dropped my rear end 3" yesterday

[Cpt.Fred]

yesterday evening, after a nice visit to a nearby cruise in and a sunny ride home, i decided to do some more work on the car.

so i took the lowering kit i had already bought some months ago and put it in the car.

i was very curious how it would look like, although i had tried everything before in photoshop, but i am really satisfied with the outcome!

it changes the character of the car completely, i think.

i called it quits afterwards since it was already midnight by then, but this afternoon i'll drive it out of the garage,

take some pics, tighten everything up once more and then i'll take a ride to see what it's like.

post some pics later!

[Mark Haymond]

When the tires go up into the wheel wells three inches higher, it may affect tire change clearances. If you have wider than stock tires, remember to change rear tires by jacking up the body, not by putting a jack under the axle. I have lowered my P15 but it is not on the road yet.

[Cpt.Fred]

i'm running stock 6.00x16" since i like these old wheel's look so much.

can't go as low as the others do, but that's not my intention anyway.

still you're right, i'll have more jacking problems now than before...

[jd52cranbrook]

Sorry for your loss,,,,,,,

Mine sits about 2 inches lower than stock. I do like the look too.

[BobT-47P15]

Mine sits a couple inches lower than it would otherwise due to having

weak springs and a couple 60 pound sand bags in the trunk, just

behind the rear seat. When I remove the weight, the rear of the car

feels light and like it would want to skip around. No lowering blocks

used.

[Andydodge]

Fred, mine has 2" blocks on the rear and 3/4 of one coil cut from the front and sits quite well, regarding your post about the spring shackles maybe your cars rear springs have sagged a little and the 3" drop might be accentuating the problem.......andyd

[Cpt.Fred]

alright, first drive with my new little taildragger:)

it's ok to drive it this way, just a little scraping when leaving the garage, but the exaust fits quite well

and although i had to friend on the backseat and lots of tools everything is fine.

one problem though that's really annoying: when starting in first gear or trying to scoot on in second in real slow motion,

the drive shaft is giving me the creeps... almost like a grabbing clutch, real ugly vibrations and noise.

sometimes it works, sometimes it's just horrible. have to change that...

maybe the angles of the shaft coming out of the tranny and going into the axle don't align any more like they should?

i really like the look, though...

i'll put new shackles and bushings on the rear springs and as soon as i got money left i'll have them completely rebuilt.

seems like they have sagged more than i thought.

bob: the only sandbag in my car is located right behind the wheel:D

and to repeat myself: i'm going to buy some skirts. hehe.

[Plymouthy Adams]

though not offered for this car..the polygraphites for the A bodies will work..

[rockable]

where did you find 3" lowering blocks for 1 1/2" wide springs? I had to make my 2" blocks.

[Cpt.Fred]

i bought the kit at nightprowler customs, some kind gentleman on this forum

gave me this tip:

http://www.thenightprowlers.com/

the owner, mr. gary glasgow if i recall correctly, is very helpful and polite.

he sent me a set of 2 1 1/2" blocks you can stack together, they fit really well.

i ordered 2 kits, one for me and one for a friend's 47 de soto, but unfortunately he sent us two different sets of u-bolts, so only one kit fits. but we did not notice when the package arrived and that was a long time ago, so now we just order a third pair:rolleyes: one should check even the new parts, i've read that on here just yesterday...

tim: what do you mean? my english... i'm sorry. is that a material used for bushings? would that stop the shaking and rumbling? i didn't have it before the lowering.

[Plymouthy Adams]

the polygraphites are a very sturdy material that will give you a bit stiffer suspension and still provide all the necessary movement needed in the suspension yet giving you very long life with the install, these have good wear properties..the rubber is at best just that..rubber..and the shackles bushings take a bit of a beating..I would venture to guess that if you look close you could easily have accelerated wear of the shackles themselves and if the PO ran the car long without good bushings, you could very well have enlongated spring eyes or frame eyes..really super stiff rear suspensin could be had with aluminum inserts..look for road noise tranfer with these..usually reserved for track cars only..

