lowering question

old ugly

old ugly

Well-known member
i am thinking of making the car a little lower.
i don't want to change any of the components i am just thinking of reducing the spring pack.

its a 1928 tudor

the rear of the car is considerably higher than the front and there appears to be lots of clearance from the bottom of the frame to the point at which the spring would hit the frame. it may have the wrong amount of leaves i wont know until i drop it down, i can probably take an inch out of the spring pack. the rear will be easy and if nothing else at least the car will sit at less of an incline.

i would like to lower the front a bit as well but that creates a clearance issue with the frame to the spring.

i would like to know if any of you have done this.?
and if so how close is the spring to the frame?

ou
 
Be sure & search for precautions when doing anything with the rear springs……lots of tension there & potentially very dangerous if not handled correctly.
 
TerryH said:
Be sure & search for precautions when doing anything with the rear springs……lots of tension there & potentially very dangerous if not handled correctly.
Click to expand...

you bet. i have experience with both spring packs and have the tools to do the job.
good advise
thanks
ou
 
Have you considered smaller wheels?
 

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old ugly said:
i am thinking of making the car a little lower.
i don't want to change any of the components i am just thinking of reducing the spring pack.

its a 1928 tudor

the rear of the car is considerably higher than the front and there appears to be lots of clearance from the bottom of the frame to the point at which the spring would hit the frame. it may have the wrong amount of leaves i wont know until i drop it down, i can probably take an inch out of the spring pack. the rear will be easy and if nothing else at least the car will sit at less of an incline.

i would like to lower the front a bit as well but that creates a clearance issue with the frame to the spring.

i would like to know if any of you have done this.?
and if so how close is the spring to the frame?

ou
Click to expand...

Obviously your car and your choice buy why. Why are you going to lower it ?
 
McMimmcs said:
Obviously your car and your choice buy why. Why are you going to lower it ?
Click to expand...

one reason is the car sits too high. i was wondering if the wrong spring packs are in there but i don't know until i drop them out. if it does have too many leaves then i will just reduce them to the correct ones.

the front i kinda need to know what the minimum clearance between the frame and the spring is, that may give ma a starting point.

the car feels really top heavy bouncy, even with the shocks working. more so than i have had in the past.

as well as appearance, in my opinion it may look more proportioned. which i won't know until i have change it. if it is goofy i can change it back.

ou
 
I recently lowered the rear of my '30 Roadster. First, removed 3 leaves out of a 8 leaf stack. This only gave me 1/2" drop. Second, was reversing the eyes on the main leaf and replacing one of the leaves. Total lowering is 2 inches in the rear. Front spring has 3 leaves removed, stock eyes in the main leaf. About 2 1/2 inches lowering in the front.

BlacktopScraper
 
BlacktopScraper said:
I recently lowered the rear of my '30 Roadster. First, removed 3 leaves out of a 8 leaf stack. This only gave me 1/2" drop. Second, was reversing the eyes on the main leaf and replacing one of the leaves. Total lowering is 2 inches in the rear. Front spring has 3 leaves removed, stock eyes in the main leaf. About 2 1/2 inches lowering in the front.

BlacktopScraper
Click to expand...

So, can I assume that you removed the shortest leaves? If not which ones?
 
My son (17 yr old) and i put reverse eye springs on his car and it lowered the car by about 1 1/2". In his mind it makes him think he is going faster than he really is. it was not that difficult of a project and if you order the springs with the reverse eyes your good to go. We had good old springs so we just replaced the main leaf with the reverse eye.
 
Keep the top leaves in place, they are shaped to fit the crossmembers. On my '31 pickup I use a T spring on the rear and a dropped front axle. It sits quite a bit lower than stock. On my tudor I removed 3 of the short springs, and use 7.00x16 tires on the rear and a reversed eye spring on the front, it sits much better than stock and rides well. Putting in a '32-'34 front axle will lower the car about 1 1/2", the reverse eye another 1 1/2". A '32-34 axle will probably require some changes in the front spring perch if you still have the mechanical brakes.
 
From what I’ve read, the front of the Model A engine is at a 3 degree angle. When lowering an A is it necessary to maintain the 3 degree angle? If it is not, could the engine sustain any damage?

David Serrano
 
The engine sets at 3 degrees to line up with the drive shaft so lowering the rear will change that. I am not sure if it makes that much difference.

I think the first thing to do is to compare the springs with what is stock, as Old Ugly has planned.

The front springs sag over time so compare the ride height in front with what is stock. It should be 16.5 inches to the center of the bumper, if I remember correctly.

Lowering the rear will change the caster and the toe in, so do an alignment after. You cannot easily change the caster but a little more will not hurt, just make it a little harder to steer when stopped.
 
Here is what the Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook, Vol. I says: for 28/29 the height of the car in the front, with tires fully inflated, should be 18 11/16 +/- 1/2 inches from the ground to the CENTER of the front bumper (so I was wrong). The spring eye should have a minimum of 1/4 inch clearance to the axle. Check the shackles and bushings too. The book has instructions on how to re arc the springs.

The book says that the rear springs for all sedans should have 10 leaves. The Service Bulletins has more information on the springs. The book does not give ground height information for the rear but I would just compare with other cars in your club or local area.

I just checked the height of the rear of my 30 Fordor and it is 18 inches to the center of the rear bumpers. So I would guess that the center of the bumpers to the ground should be the same front and back +/- 1/2 inch or so.
 
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This conversation is just another reason why a good stock restored or original car is still going to be worth something in the coming years.

Keep chopping them up. The fewer goods ones left, the higher the prices will be.

Enjoy.
 
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