On 01-08-98 Landon Robinson wrote to Jack Schwendener... 
 LR> to 
 LR> turn the thing into one of those muscle car era street machines with 
 LR> the back 
 LR> bumper about three/four feet off the ground.  Plus having big tires on 
 LR> the 
 LR> back will up the final drive ratio to make the thing seriously launch 
 LR> at 
 LR> take off (it does that anyway but more is better :)  ). 
 LR> 
As mentioned, the big tires will be slower off the line. but 
they will also increase the area of the rubber on the road, 
so you will find after market ring & pinion gears, or perhaps 
an antique rear end... with a higher ratio, lower RPM output. 
 
presumeably you will install long shackles on the back end of 
the leaf springs to get the height to clear the fenders for a 
pair of big tires. You might wanna consider adapter plates to 
fit other rims on your hub. the adaptor will also widen the 
stance of the rear tires, which may be needed to fit the tire 
into the fender anyway.  JC Whitney? 
 
But: when you raise the rear end, you change the angle of the 
drive shaft into the yoke on the pinion. UNLESS: you also go 
and change the angle of the engine mounts as well, or shim the 
rear axle mounts, *so as to keep the axis of the crankshaft/ 
transmission* PARALEL with the axis of the pinion shaft, you 
get odd harmonics in the u-joints, chew the little buggars up 
on a regular basis, and possibly scar the surface of the ring 
gear. That scarring don't actually damage the ring gear over 
the short term, but the whine that arises out of it will drive 
you nuts. 
 
I would consider whether front dual wheel cylindar brakes will 
fit on the back axle if the rubber area and the leverage from 
a larger diameter tire are such as to roll right past the rear 
brake single cylindar drum brake design.. or whether you could 
fit the drum from a two ton truck chassis... or maybe whole 
rear end. 
 
*all* of the heavier truck rear ends will use floating axles, 
which I expect are also larger in diameter, and won't shear 
every time you floor a big V-8, probly come with higher gear 
ratios, and larger brake drums.  Remember that even if one of 
the floating axles does shear, the wheel still stays on the 
car, the brakes still work, and you can tow it with a rope. 
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