[Cpt.Fred]

ah, now i can read you, thanks.

i had polyurethane (???) bushings fabricated for my opel rekord that was seriously lowered, had stiffer coils and 2 chamber adjustable gas shocks.

it sat on the road like a brick, but got really catty in limit range, especially hard turns/wet road.

thats not where i want the plymouth to be, it's a cruiser and my little boat;)

so, do you think the rumble comes from the wrecked bushings and shackles?

another nice shot, when the sun came for a short visit near berlin tiergarten:

Edited May 25, 2010 by Cpt.Fred

[Plymouthy Adams]

worn bushing usually will cause chatter and a bit of spring slap...if already grounded out by absence of bushing..yes will transfer road noise..Beck Arnley makes these bushing and are available here in the US in most parts houses..this is a foreign company for us here in the states..aren't these guy's a major player in car parts in Europe?

[Cpt.Fred]

hmm, never heard of it before... but a friend of mine fabricated his polyurethane bushings himself, you can buy all necessary ingredients at a relatively low price.

i already have a complete set of shackles and bushings here, but i wont put them into the sagged springs. as soon as i have enough money i will have them rebuilt.

it cannot be the only problem here, since this shaking and rumbling didn't occur before i put the blocks in. the car set in motion quite smooth even with the sagged springs and worn out bushings...

i'll check angles and then see what i can do.

[Plymouthy Adams]

you may have to check your driveline phasing for certain..your pinion is now higher and thus could be putting your u-joint in conflict..BUT I would look closely at the conbined effect of the sagging springs and raise pinion as both could put you at the "bottoming out" (most forward travel) of the u-joints..these driveshafts have tolerance for in/out travel but not to any extreme..I would be careful on the use of the car till you are certain you are not putting undue pressure on the transmission tailshaft

Edited May 25, 2010 by Tim Adams

[Cpt.Fred]

ok, that's a very good advice, i'll carefully check that and keep you updated.

i'll contact that leafspring blacksmith this week and ask for some prices.

thanks a lot, tim!

now i'll check my books if there are any numbers on the original spring measurements...

[Andydodge]

Fred, the Plymouth looks good in the pics amongst the local buildings, but that noise problem is probably due to the paint.........see, its like this, nice shiney smooth paint allows the car to slip thru the air quickly with minimal resistance.............lol.......paint jobs with, how shall I say it.......patina(?)........lol...........the unsmoothness(is that a word) of the paint creates wind resistance resulting in air shock waves resonating along the sides of the cars body resulting in the rumblings that you are hearing..........lol...........for my next sermon.......lol.......nah, only kidding...........lol.........but I think Tim's suggestion re the pinion angle might be wworth following up, btw I haven't noticed any unusual noises in my Plymouth since the lowering, but its only a 2" drop, I've also replaced the shackle bushes before lowering it also..........regards, andyd

[Cpt.Fred]

hey andy, beware of drunk-posting:D

all that sanding the last 70years has made my car's face super smooth, you wouldn't believe it! hehehe

by the way, don't you have problems on the 41 with those fat tires and wheels in the back?

it looks like it could scrape real ugly when you load the trunk with something heavy.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Cpt.Fred

[40plyrod]

Nice car Cpt. Looks similar to mine.. (if mine wasn't rusty, was painted and could move under it's own power). I'm not sure if it's been answered but what did you do to lower the front?

[Cpt.Fred]

thanks, 40plyrod:)

the front isn't lowered yet, maybe just sagged a bit over the years.

i have a second set of front coils to cut up a little, but i'm not sure yet

wether i want to do it or not.

i like the steamboat look it has now, and if i go any lower i can forget using the 16" wheels, they scrape in the corners, i'm pretty sure.

anyway, first task is to check the driveshaft now. i still don't really get why it's shaking. tomorrow i'll have time and get out and under there.