How is track width measured?

[Caveman Tony]

Center of tire to center of tire?

Or outer edge to outer edge?

[Tazracing]

Re: How is track width measured?

Center of tire to center of tire?

[Barry Donovan]

Re: How is track width measured?

real track width is outer to outer.

figuring what you want needs center to center.

or the center being where back of rim hits hub.

"center to center" confused me..I changed the definition. ;D

[Caveman Tony]

Re: How is track width measured?

So, I understand what 'wheel-mounting surface -to- wheel-mounting surface' is... but for a fixed axle width, track width definitely varies based on wheel width, offset, etc...

So, I guess to clarify my question: When a manufacturer quotes 'track width' what exactly are they quoting?

[Tazracing]

Re: How is track width measured?

flange to flange,
a 78 t/a with 7" wide snowflake rims and a 78 t/a with 8" snowflake rims(with one inch outer lip) both have the same track width..
and the 8" rim is an inch wider on the front face not in backspacing..
so it's def not outer edge of rim(tire)
it's flange to flange..
this is why cars that had drum or disc brakes some times have different front track widths. as the rotor pushes the flange to flange outward

[realsteelfreak]

Re: How is track width measured?

The Hudy setup book shows track width as outer edge of tire to outer edge of tire.
an example,If track width should be 200mm and you are at 202mm your car will not roll through a 200mm box during tech.

Track width is not flange to flange

[Tazracing]

Re: How is track width measured?

The Hudy setup book shows track width as outer edge of tire to outer edge of tire.
an example,If track width should be 200mm and you are at 202mm your car will not roll through a 200mm box during tech.

Track width is not flange to flange

OEM is flange to flange or the t/a I listed would have multi track widths..
so would most cars that came with 6" or 7" rims
or 7-8-9" wide rims as options..
and they all have the same track width.. so ????????????????????

[Caveman Tony]

Re: How is track width measured?

The Hudy setup book shows track width as outer edge of tire to outer edge of tire.
an example,If track width should be 200mm and you are at 202mm your car will not roll through a 200mm box during tech.

Track width is not flange to flange

OEM is flange to flange or the t/a I listed would have multi track widths..
so would most cars that came with 6" or 7" rims
or 7-8-9" wide rims as options..
and they all have the same track width.. so ????????????????????

Not trying to start a storm over something really this meaningless... I guess my questions stem from transplant ideas.

I.e., if my '56 pickup has a track width of X, as given in an index of American-made pickups, then if I wanted to transplant another rear axle into it, can I use the manufacturer's listed track widths as an accurate basis for comparison?

For EX: my '89 wrangler had a Ford Torino 9" in it that was EXACTLY the same width as the old Dana 35 rear. Then, when I yanked that, I put in a Dana 44 from a Jeep Cherokee, which fit EXACTLY (jeep used the same axles in wranglers and Cherokees) minus a pair of spring perches.

How did I know it would fit? I didn't, it was dumb luck. The 9" I got lucky on, the 44 I did my homework. Knowing that the 35 and the 44 were from the same manufacturer, I was in the money.

I don't wanna go through that potential PITA next time around...

So.... do all manufacturers measure it the same?

[jays67]

Re: How is track width measured?

our front end machine at work measures it from out side to out side of the wheels

[realsteelfreak]

Re: How is track width measured?

I might have to retract that its outer edge to outer edge, after futher reading and discovering more info it seems that there are ways to measure track width.

Maybe in racing setup or total tire contact patch its o/s to o/s but most people measure it from center of tire to center of tire. Which would still not wind up with it being hub flange to hub flange.

OE wheels with bigger tires (o/s ) are not affected in measuring track width, but once bigger wheels change, it will make a difference. Therefore a 78 T/A with 2 different sets of wheels with one being different having an inch to the outside would in fact have a different track width. The wider wheels with the additional 2'' overall would wing up with a 1'' wider track width. ;)
But still not flange to flange

[Tazracing]

Re: How is track width measured?

I might have to retract that its outer edge to outer edge, after futher reading and discovering more info it seems that there are ways to measure track width.

Maybe in racing setup or total tire contact patch its o/s to o/s but most people measure it from center of tire to center of tire. Which would still not wind up with it being hub flange to hub flange.

