New Ways To Lower The Rear End

[fstfish66]

i find it interesting that some guys can  use the aero star coils and some can not,maybe its the difference between a flat head and  a V8?

 

also incase you dont know,if  using the posies lowering leafs, they also have re-engineered rear shocks to go with those springs made by  bilstien,,  i have both  springs and shocks on my 40, sorry no pics prior to the posie springs,,they do ride better and handle better,.,,alltho  i did add a fat rear away bar  

[Cpt.Fred]

i don't know what should prevent using the aerostar coils, as long as you're running the standart front setup.

what i found is they're a little shorter comprared to the oem part, but they make up for it by being a lot stiffer.

the material is quite a bit thicker, but i didn't have problems putting them in. i didn't have the oem rubber parts

as a replacement, the old ones where shot, so i just put little sleaves made from pieces of bicycle rubber tubes

over the last coils. works just fine.

 

are those bielsteins available for the front, too?

[fstfish66]

i don't know what should prevent using the aerostar coils, as long as you're running the standart front setup.

what i found is they're a little shorter comprared to the oem part, but they make up for it by being a lot stiffer.

the material is quite a bit thicker, but i didn't have problems putting them in. i didn't have the oem rubber parts

as a replacement, the old ones where shot, so i just put little sleaves made from pieces of bicycle rubber tubes

over the last coils. works just fine.

 

are those bielsteins available for the front, too?

i dont think the  bilstiens are  readily available for the front,,usually the front are  a  chevy  pick up  shock  used,,but the guys at  bilstien  are really good guys and  im sure they have a shock with the same deminsions,,,just not listed as a  40 mopar shock,,,

 

i have not taken  apart my coils yet,,,so im not sure what  you meen about oem  rubber sleeves,,,,im guessing  rubber to  keep tjhe springs quiet  or from  moving around ???  and with the  aero star coils,,,how much space do  u have  between the lower A arm,,and the  frame before  it  bottoms out or slams when  you hit a bump ???  thanks,,,, don

[Cpt.Fred]

Sorry it took so long,

 

i just remembered this and went to the car to take a picture.

 

It doesn't bottom out any more with the moogs, but sure did before.

Now it has about 3" of travel before it hits the rubber.

 

[Robert Horne]

In September, "Oldguy48" had a great thread on adding a Jeep swaybar to a Plymouth,

you may be interested in.....

[fstfish66]

Sorry it took so long,

 

i just remembered this and went to the car to take a picture.

 

It doesn't bottom out any more with the moogs, but sure did before.

Now it has about 3" of travel before it hits the rubber.

 

thanks for the great pics,,,ill assume these are un-cut coils at this point,,also what  motor  flat head ? i have a early hemi might weigh more,,,

Edited December 20, 2013 by fstfish66

[Cpt.Fred]

exactly, coils are uncut.

engine is the original 201cui flathead.

 

the coils are very strong, much stronger then the oem parts.

they should carry your hemi well, regarding that the flat-six isn't exactly

what you'd call a light-weight.

stronger shocks and maybe relocating the upper shock mounts  to the frame

should do the job. they ride very well, and since i have the original shock setup

i can still enjoy the ups and downs of the boat trip

[fstfish66]

exactly, coils are uncut.

engine is the original 201cui flathead.

 

the coils are very strong, much stronger then the oem parts.

they should carry your hemi well, regarding that the flat-six isn't exactly

what you'd call a light-weight.

stronger shocks and maybe relocating the upper shock mounts  to the frame

should do the job. they ride very well, and since i have the original shock setup

i can still enjoy the ups and downs of the boat trip

thanks,enjoy your cruise,,lol

[Cpt.Fred]

ok, it's been quite a while since i updated this...

 

i had to work like a mule for the past 3 months, so i didn't really do anything on the car.

last weekend i finally found the time to get the superslides under that rear end.

one hell of a job, the front bolt on the passenger side leaf spring wasn't going to go anywhere,

and after 3 hours of heating and hitting with the BFH (remember those rear brake drums...)

i finally got a replacement from a russian GAZ 69 and decided to cut the darn thing off.

there were supposed to be new ones in my kit from kanter, but what do you know... there weren't any.

the rest was a piece of cake and the new springs fit like a dream.

we put a lot of grease on there and heated them for some time to make sure it would spread all over

and stop the rusting ( they came rusty and untreated, quite an unpleasant thing for something so expensive).

