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New Ways To Lower The Rear End


Cpt.Fred

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Martybose... I am all for some things. See pics of bloodyknuckles new 41. I chopped the bitch 6", 59 ford 9" and a Cadillac motor in it. But, it was in boxes when I bought it and put it together. The 39 flattie Cadi motor wasn't enough, so I went a more modern with a 60s Cadi motor and disk brakes. Some newer technology is ok... But there is a point where it turns into a street rod or ??? With coil overs and c notches and etc. so, it all depends on what you want? I c notched and bagged a 52 Chevy that i bought with a 350/350 combo.

I just have the feeling that this forum isn't the right forum for c notches, coil overs and more newer technology

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Martybose... I am all for some things. See pics of bloodyknuckles new 41. I chopped the bitch 6", 59 ford 9" and a Cadillac motor in it. But, it was in boxes when I bought it and put it together. The 39 flattie Cadi motor wasn't enough, so I went a more modern with a 60s Cadi motor and disk brakes. Some newer technology is ok... But there is a point where it turns into a street rod or ??? With coil overs and c notches and etc. so, it all depends on what you want? I c notched and bagged a 52 Chevy that i bought with a 350/350 combo.

I just have the feeling that this forum isn't the right forum for c notches, coil overs and more newer technology

Just an FYI. This is not the HAMB. This is much more family oriented. I think you have a lot to offer but we already know how to cuss, we just dont do it here.

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To what do these two exhaust pipes connect? Dual mufflers or . . .  

 

Lowering: I removed the next to the bottom leaf on all four springs on my truck and got a nice 2" lower stance. I'm thinking of doing the same on my suburban, but not certain. To cut the coil and get a lever vehicle may not be so easy. This thread has been very informative. Thank you. 

 

15291980ru.jpg

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your wagon suspension is not quite the same as the 4 leaf truck..you will also find that there may be 9 leaves in the springs...I have left mine in place as they are..sotck...they profile the car just right and as a wagon should you find the vehicle loaded you will be happy you have the correct rated springs on the rear..I would not just change anything till I have the car up and running and then evaluate your need/wants from there

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Tim: 10:4. I will get it legal first. I knew I was going to lower the truck, it just sits very high stock and I wanted a lower look which I got. With the Suburban a little can make a difference in looks but NOT a low rider look. That's NOT me.

 

Got my trailer all lined up and a place to garage the vert, inside and protected so tomorrow is move out and away and move in. Wil be a full day. 

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This thread has been very informative. Thank you. 

 

 

 

I agree, very informative, moments of tension and all.

 

I'm going to be doing some very non-traditional things with my 1949 Windsor, largely because the driveline was gone when I bought it, and a 360/727 combo was readily available for a swap. Had the original Spitfire Six been intact, it would still be under the hood (maybe hopped-up a bit) when the car is finally finished. Since it wasn't, I'm going another route.

 

Along the way there will be disc brakes for safety, and potentially other mods for safety, drivability and simple creature comfort, like maybe Vintage Air and a (hidden) satellite radio.

 

I will greatly enjoy this car, and would have enjoyed it just as greatly had it been intact and I'd stayed stock.

 

Meanwhile, despite my plans to modify, I'm getting a lot of good information here -- without some of the conflict and condescension I see from time to time on the HAMB -- so here I'm staying with my questions, comments and (eventual, probable) build thread.

 

Thanks to everyone who makes this forum such a welcoming and informative place. And thanks again for a very educational thread.

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Glenn, main thing is as others have said, its your car, your time and money so do what is best for you.........as for modifying.......lol.......well my 1940 Oz Dodge Sedan has had a 318 poly/auto, rack & pinion, 4 wheel discs etc etc etc since about 1973.......the vinyl top got removed last yr after 35 yrs for some rust repairs but its basically still as pictured........main thing is to use them.........regards from Oz........andyd

post-612-0-55543900-1375176740_thumb.jpg

post-612-0-40349400-1375176774_thumb.jpg

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I fully agree with AndyD. I see two building philosophies on this forum. One is fully rebuild from the frame up, maybe stock / maybe not. Then drive it or show it. The other, which is my philosophy, build the essentials to drive safely, (brakes / wiring / sound engine/ etc) asap, then enjoy it while you finish it. In my opinion nothing wrong with either approach. Looks like you lean toward the second approach.  

