. If you center the tires (regardless of size) in the wheelwells and use a zero offset wheel your axle needs to be 56 3/4" wide at the wheel mounting surfaces. If you want less backspacing (more negative offset) you just subtract that difference in both wheels from the axle width. For example, if you wanted -1" offset wheels, your axle would need to be 54 3/4" instead.

[scott araujo]

Thanks guys, all really good points. You sold me. I'll figure out my wheels first.
Thanks again, Scott