Lowering 46 Ford 4 door

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Impsonaw

Junior Member
Good afternoon fellas. I am new to this group but wanted to hear your ideas on the easiest and most cost effective way of lowering front and back of the car a few inches and making it level. Also will eventually be going the route of new whitewalls and wheels so any suggestions there would be great for better drivability. Thanks!
 

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Plan A, cheapest. Remove 2nd and 4th spring leaves front and back. That should get you almost an inch at each end, and not adversely affect the ride and handling too much. You may occasionally hit the axle snubber.

Any greater lowering gets you into dropped axles, which is an expensive and challenging undertaking for the DIY home mechanic.

Plan B, maybe $400. Replace front and back springs with new reversed eye main leaf springs. That will drop the car about an inch and a half. You may still hit the snubbers, but the front spring shackle angle should be preserved near 45 degrees, which is important for anti-sway handling.

The empty-car stance should be raked a little nose down to allow for rear passenger and trunk loads. And most think a little rake looks better.
 
I have seen where some people get extended spindles. Do you not recommend this due to handling and possible rubbing?
 
What is an extended spindle? Do you mean dropped spindles? If so, they only work on cars with control arms, like a 50 Mercury.
 
The go to method way back when, was longer shackles with sway bars added and maybe a 100 pound bag of sand in the trunk if needed.
 
Once you start "lowering your car" make sure you have good tire to fender clearance. Lower profile tires might help.
 
You can also go to smaller diameter tires, I took the 16s off mine and went to lower profile 15” tires/wheels. Lowered everything about an inch or more.
 
In 1962 I went to Pep Boys and they had lowering shackles for my 46 Ford Woodie. I believe in 4 or 6 inch. Had to be cheap or I wouldn't have gotten them. Simple flat iron with holes in the ends for the bolts.
Old memories are great, most of them... Chap
 
That's great! Thanks for sharing! I'm going to look further into it. Who did everyone go through for making sure you got the best wheel and tire fit for your fenders and lugs?

chap52 said:
In 1962 I went to Pep Boys and they had lowering shackles for my 46 Ford Woodie. I believe in 4 or 6 inch. Had to be cheap or I wouldn't have gotten them. Simple flat iron with holes in the ends for the bolts.
Old memories are great, most of them... Chap
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nickthebandit said:
IMO, longer shackles could lead to a swaying problem.
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Lowering shackles were very common in early hot rod days; they are cheap and effective in getting the lower look. But they really degrade handling qualities.

And if you lower more that an two inches with long shackles, reverse eye springs, or removing leaves, you will probably have to cut down the rubber axle snubbers on the frame to avoid frequently bottoming out.
 
Impsonaw said:
Car looks great! What did you do to the rear to get the same kind of drop?

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That's just natural sag in the rear spring, the '41 is all original (except for the front spring and Bendix brakes) with about 40k on the clock, I swapped out the front spring out because the original had sagged so much that the shackles were contacting the front tires on hard lock.
 
I thought I was going to get a 2+ inch drop with the new reversed eye spring in the front of my '41 coupe. What I really got was less than an inch. That is because I was replacing a tired, work spring that had already sagged a lot.
 
Enjoy it for what it is. Its a great car!!! I went back and forth on lower vehicles. If you want to get it lower in the back cheap. Make some shackles. In the rear shackle lengths really don't matter that much. You can lower it a ton out back before you have to shave the bump stocks. Id rather use shackles in back then remove springs. Leave the front alone outside a drop axle. If you want in the weeds lowering, open your wallet. Nice car. I got away from the lower it to the ground after I drove it. But a bit off the back is no big deal. Try some long shackles I've seen them as long as 5" in back at shows. Next would be a reverse spring and shackles. We aren't running a race car I'm assuming.
 
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And I need to raise my rear 2 inches oh such is life and no bags of cement in the trunk
either spring has a good a arch to...
 
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