OE wheels with bigger tires (o/s ) are not affected in measuring track width, but once bigger wheels change, it will make a difference. Therefore a 78 T/A with 2 different sets of wheels with one being different having an inch to the outside would in fact have a different track width. The wider wheels with the additional 2'' overall would wing up with a 1'' wider track width. ;)
But still not flange to flange

then they'd list 2 track width's
one for the base t/a and one for the "se"
funny they don't nor has any car that has models with different wheel packages, on the different model "trim group"
cars with a base wheel of 15by6.5 and a option package REQUIRED on a trip group that got you 16 by 8 wheels, but the same track width.
the way you list it.. the t/a,camaro,mustang,farmont,crown vic,grand mark,z28 ,firebird,vette or any other car that had multi wheel packages avail. would have different track widths... but the oems only list one... maybe the oems are just to lazy to list them for each car trip,option group.. ???

[CTX-SLPR]

Re: How is track width measured?

I might have to retract that its outer edge to outer edge, after futher reading and discovering more info it seems that there are ways to measure track width.

Maybe in racing setup or total tire contact patch its o/s to o/s but most people measure it from center of tire to center of tire. Which would still not wind up with it being hub flange to hub flange.

OE wheels with bigger tires (o/s ) are not affected in measuring track width, but once bigger wheels change, it will make a difference. Therefore a 78 T/A with 2 different sets of wheels with one being different having an inch to the outside would in fact have a different track width. The wider wheels with the additional 2'' overall would wing up with a 1'' wider track width. ;)
But still not flange to flange

then they'd list 2 track width's
one for the base t/a and one for the "se"
funny they don't nor has any car that has models with different wheel packages, on the different model "trim group"
cars with a base wheel of 15by6.5 and a option package REQUIRED on a trip group that got you 16 by 8 wheels, but the same track width.
the way you list it.. the t/a,camaro,mustang,farmont,crown vic,grand mark,z28 ,firebird,vette or any other car that had multi wheel packages avail. would have different track widths... but the oems only list one... maybe the oems are just to lazy to list them for each car trip,option group.. ???

wheels can be made with different backspacings to keep the outside to outside distance the same you know....

[Tazracing]

Re: How is track width measured?

I might have to retract that its outer edge to outer edge, after futher reading and discovering more info it seems that there are ways to measure track width.

Maybe in racing setup or total tire contact patch its o/s to o/s but most people measure it from center of tire to center of tire. Which would still not wind up with it being hub flange to hub flange.

OE wheels with bigger tires (o/s ) are not affected in measuring track width, but once bigger wheels change, it will make a difference. Therefore a 78 T/A with 2 different sets of wheels with one being different having an inch to the outside would in fact have a different track width. The wider wheels with the additional 2'' overall would wing up with a 1'' wider track width. ;)
But still not flange to flange

then they'd list 2 track width's
one for the base t/a and one for the "se"
funny they don't nor has any car that has models with different wheel packages, on the different model "trim group"
cars with a base wheel of 15by6.5 and a option package REQUIRED on a trip group that got you 16 by 8 wheels, but the same track width.
the way you list it.. the t/a,camaro,mustang,farmont,crown vic,grand mark,z28 ,firebird,vette or any other car that had multi wheel packages avail. would have different track widths... but the oems only list one... maybe the oems are just to lazy to list them for each car trip,option group.. ???

wheels can be made with different backspacings to keep the outside to outside distance the same you know....

yes I do know.. I also know the 15 "snowflake at 7" and the 8" the added width is on the outside lip..
same with the 16 gta wheels over the standard 15 wheel..
but if you use realsteals thinking then the track width changes with wheel package..
as the exp above is only one of many cars with wheel options of 14/15/16/17" by 6,7,8,9"wide. and there is no way the 6by14 and the 17-9" is all in backspacing or offset
but I give

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: How is track width measured?

you had me curious, so I spent some time looking at other's definition of track width..... it's either outer flange to outer flange OR outside tire to outside tire (that one only seems to be for racing groups)....

thus, you kind of have to take an educated guess - manufacturers use the front track width... example, chevrolet trucks only list one track width for their 73-87 trucks, yet everyone knows the rear is 2" narrower then the front.

[Dan Barlow]

Man this is an old one to bring back . I'm sitting here trying to decide what I'm going to do with the corvette if it gets totaled from its superficial damage . I googled how is track width measured and this came up . Then I remembered that pontiac became the "wide track " division of g.m. by putting on a more positive set of wheels. So , yes wheels can change track wideth and I would just assume it would be measured on the inside edge of the tire . But it really wouldn't matter if you checked it by the outside edge as long as you were consistant car to car . But it would be nice to know if there was a universal way to measure from manufacturer to manufacturer .