 

the rear shackles were also new, you can see the pic earlier on this thread, but let me tell you, they don't fit at all.

since my old shackles were still completely intact i decided to put new rubber on them and reuse.

they're drop forged solid mopar quality from the 40s vs laser cut chinese BS, so what could go wrong...

 

my calculation was that the new springs ride-height-wise would most likely be like my old worn ones,

but handle much better. so thought i'd put the 3" blocks back in just for a laugh and see how it looks.

having put new springs under a few cars now, i thought it would be higher than before anyway.

well, guess again. the old ones were sagged and worn, but not as much as i had imagined.

so the outcome with the dropped springs and the blocks is quite brutal...!

 

i had it for a test ride on bumpy roads for about 70 miles and it rides much better than before, the springs do a very good job.

of course travel is very limited and sharp bumps cause the axle to hit the exhaust piepes against the floor board,

but i doesn't really bottom out to often. i guess if i take out 1" of lowering with different blocks i'm good to go and clear my scrape line.

 

here are some pictures:

 

 

many here might not like it, but i personally love tail draggers

Edited April 6, 2014 by Cpt.Fred

[Bmartin]

I'd love to see some full side shots.  Also, did you measure the distance from the top of the axle to the frame?  Curious what kind of travel you have with that setup.  I've got 3 inch lowering blocks on old springs.  Drive side sits lower than passenger.  I've got 2 1/4" on passenger and 1 3/4" on driver before the axle hits the (what I think are stock) bumpstops.  Bumpstops look to be about 2" thick. 

[deathbound]

Fred, looks great......I like em low. I removed 2 leafs, cut my 3" blocks down to 1" & installed them with my Posies 3" lowering springs....anymore & I'd have very little travel. I cut my bump stops a bit, still rides decent, no scrub line issues. It's not a daily driver. Derek

Edited April 7, 2014 by deathbound

[Bmartin]

Since we are talking about lowering, has anyone played with adding negative camber to the front suspension to see if it reduces rubbing on the outer fender?   Just something that crossed my mind when reading up on the alignment options. 

[Cpt.Fred]

Thanks, Deathbound.

I'm curious how you removed the layers,

is it just removing those little braces on there, take layers out and put the braces back on?

Also, which layers did you take, the shortest ones?

 

Bmartin,

i shortened the bump stops on my frame, but they're not a problem.

as is said, it's mostly the exhaust tubes that trouble me, i'm running 2" dual pipes all the way

across the axle, and that's where it gets really tight and nasty. maybe i'll insert smaller parts

in there at the critical places one day.

Here are the side shots:

 

 

funny thing is it doesn't really look all that low on a photograph.

if you walk past the car in person and look at the rear end,

that's when you realize how far down it really is now...

they just weren't built for stunts like this

[Bmartin]

Man that looks good! I measured my fame distance to the ground just in front of the spring shackle and it was about 6.5 inches. If u get a chance post what yours is. I'm trying to get a feel for how worn out my springs are.

Actually, how many leafs are in a stock pack? The prev owner may have pulled some.

[61farnham]

..many here might not like it, but i personally love tail draggers

 

Your car looks just fine to me Fred, I just read thru this whole great topic, have those front springs settled any yet? Curious to know as i've just raised the front my '48 business coupe with what I was led to believe are nos springs that came with the car when I brought it. The old springs had just over a coil removed and combined with missing lower bump stops didn't ride too well so I've fitted the nos ones and it's raised the front 3", a little more than I like but I'm guessing they will settle a bit with time.The rear on mine is lowered with 3" blocks and they'll be staying as it's the tail down look I want.

 

regards......... Simon.

 

Old Springs

 

New Springs

[Cpt.Fred]

61farnham, great looking coupe you got there! very nice color!

 

my front springs may have settled just a tiny bit, but they're still a little too high.

I guess i give it a try and remove 1/4 or 1/2 coil, but no more.

Otherwise i'd start bottoming out again and the drive shaft might scrape the floor pan again

if i get the front too low. Right now it seems to work fine, but it's pretty tight under there,

exhaust and frame and all.

 

One day i'd like to get a P10 coupe that needs some work and do all the things i can't do to this car...