 

Nice old Dodge. I love the color combination, it tells a story in itself.  Fresh paint deletes the past. 

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Back on track with the thread subject.....I received the replacement shackles, which are basically the same as the stock ones (the replacement shackle has grease cups-don't know if the stock shackles originally had them or not). Unfortunately, they shipped 1 for the 1940 & later cars, so a call Monday morning fixed that with a replacement in the mail. FYI-for 1933-1939 cars, the rear shackles are different-by that I mean, the left shackle has 1 bushing with right hand threads & 1 bushing with left hand threads....the right shackle has both bushings with right hand threads.

 

Here is a pic of the replacement next to my original shackle:

ywi3.jpg
 

before & after-rear right shackle:

29na.jpg

 

t2g1.jpg

 

before & after-front left of rear spring:

9yiw.jpg
 

rl54.jpg

 

dl57.jpg

before & after-front right of rear spring: (didn't notice til I looked at the pics, looks like there is a recess for the head of the bolt, which will get turned)

ceqd.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img571/5044/vyrc.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img694/1072/ny2z.jpg

 

before w/3" blocks....after without:

http://imageshack.us/a/img138/3362/pv58.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img687/5042/50co.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/6444/jumq.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/2226/zhog.jpg

front eye of new rear spring:

http://imageshack.us/a/img809/3920/4ahk.jpg

rear eye of new rear spring:

http://imageshack.us/a/img543/1723/7uz9.jpg








 

Edited by deathbound
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I have not went to look at a truck to compare but are the leaf springs appear flipped in the forward hanger?  it appears the spring is upside down and could well be a attribute of the truck compared to the car as the axle is above on the truck and below on the car..is this truly the case?  thanks for clarifying  

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Tim, Deathbound has a 38 p-6 coupe and he got the spring with the front eye reversed to move the spring up in the pocket the amount of the eye diameter which lowers the car without the blocks.  Do not know about the truck that Pflaming has.  Not sure which post you were referring to.  Sometimes these posts bounce around a bit and can be hard to follow which may be my case here.

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I have not went to look at a truck to compare but are the leaf springs appear flipped in the forward hanger?  it appears the spring is upside down and could well be a attribute of the truck compared to the car as the axle is above on the truck and below on the car..is this truly the case?  thanks for clarifying  

 

The rear axle is above the springs on cars. Truck rear axles, I believe are below the springs.

 

Tim, Deathbound has a 38 p-6 coupe and he got the spring with the front eye reversed to move the spring up in the pocket the amount of the eye diameter which lowers the car without the blocks.  Do not know about the truck that Pflaming has.  Not sure which post you were referring to.  Sometimes these posts bounce around a bit and can be hard to follow which may be my case here.

 

Correct, eyes are reversed (as shown in before/after pics), I think the springs have slightly less arch also, to achieve a total of 3" lower.

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Fred, I hope you don't think I highjacked your thread, just thought it might be better to add everything to this thread instead of starting a new one.

 

I received the correct shackle for the left rear today, installed it & put everything back together. It sits about 2" higher than it did with 3" blocks & 75 year old sagging rear springs. I think the 3" lowered springs are compared to a stock spring without wear & tear. Anyways, not as low as I would've preferred, but on the positive side, I now have a completely new rear suspension & a MUCH better ride. I may add 1" or 2" blocks, but for now, I'm just going to drive & enjoy it. Also, within the last month or so, had the stock wheels sandblasted, then I painted them & had new Firestone Super Deluxe bias-ply tires mounted.

 

The left side replacement shackle has 1 bushing that has left hand threads, but I don't think they got the memo overseas that there should be notches on the "highs" of the bolt, so I added them with a file for future reference.

 

old/replacement:

kyf8.jpg
 

zo3c.jpg
 

feb7.jpg
 

 

before-with 3" lowering blocks & 75 year old stock sagging springs:

loen.jpg
 

after-with Posies 3" lowered springs:

e8zw.jpg
 

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wow, this thread got some life in it now!

i've just returned from a 3000km roundtrip to sweden (A-Bomber's Meeting, pics will follow in another thread),

10 days in the P10 with zero issues and a lot of lowered driving on various road qualities,

so this thread is now even more important to me...

