Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

For the first time with this car, I had the tires rotated and balanced on my 1951 Patrician 400. The tires are L78's, 15 inch diameter. The technician removed the rear fender skirts and the lug screws from the wheels but the tire was too wide for the cavity between the hub and the the fender wall to remove the tire. Their solution was to remove the air from the tire and the tire easily dropped from the cavity. They reversed the process replacing the tire. Placing the wheel on the rear spindel with no air in the tire and then reinflating the tire after the wheel was mounted in position. I don't recall ever having this problem with my 55 or 56 Patrician. Did the technician not have the patience to tilt the tire at the correct angle to remove it or is there a special technique with the 51 Patrician 400 for tire removal/replacement?

If I remember right, my 51 and 54 had to be jacked up by the frame allowing the rear spring to relax, and axle to drop down so the tire would clear the fender well. This would be the normal situation if using the bumper jack on the road. I suppose if the tire were to wide, this operation might not even work. Try it and see.

Great insight. You're correct. They were using jack points on the axle, I'll try using the bumper jack point.

Yes, when changing out a rear tire and wheel on these cars, it is best to let the axle drop down to give you maximum clearance.

However, I prefer to jack these cars up by the frame, rather than the bumper, for a tire change. Since you're not going under the car to do thid type of work, a small floor jack can do the job, with the saddle placed under the side rail, where the X-member joins up. Yet, you might need a scrap of wood to support the jack on soft ground.

It might interest you to know that randy berger adapted a compact jack used with GM cars of the 1980s (that was designed to fit the side frame rail) for use with his '56 Four Hundred, which is not much different than a '51 in this regard.

Last but not least, if your Packard has radial tires, know that you may still have to let some air out of the tire for it to fit between the brake drum and the wheel opening in the rear fender. That might suggest a need to carry a small portable air tank on long trips.

Rear wheel well clearance on Packards, from the bathtub era (or perhaps beginning with the Clipper body shell) thru 1956 is pretty snug and many of us have had the experience of deflating a spare to mount it, and then reinflating on the car. But an L-78 is really pushing the tire size, its the rough equivalent of 9:00x15 according to Coker's conversion chart. 8:00x15 was the standard size for your 56 Patrician, though apparently 8:20x15 was an option. Some folks have experienced front clearance problems on full turns with 8:20x15, and also with 235/75R-15s, though others have not. Tire sizes can vary considerably with different manufacturers and where the wheel well clearance is marginal to begin with, it creates the problem you're experiencing. For the alpha-series tires, my 1948 Custon 8, originally fitted with 8:20x15 as a factory size, just barely accomodated G-78s and even then you needed to jack by the frame and wiggle to get the rears on and off.

Here is a picture of the foot-operated jack which is very stable. Apparently Chevy has a circular hole in the frame that the protrusion on the jack fits into so that it will not slip. I welded a heavy piece of angle iron that will prevent the jack from slipping off the frame and then covered the circular protrusion with an old piece of tire for traction and to present a flat surface to the frame. It works well. Although it doesn't look it, the circle is even or just a little lower than the piece of tire

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Is there a part number, model and year, or other means to identify the foot operated jack you have modified? Looks like a great idea.

I will examine it more closely to see if there are any identification marks or numbers. It came from a 1980s? something Chevrolet. I do have the Packard bumper jack in a repro box, but of course never use it. I also had in my original 56 400 the screw jack (SP50076) that was an option. It was a lousy jack also.