46-48 coupe -tube shock mount question

Timbo405

Timbo405

Junior Member
My '48 coupe has Houdailles on all 4 corners -
want to put tube shocks on in their place -
it seems everything aftermarket I find requires the sway bar to be removed...
I'm a little unsure about this? maybe it's required for a drop?
I am installing a 4" dropped axle and reversing the spring eyes front and rear ( Nostalgia Sid's) in addition to removing a few leaves from both packs.
Do I need the sway bar? I'm thinking I do but then again... this'll be my first rodeo on these old Fords.
Thanks for the help!
 
Sway or roll?? The actual anti-sway (panhard) straight bar is essential with '46-48 shackle arrangement, the anti-roll U-shaped bar in front is less important but removing it would likely be a loss to roadability.
Do some hunting and get original (or early aftermarket) parts that actually fit the car. The link below to the great vanPelt site shows the parts book pics of the stock arrangement. This stuff was also available long ago in very similar form from the aftermarket, and both types of setup can be found with some searching. They are made to fit the car without discarding any functional parts.

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/FH_images/FH_chassis-pics/Flathead_Shocks_1947-48_Tube.jpg
 
26 lakes said:
Why don't you use the stock Ford parts to put tube shocks on your car.
Click to expand...
the oem mounts brackets are hard to come by - not expensive but not around everyday.
I did pick up some from Sid today he grabbed at a swap meet - 25 bucks...a few hrs after I wrote this. I got lucky... ever meet that person who has what you need and just when you need it? That's a good one to keep close huh?!
 
I'm surprised your '48 coupe has Houdailles on all 4 corners. With the late '47s they started with tubes on rear; '48 all tubes. My coupe is an August '47 version and has stock brackets for tubes on the rear.

I got lucky and found a Barn Member who had a rusty set of conversion parts in his barn for the fronts .... don't know who made them.
 
My '48, bought new by my Father, has lever shocks. It was built in November '47 as an export car (Edgewater plant) and also has the good steering lock.
 
I've got a set of NOS 48 upper mounts I'm putting on the 47 Coupe I'm doing now, but I'm not sure about the lower mounts yet.
It had tube shocks on it, but the upper mounts were home made and the lower mounts were a hole right through the axle.
I just put another front axle in and don't want to do that, what did the 48 lower mounts look like for the front?
 
Note that you could pretty easily put together a non-original but close to original configuration set...
In front, just drill the axle and use the aftermarket stud, use the streetrod upper bracket but place it to take shock in original place to meet the stud.
In back...repro bolt-on lower mount from pure hot rods. Their upper mount is short and cannot go through both sides of crossmember...but almost all '46-48 crossmembers are already drilled, so replace the upper stud with a long high grade bolt and washers or shims to space out the shock. That rear stud is actually the hardest part to find from original sets. Original layout gives you a setup actually designed for the car without discarding suspension systems.
 
Bruce Lancaster said:
The '48 axle had two extra bosses forged into the outer sections of axle drilled through for a stud that had both ends threaded and a boss near the middle. Link has axle pics.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...3dQ0wos7yckVG9aCjnwDGg7w&ust=1463667220410746
Click to expand...
yes...BUT... if you look at the stretched axle on the bottom of the pic - Sid cannot stretch ( Drop) a real '48 axle due to the shorter indentation between the perch pin and the kingpin areas - the incomplete indentation makes the metal want to deform... so - he's does like the axle in the pic - a 46 and some of 47 style axles that have the long indentation. We had this whole discussion yesterday at his shop when I dropped off my springs to get the eyes reversed.

now I'm wondering - since I TIG weld a lot - if I can weld my own stud to the dropped axle and not have to remove all this stuff - and yes...i'm still gonna drop it...
anyone know the recipe for leaf removal on both packs that works best?
 
what else changes w tube shocks? wanting to put old girl back on the ground... perch pin is different? no more dogbones etc...?
lemme know! Thanks
 
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