 

first of all, traditional or not traditional, my goal with this car according to my personal taste is going as low in the back as possible,

because i love tail draggers. personally i think tail draggers are pretty traditional, and because i also love driving the car as much

as possible, i have to think about mods that help me achieve my goal. buying new, modified springs for front and back is the first i will do,

now that i saw all the pics of the posie springs. i will raise my front end a little more back towards stock height by putting ford aerostar coils

in there, the cut 39 dodge springs don't work for me.

i will get the posie springs an then add 1 1/2" blocks, see where that gets me. afterwards i will take the dual exhaust out and modify the part

that arches the rear axle, that's where my biggest problem is. the axle hits the tubes pretty frequently under load, and they are already touching the floor pan.

(to answer the question about the mufflers, the tubes are full split all the way. i'm running full split headers and 2 cherry bombs)

frame bump stops are cut down to about 1".

when i'm there i have to see what's next. since the car is a true survivor, i don't want to add 4-links or c-notch if avoidable. let's see how far i can go without

destroying things. i noticed the drive shaft touched the floor pan once in a while when i was going real low under full load, so...

 

deathbound, thanks a lot for your great documentation an the work you put into sharing the process! that is a great help to me!

your car looks great!

 

everyone else, please don't argue! this thread may be a little OT on this forum, but i don't think it's worth fighting over.

after all, there are so many different ways a car can be cool and pretty, who's to decide? and it would be boring if they where all the same.

Edited by Cpt.Fred
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i dug these up from the parts stash, i knew they had to be somewhere...

 

15435019bf.jpg

 

yours look a lot better, deathbound!

but i looked under my car and these seem to be the right ones for a 40 model.

i must have some bushings for the front eyes as well, somewhere...

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Fred, those are correct for the rear of your rear springs (first year for that type). If you order new lowered springs from Posies, they will have the front bushing (silent block) installed. if you have any questions.....don't hesitate. Derek

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  • 2 months later...

Deathbound,this thread is great! Our cars can be made to be daily drivers with the right upkeep.With sites like this,we can track down the parts needed.Unlike you,I am not computer savvy so,my projects are poorly documented. Also,the pix of the old parts is good to see before you tear into a 70 year old car.  I think much of the technology was ahead of it's time.Art.

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Derek, I think this is the first thread on here, since forever, that has been so fully answered to the OP's satisfaction.

 You've done a fine bit of explaining.....Kudos to you!!!

 

 

/\ /\ /\  what he said :)

 

 

Deathbound,this thread is great! Our cars can be made to be daily drivers with the right upkeep.With sites like this,we can track down the parts needed.Unlike you,I am not computer savvy so,my projects are poorly documented. Also,the pix of the old parts is good to see before you tear into a 70 year old car.  I think much of the technology was ahead of it's time.Art.

 

Thank you! I have since removed a couple leafs from each of the front & rear sets for an even lower stance (& may still add 1" blocks in the rear) which may not be the taste of most here. I will post pics soon.

 

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i dug these up from the parts stash, i knew they had to be somewhere...

 

15435019bf.jpg

 

yours look a lot better, deathbound!

but i looked under my car and these seem to be the right ones for a 40 model.

i must have some bushings for the front eyes as well, somewhere...

I made my own.

 

shackles2.jpg

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Thank you! I have since removed a couple leafs from each of the front & rear sets for an even lower stance (& may still add 1" blocks in the rear) which may not be the taste of most here. I will post pics soon.

 

Derek, it is my taste for sure, so i'm looking forward to the pics! :)

I got the Aerostar Moog springs for the front with the last container,

and Posie's got my rear setup all wrapped up and shipped to the warehouse,

so they will be in the next one for sure.

If i'm lucky i can mount them before the end of january. can't wait...

 

Don, those are a bit longer than stock, as i gather from the photo. did you do that for a specific reason?

The bracing in the center looks like a good idea...

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