'41 front spring spacer

[av8coupe]

I finally got the original spring out of my Tudor. The car sat very high and I suspect the spring was frozen from 60 years of sitting. My question is this...in the crossmember there is a pice of steel maybe 1/4" thick that fits the contour of the crossmember. I am assuming this is to add strength. Sandwiched between that and the spring is a block maybe 1" thick. I'm thinking this was to give aditional clearance on the rough roads of of a northwest farm and can safely be removed. Anyone with any knowledge about this? Thanks, Dave

 

[drolston]

Front or rear?

Sounds like a "farmer fix" to avoid getting high-centered.

My '41 had neither the steel piece or spacer block. If the crossmember is sound, those pieces can be safely removed.

 

[grumppyoldman]

Same here no spacers of any kind. Spring center bolt fits in a hole in cross member. Al

 

[av8coupe]

That's how I looked at it. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Pete]

Just be sure the leaf that fits against the cross member has the edges beveled to match the radius in the cross member.
Bad scene otherwise.

 

[Tinker]

People remove leafs to lower and add spacers to the bottom. Makes the suspension spongy.

 

[fortyonerag]

I'm a bit late to the party, but can also confirm no spacers front or back.

At the rear, the spring sits directly on the crossmember. At the front, it sits in a channel provided by the crossmember shape.

My rear sat fairly high when I got it as well. The rear shackles were from a 1940 Ford. I understand these are shorter than a 41 and lift the rear by about a 1/2 - 3/4 inch.

 

[drolston]

If you need a good used stock front spring, PM me.

 

[fordor41]

Mine had just a 1/8" fiber material between the springs and the crossmember

 

[Tinker]

Mine had just a 1/8" fiber material between the springs and the crossmember

That's stock. Ive used frame to body material as a substitute as replacement material. Fairly similar and available.

 

[fortyonerag]

Mine had just a 1/8" fiber material between the springs and the crossmember

Back or front?

 

[19Fordy]

I replaced the 1/8 fibre material with a piece of .090 inch thick aluminum.
Doesn't hold moisture. Been working fine last 50 years. Both front and back spring.

 

[19Fordy]

I replaced the 1/8 fibre material with a piece of .090 inch thick aluminum.
Doesn't hold moisture. Been working fine last 50 years. Both front and back spring.

 

[fordor41]

Back or front?

For sure the front and don't see any reason it wouldn't be in the rear also.

 

[av8coupe]

This is what came out of the front crossmember. There is still a piece of strap in there but it looks factory the way it is contoured and riveted in place, so I am going to leave it. This spacer was set up with a 13 leaf spring with two additional short leaves added. I'm guessing the roads left a lot to be desired, but the underside of the car is really nice so it must have worked. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Mart]

Interesting piece - it looks almost factory, or at least aftermarket. I would imagine it was used with longer U bolts.

Mart.