Stiff, noisy, uncomfortable ride

A couple of new A owners in this area also compained about the ride of their sedans. After a conversation with them at a local car show both had me give their rear springs some attention. Rather than buying new springs we located a couple of sets of coupe springs. I took them apart, sandblasted, then ground out the areas that the leaf above it had cut into and put a slight taper on the ends of the bottom sides. Re-assembled with slip plate painted on the bottom of each leaf. Also they bought new rebuilt shocks for all four corners. Their cars now ride much better. They are both planning on having their front springs worked over this summer. Rod
 
My Fordor sedan rides nice, although it is the heaviest of the A's I believe. Also still has the original spring seat, sometimes I've seen foam seat cushions put into "restored" cars and you lose seat suspension.
 
You think a Model A has a poor ride?
You should try a Model T! :eek:

Shocks were almost non existent -
The skinny tires are inflated to 60 PSI so there is only bounce - no squish.
The slop in the steering means you almost have control over the direction you want to go.
When you go around a corner you feel as though you have to lean to the inside of the turn or it will tip over.

A Model A is and antique car, where a Model T is a horseless carriage. :cool:
 
tiger.1000 said:
I'm sure that my 32 B Cabriolet was designed by Wells Fargo !
Click to expand...

You mean it rides that smooth?:D

I rode in a large stage coach this past summer, and what a nice ride it was. The body is supported entirely on large leather straps, and this gives a very smooth ride. I would love to travel cross country by stage coach. BTW, the owner of the stage coach said the support wasn't for the passenger comfort, but for the comfort of the horses pulling the stage. If you ever get a chance to ride a stage coach, go for it.:)
 
The Chevy has semi-elliptic springs, two per axle in contrast to Fords transverse springs, so the Chevy will have a smoother ride. However, later Chevy's have knee-action shocks which are part of the front axle support system. When the knee-action failed, the car was not drivable.
 
As roads improved the automobile suspension followed suit. Even in the '30's automobile manufacturing was not the exact science that it is today.
I spent the first 18 years of my life in a town where the automobiles improved and the roads were much the same as they were in the twenties.
I can relate from experience how the fine riding cars such as the '49 Caddy and others navigated those roads. Most city municipalities had a road department which in our town was the, "Bureau of Public Roads", often referred to by car owners and drivers as the "Bureau of Parallel Ruts. The Model A and others were built to handle these often times not so ideal conditions. In the town where I grew up, the top speed limit was 35 mph and you were taking a huge risk at that speed. And as far as being uncomfortable we were mostly never in our cars long enough to feel any discomfort.

Chet
 
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