Rear end is not level on a 32

JOANNEM

JOANNEM

Senior Member
Hi,
I have a 32 Fordor & the rear end is not level by at least 2 inches. It was that way when we bought it 30 years ago & now that we are getting it all fixed up it still isn't level. Is this because the spring needs to be set on the right side where the fuel tank is?
Can anyone please tell me what to do here?
Thanks a bunch :rolleyes:
joanne
 
A photo of the rear spring from underneath as well as another from the rear would be helpful, especially if the fuel tank is not yet installed.
 
You have probably already checked but does the head of the bolt that holds the spring pack together extend into the square hole in the rear crossmember?

Charlie Stephens
 
Charlie Stephens said:
You have probably already checked but does the head of the bolt that holds the spring pack together extend into the square hole in the rear crossmember?

Charlie Stephens
Click to expand...

???????
Charlie, I Am New At All Of This & Blonde To Boot!
I Will Try To Figure Out What You Mean! :eek:
 
Joanne,

I'm pretty sure you mean side to side. In other words, the car leans to one side, especially when viewed from the rear.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens View Post
You have probably already checked but does the head of the bolt that holds the spring pack together extend into the square hole in the rear crossmember?

Charlie Stephens
???????
Charlie, I Am New At All Of This & Blonde To Boot!
I Will Try To Figure Out What You Mean!

Joanne,
There is a bolt through the center of the spring pack that holds the leafs together. The head of this bolt goes into a hole in the rear crossmember. It has been a while but I believe with the tank out you should be able to see the head of the bolt with a small mirror. If the bolt head isn't in the hole someone may have not centered the car on the spring before they tightened the clamps. Remember to be careful working with springs. If the bolt is old and brakes there is a lot of energy released (that is to say leafs will fly at high speed in all directions sometimes with serious consequences).

Charlie Stephens
 
Charlie Stephens said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens View Post
You have probably already checked but does the head of the bolt that holds the spring pack together extend into the square hole in the rear crossmember?

Charlie Stephens
???????
Charlie, I Am New At All Of This & Blonde To Boot!
I Will Try To Figure Out What You Mean!

Joanne,
There is a bolt through the center of the spring pack that holds the leafs together. The head of this bolt goes into a hole in the rear crossmember. It has been a while but I believe with the tank out you should be able to see the head of the bolt with a small mirror. If the bolt head isn't in the hole someone may have not centered the car on the spring before they tightened the clamps. Remember to be careful working with springs. If the bolt is old and brakes there is a lot of energy released (that is to say leafs will fly at high speed in all directions sometimes with serious consequences).

Charlie Stephens
Click to expand...

Ok Charlie,
I Will Cut & Paste Your Response Try To Figure It Out!
 
Joanne, I must be blonde also, because I can't figure out how the rear of the car can lean to one side without the front of the car also leaning. :confused:
All I can think of would be an illusion created by the rear bumper being out of kilter.

Try this please: Take a yardstick and measure from ground to fender at each wheel and report those findings.
This may be more useful than a picture, though we'd all love to see that too! :D

(Actually, my blonde is grey.)
 
Joannem, in this case a picture from behind the car and your rearend including spring area would be worth a thousand words. If you are having problems uploading pics send me a PM (private message) and I can walk you through it over the phone. This should be a fairly simple solution such as a broken shackle, or like Charlie Stephens said about the centering bolt.
Good luck, Mark
 
Lets get to the issue, Body lean can becaused by a number of problems but in most cases can be worked back to a couple issues , stuck or frozen shock or rear spring not being tightened down correctly or loose. First is to bounce on the car to insure that the shocks function and are not frozen up. The next step is to check that the spring has been centered correctly as other have posted. After these checks you should check how the rear U bolts were tightened up. If there has been work done on the car and one U bolt tightened up before the other or the bolts not tightened evenly this will create a rock on the spring and a lean to the body. Loosen all 4 rear spring u bolt nuts so there is no tension on the cross bars. Then view the car from the back and determine if the car is now level. If it is not you should be able to jump on the bumper to level the car as this will recenter the crossmember on the spring. If the car levels out now proceed to tighten the Ubolts back up in a criscross pattern 1 complete rotation at a time until the ubolts are evenly tightened down. Do not tighten one side and then go to the other as this will rock the crossmember on the spring and you will get a lean.
 
GOT IT ALL!
Thank you!
I cut and paste into a word document & I will take it to the guy on Monday to figure this out!
Joanne M :o)
 
i have tried all of the above on my 34 it still leans drives great so i just let it lean life is too short to worry about small things
 
Either the front or rear spring is giving the lean. I would jack up the car in the back with the jack centered under the rear end. If the car then sits level, you know the problem is in the rear spring. If it still leans, the front spring is the problem. The problem may be a broken leaf or as suggested, the spring is not seated in its crossmember. I have also seen crossmembers cracked and poorly repaired resulting in a lean.
 
Almost all causes have been mentioned but frame twist. Some of these old cars had a pretty hard life. The frames are flexible but usually go back to original shape after some hard twisting. Look for dents, creases, puckers, or cracks in the frame that don't match the other similar frame members. These frames were riveted together at the crossmembers & supports and rivets can come loose, break, or shear. The roads were rougher in the 30s & 40s and some folks used these cars as tractors & trucks for a time. Bachelor lean on the drivers side is common and indicates a sagging spring pack. A lean on the right side can just be road damage to a spring. Springs can be rearched if thay aren't too worn or damaged. There are still spring shops in larger cities that can make a new main leaf and there are some reproduction springs available but I tend to just repair the old stuff if possible. It was manufactured with more quality material than a lot of the reproduction stuff is. The old lever action Houdaille shocks can be rebuilt if they are still in decent condition.

Warnings about spring energy should be heeded. A lot of old car inthusiasts have made the special tools to remove springs from their shackles as well as reinstall them after repairs. A good safe spring spreader is a must.
 
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Joanne,

I sure hope rotorwrench is wrong about the frame being twisted. Any chance the garage is tilted and the car is straight? All kidding aside, how did you measure the two inches? If you measured at the bumper the brackets could be bent. Have you tried setting a level in the rear window to check? Are the fenders closer to the tire on the low side? Any chance there are two different sized tires? The 16, 17 and 18 inch Ford wire wheels look similar if you are not looking for them to be different. Even if they are the same size different manufacturers will make their tires different. Have you gotten under the car and looked for symmetry? Are the spring perches the same height above the ground on both sides? Are the spring shackles the same length? Is the overlap of the leaf on top the same on both sides? Are there any cracked leafs visible?

Charlie Stephens
 
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