How to: lower front end on 36 coupe

Tom's36coupe

Tom's36coupe

Well-known member
Getting ready to paint the car but before we do that I want to lower the front end about 2". Its a stock style transverse spring, any suggestions on the best way to do it? Thanks
 
The best way is to install a dropped axle. Anything other than that will compromise the suspension. Longer shackles, reversed spring, fewer leaves in the spring, etc., are not as good.
JMO
Jim
 
Tom - I would suggest reverse front spring eyes - that should yield approx 2 inch drop. Much cheaper method then dropped axel IMHO.
 
Easiest is to buy a Posie's Reverse Eye superslide spring if you only want to go 2". Most drop axles are of the 4" variety, unless you want to have your stock axle dropped.

Mine sits much lower than 2" but I am running a 4" drop Superbell axle and a Posies reverse eye spring.

1936FordCoupe020.jpg
 
I agree,reversed eye spring. Dropped axle also requires heating and bending steering arms or cutting off stock arms and installing dropped bolt on arms.
 
When I bought my near stock '34 roadster about 17 years ago, it had a reversed front spring with a couple of leaves removed. I didn't like it because the ends of the spring were hitting the axle and left marks on it. I did like the way it drove though so I only replaced the main leaf with a stock one. The problem this caused was that the exhaust system on both sides had to be modified as it made contact with the frame and the rear apron of the car.
 
See pictures, I think a few years ago we had the front spring replaced and he lowered it some? Don't need much of a drop, couple of inches would be great
 

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I've got a reversed eye front spring on my 39. Also removed a few leaves and put spring liners in. Sits right as far as I'm concerned and also rides well. It will probably drop about 1 1/2". Also have 195-15s on front and 225-15s on the back.
 
The reversed eye will give about 1 1/4"drop. It can be done for nothing. Dismantle the spring and mark the shape of it with chalk on your garage floor. With a 10lb hammer and a makeshift anvil (or a bottle jack) you can easily reshape the leaf so it turns inside out and there you have it..... reversed eyes... cost? Nada. That's all a reversed eye spring is, the actual eyes do not get touched. You'll probably need to removed the leaf that sits on the main leaf for clearance. This will give a better ride and will drop another 1/2 .
 
I agree with SimonSez - your pictures show a reversed eye Posies slider spring already in place. To get more drop I don't know of anything else you can do other than go with a dropped axle, which can mean a whole lot of other alterations too before all is said and done - length and mounting of the shocks, steering arm and linkage clearance problems, etc., etc. How badly do you want it to be a couple of inches lower? Maybe you should post a couple of profile pictures and we'll vote on it!!
 
Aftermarket 4” dropped axles do not lower a car 4”
If you place a stock 33 to 36 axle next to one you will find they are a 2” drop.
 
Tom's36coupe said:
Will my suspension guy be able to get them or are they a special old ford shop? swap meet..
Click to expand...
Go online to posiesrodsandcustoms, or you can call. They just came out with their 40th anniversary catalog. It's got all the early fords front and rears from stock/mild and wild.

I ordered my front spring from them, they asked perch dimension and I got a spring that is the same as my stock but nicer. The catalog has alot of pages with do's and don'ts and tips. It's a good reference and answeres alot of questions. Come on brother, you should be your own suspension guy:D
 
sounds like lots of work for little gain, maybe it would be easier to just get a set of smaller tires! will post some more pictures once i have the 3 1/2" rims on with the 550 fronts. Thanks!
 
Your cars stance is very nice at the present time. Any further attempt to lower the profile will create issues with frame to axle clearance. Your post shows that you already have a reversed eye spring installed, any further change of stance will require that you change the axle relationship to the frame to prevent bottoming out.. dropped axle.

The issue with the dropped axle now requires an additional purchase of parts to get the correct clearance between the radius rods drag link and tie rods. This requires dropped steering arms however the dropped steering arms are not made to fit the stock 36 spindles so you then have to purchase the after market style 37-41 round spindles. After all this is swapped out you will find that the stock shocks will not index correctly to the dropped axle so this will require purchase of a tube shock kit or modifying a shock link that will cycle the stock shock correctly.

So you are up to the decision on how much money do you want to spend to change the stance of your car by about 1 1/2".
 
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