lowering with leaf springs

[38plymouth]

My 38 has leaf springs in the front and rear. I'm going to lower the car a little this winter and the rear looks simple enough to do with lowering blocks. The front is a whole different animal. It has a strange design and the front leaves are almost flat and the axle is under the springs. At first I thought I could flip the axle but there is no room at on top. While looking at the springs I noticed they are wrapped in metal so it's hard to tell how many leaves are in there. There must be alot because the whole pack is about 3-4 inches thick. I got thinking that if I got new springs with only 3-4 leaves but were still heavy enough I might be able to gain the 2 inches of drop I'm looking for. Is this possible? I called the only spring shop in my area I could find and they told me to pull them out and they would see what they could do.

[Normspeed]

Leaf springs can be de-arched at a shop. Or you might look into dropped spindles.

On the rears, make sure your lowering blocks are the correct width for Plymouth leaf springs. On later models Mopar springs are narrower than standard furd or cheby leafs.

[38plymouth]

I can't find a source for dropped spindles for a 38 plymouth.

Rearching would lift the front end even higher.

[Norm's Coupe]

I can't find a source for dropped spindles for a 38 plymouth.

Rearching would lift the front end even higher.

Check the street rodder and custom magazines. You can also buy leaf springs in whatever height you want to drop the car. That way you won't need new spindles or a different front clip. I've seen several places advertising the leaf springs in the magazines. Sorry, don't remember the names though.

[38plymouth]

Hopefully this picture shows what I have. They aren't bowed at all like reular springs, they lay almost perfectly flat. If they were arched any different to lower it they would actually have to bow upwards. It's kind of hard to explain.

[Norm's Coupe]

Right, they are similar to the 30's Fords front springs. Same type of setup. Think Chevy's are that way too in the 30's. You should be able to buy new springs from the places I mentioned. They advertise for lowering all cars. I've seen ads for both leaf and coil springs to do it with. Just check those ads. Never seen them in Hemmings, but my guess is they'll be advertised there too. Just call them and tell them what you want to do.

[38plymouth]

So these springs are actually supposed to be nearly flat or bowed up? I thought they were just worn out from being old, if they can bow up some I might try removing a leaf or two.

[Norm's Coupe]

Actually, you are probably right. Those springs did look bagged out. However, if you tell the spring people how low you want to go, they can usually look up the original settings and give you lower springs. Still may raise the car a little though. Your bagged out springs may be lower than what they can make them.

[david lazarus]

Hi 38 Plymouth. I have looked into the exact same issue for my 38 Dodge. My spring shop guy said that they can make new springs that are DE-arched. This means that you get a similar "spring resistance" but they will just sit very flat or even slightly high in the middle. Taking out a leaf could make the front very dippy when braking. Do you have the wedges sitting between your axle and springs?? These are required to tilt the top of the king-pin backward (about 3 degrees from memory) which in turn makes the steering more settled. Whilst not very thick if they are missing you should factor the thickness of these as well.

[Guest rockabillybassman]

Because his springs are flat, there's no way a reworked spring is going to lower it further. The easiest way is to chop the spring perches off the top of the axle and weld new ones on the bottom of the axle. This will give around a 5" when the axle sits on top of the spring. If this is too much lowering, and I suspect it will be, then the springs can be rearched, which will have the bonus effect of providing a better ride. This modification is often done with pickups that have beam axles. In my experience, 3" is about a good amount to aim for, bearing in mind the tires will rub on the guards when turning if any lower.

[greg g]

traditional rodders use dropped axles to lower the front ends of beam axle equipped cars/trucks.

http://www.roadsters.com/56/

[Guest rockabillybassman]

In this case that's not an option, because dropped axles are really only available for fords. You could get someone to do a custom drop, but as it involves building a jig, it would be expensive. Locating the axle above the spring as I suggested can be done for nothing if he can weld.

[Normspeed]

From the photo it looks like there wouldn't be much clearance between axle and undercarriage if you moved the axle to the top of the spring. I think I'd take the car over to the spring man and have him take a look. Sounds like he's willing to give it some up close consideration.

[james curl]

On straight axel pick ups they "C" notch the frame and add a stiffiner in the form of square tubing to the upper flange of the frame then box plate the whole thing to get enough clearance for the supension travel. Just have to watch the ground clearance of the springs now that they are below the axel.

[38plymouth]

There is absolutely no room to put the axle on top of the springs, the axle would be pushing against the oil pan and frame rails. I did think about getting springs with more bow to them and doing this but then it looks like I would run into another problem. I think it's called the drag link, it would hit the springs if I flipped the axle. I still think if I got a spring pack made with less springs but still had the same weight holding abilities it would give me a couple of inches. There has to be at least 7 springs in this pack and they are about 4 inches thick. Maybe I should just get smaller tires and leave the suspension alone.

[Don Coatney]

I must ask why you want to lower the car as it will cause a lot of problems.

[Norm's Coupe]

I must ask why you want to lower the car as it will cause a lot of problems.

Don, he wants to lower the car for the same reasons you wanted a big block with a different transmission and rearend. Seems to me you had many problems doing that too, but you overcame them as you hit them. He wants to lower it because it'll look neat and that's what he wants.

I still think talking to the people who make the springs is the best way to check into this.

[38plymouth]

I want it lowered so that it will look better. In my opinion these cars look awkward sitting as high as they do, lowering them a couple of inches make them look the way they should have been built in the first place. My goal is to make the car look and perform better without putting on new parts. I want the uneducated to look at it and think it came that way from the factory. Thats why I had an original exhaust manifold split instead of buying headers and why I put on an aluminum fenton head made in the 40's. Nobody who has seen it yet realized it wasn't 100% stock.

[bobby horne]

On my 38 Coupe, it is lowered a little using new shackles that were for a Jeep. They are about one half inch less in height. I used nos springs from a 1950 Jeep truck that are less number of springs but still have about the same strength, that gave me about one half inch drop. Tire size can lower my car another half inch. Utility trailer springs will work also, but they have more of an arch...You need to watch the bump stops also. Not much travel on the 38. I cut a little off the stops. good luck. Bob

[38plymouth]

Do you have any more info on how I would order these parts? Like specifically what model or year jeep I should look at. I'd be very interested in more.

[bobby horne]

I bought the Jeep shackles from JC Whitney years ago. I believe JC still sells them. On the 1950 Jeep springs, I did not use a couple of the shorter leafs. The main support and ride comes from the longer leafs.

[Brad Lustig]

Throw a few of these in the trunk:p

[38plymouth]

The rear is easy to lower, I'd have to put those in the engine compartment to get the front down where I want it.

[Rumblin Rolf]

So, where did this operation end up? I'm interested in the final solution since I plan to do the same on my '37 Coupe.

[deathbound]

So, where did this operation end up? I'm interested in the final solution since I plan to do the same on my '37 Coupe.

I lowered the front of my '38 with leaf springs. Not at home now, will post a link to the work I did soon.