 

Bmartin, here are 2 measurements for you, fender to floor (running 6.00x16" on factory rims):

 

 

and front spring mount / frame to floor:

 

Edited April 8, 2014 by Cpt.Fred

[Bmartin]

Fred, you car is about 2" lower than mine in the rear.  So that is a good data point for me when considering the posie rear springs.  Thanks for the measurements. 

 

 

OT:  Interesting that your antenna is on the opposite side than mine, but its still left hand drive.  Unless that is one of those flipped pictures. 

[Cpt.Fred]

Nope, nothing flipped here. Left hand drive, antenna on the driver's  side.

It's a dummy now, though, i disconnected it when i switched the old Firestone Airchief with

a dash mounted Motorola from a P15...

Your car is awesome, by the way. Cool stance and color.

I'd love to have a 40 coupe... to me it combines the nicest grille of that era

with the most elegant roof line and body.

[50desotocoupe]

Nice to see that our old Mopar's are coming up in the world!!!  I am an addicted viewer of the HAMB and a year ago you didn't see anything that wasn't Ford/Chevy in our era of cars.  Now people are starting to dig them out of wherever and give them new lives.  We will still be the unusual cars at the cruises and shows. 

[fstfish66]

either  the fords and chevys have dried up,,or,,they are finally starting to see the  light,,in 1939  mopar had front IFS  while the others still used a straight axel and trailing arms,,nothing more then  truck suspension plus the mopar  have more room,,,,but  its still a  chevy  /ford world., monkey  see monkey  doooo i call it the walmart syndrom

[deathbound]

Thanks, Deathbound.

I'm curious how you removed the layers,

is it just removing those little braces on there, take layers out and put the braces back on?

Also, which layers did you take, the shortest ones?

 

Bmartin,

i shortened the bump stops on my frame, but they're not a problem.

as is said, it's mostly the exhaust tubes that trouble me, i'm running 2" dual pipes all the way

across the axle, and that's where it gets really tight and nasty. maybe i'll insert smaller parts

in there at the critical places one day.

Here are the side shots:

 

 

funny thing is it doesn't really look all that low on a photograph.

if you walk past the car in person and look at the rear end,

that's when you realize how far down it really is now...

they just weren't built for stunts like this

 

Fred, I removed the through bolt, cut the band that holds them together (haven't replaced it....yet), left the shortest (about 12") spring, removed the next 2, left the 4 longest ones, re-installed the through bolt, installed the 1" lowering blocks.....all with the stock u-bolts. Let me know if you want pics. I don't have measurements right now for you to compare to yours, my front end is on jack stands while I'm working on it.....should be on the ground in a week or so. Also, I'm running my dual exhaust UNDER my rear axle, so no clearance issues there & still above the scrub line.

 

My post #41 shows before/after pics with 3" lowering blocks/worn stock springs & new Posies 3" lowering springs......& post #67 shows before/after pics with Posies 3" lowering springs & after with the 2 leafs mentioned above removed (I also removed 2 leafs from the front at the same time). No pics right now with the 1" blocks installed.

 

EDIT:I did not cut the bands that secure the springs.....don't know what I was thinking.

Edited April 14, 2014 by deathbound

[pflaming]

It had never occurred to me that running dual exhausts  from a six cyl engine  means theymust run down one side of the car and cannot cross over til very late such as what you have done. The picture is self explanatory thus the value of pictures. OR IS there another way?

 

Edited April 12, 2014 by pflaming

[Don Coatney]

[Plymouthy Adams]

just behind the tranny or between the engine and bell housing are both good cross over points...however I prefer the more rearward behind the tranny as the best point..and is great place to build your X or cross over pipe...sad but in my V6 application there will be one of each cross over application as it will be best served to run the dual in that manner, the immediate entrance into twin catalysts with the O2 sensors attached here makes my original Y pipe of the V6 cross in front of the tranny and brings the two pipes into one just at the tranny on the passenger side...so for true dual I will take the passenger side and run it across behind the tranny and thus balance the exhaust system

[Don Coatney]

As pictured in an earlier post my crossover point is behind the transmission. As an added benefit to doing it this way (not planned but discovered later) when I remove my transmission I can "park" it with the transmission tail stock wedged between the exhaust crossover pipe and the floor board for extended periods of time without dropping it all the way to the ground. This make it much easier and requires much less muscle work to service the clutch.