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From: Daven Anderson
Email: 1961fury>at<Leapmail.net
Remote Name: 204.32.196.110
Date: January 07, 2004
The '57-64 fullsize wagons have the same rear axle assemblies as the sedans (for '57-'63, Sure-Grip assemblies differ from open diff. assemblies) BUT as noted the inside rear wheel wells are bigger than the sedans. Later Mopar B body ('71-up) and C body ('69-up) wagons do in fact have wider axle assemblies than sedans. I have a '69 C sedan axle that measures 62" ODF-to-ODF, I don't know how the '69 Police car got a 63" ODF-to-ODF axle in it, a '70-'71 swap or possibly a midyear factory change (police equip?). I have the '70 C-body rear in my '60 wagon, and 15×7 wheels (widest factory wheels were 14×6), and it's just fine and dandy. One other thing is that '60 and '61 sedans have less wheel well room than '57-'59 sedans, and years ago when Johnny Milkshake stuffed that '73 Imperial axle into his '61 Fury, he did indeed have to hammer out the inside of the rear wheel wells a bit (but not too much). A '60-'61 sedan with a '72-up C-body sedan ('69-up C-body wagon) rear axle would be a 'worst case scenario' as far as these axle swaps go. I would say that with the 'bicycle size' (narrow by today's standards) wheels and tires our cars came with (and the HUGE wheelwells by today's standards!), the couple of extra inches of rear axle width is not a concern for most swaps using up to 7" wide wheels (the '60-'61 sedans with the bigger C-body rears is an exception noted above), and if you're wanting wheels larger than 7" width you'd be looking into narrowing the rear anyway! Then again, a '63 Custom 880 wagon was running around with 17×8 wheels, stock rear axle and untouched wheel wells, and still room left to get them in and out!
