I would just un hook the shocks... cut the mount loose from the rec tube..and raise the existing mount and re fab it to the rec tube thats there.. i'd cut out new shock mounts on my plasma table so that it would look presentable just measure the spring compression on load so you get it to where you want it to ride.... adding a block will look like it was wrong so you added a block also looking at the shackels you could easy remove a leaf to get the shackle angle right.. and that would lower it an inch + -
Almost straight shackle. Seems to indicate a spring that might be short or wrong spring rate. Shackle length? there’s a lot of distance here also suggesting a wrong spring rate or possible spring length issue. Looks like a good bit to be gained in drop just here I wouldn’t cut or move anything until this is looked at
Getting off the OP's subject; but usually a suicide front end refers to a spring behind axle set-up = suicide if the spring breaks and the front corner digs into the road. Kinda like what happened to the "Pale Rider" when the spring eye broke and mayhem resulted.
I have dozen or more of these axel cars.. and I say that axel is a 36 era drop... not one of my cars has that excessive amount of spring clearance...a real easy "JUST TO SEE" that I would do it is this... jack it up, let it droop frame on jack stands... un bolt the spring, take all the leaves out but the main...with just the main leaf in , to be safe bolt it up... ... with a floor jack... raise the axel up slowly and watch to see if the one leaf flattens and look at the shackles and see when they get to about the 45 degrees.... then check every thing like the tie rod... if the spring goes all the way flat with out lifting the frame off the jacks start adding leaves... i would eliminate the second longest and add leaves till you get to where you have a couple inches between the axel and the spring mount... I say you could lower the front about 3 or 4 inches with just the right spring''' but I know nothing about anything but how to buy cars... and I could have fixed that car faster than i typed all this.. but doing what I just typed you would find out real quick if the mount needs moved and if it will work moved.. with out having to change a bunch of other stuff.. and only a few minutes to put it back to how it was.... I do that a lot lol
here's what I see and think.. the axel is a 36... and they ordered a new 36 ford front spring... when the put it in it looked like a g***er... so they took the 4 or so leaves out of the top of the spring.. a 36 ford is probley twice the front end sprung weight
Like many hot rod things, there are different interpretations of the phrase. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/suicide-front-end.1045519/ I have always felt that it describes a front axle that is located in front of the end of the frame, such that if a failure were to happen, the axle would not support the frame. This can be spring over or spring behind, although it's more 'out there' on a spring behind. It's the relation of the frame and axle. A stock Model T has the spring and frame above the axle. Others feel that it's the tie rod placement in front of the axle. If this were true, a Model A frame which extends forward of the spring mount (crossmember) would be a suicide if the tie rod was ahead, even if the horns and spreader bar were ahead of the tie rod. No I don't think many were built that way! There have been discussions on Ackerman many times, often touching on the efforts needed to get it sorted with a front mount tie rod.
As far as the spring, I had to take a few leaves out. Before, I could stand on the front perch and bounce with no movement. Now it flexes at least an inch. Mine weighs 1760, with close to a 50/50 split, so it's around 900 pounds in front.
I watched the YouTube video the OP had posted previously and noted that the front axle is a '37-'41 axle. Yep, a dropped A or '33-'36 axle along with a proper spring would get it down in front as desired.
Here's a post about a T that does have a model A style front frame setup with horns. https://tbucketeer.com/threads/my-frame-vision.21114/#post-238615
The "AA" is a Ford mark from when it was forged. Anson stamps his axles as shown in the other photo. Your axle rotates around the rear pivot of your radius rods, as such the castor will change as the axle rises and falls. Since your radius rods are made from a split wishbone you don't have the ability to re-adjust the caster. Only a parallel 4-bar linkage won't have a caster change as the axle moves up and down; stock wishbone, split bones, hairpins, and such all will. He could stand to have a wider (from eye to eye) main spring which would allow the shackles to have a better angle. His shackles also look to be homemade - longer than the stock Ford and common aftermarket ones. Shorter shackles would also be advise with the wider spring to prevent the spring from rubbing on the axle.
That appears to be a Posie's 37-41 spring. Their eye to eye distance is shorter then stock. You will never get those shackles to 45 degrees and still have spring integrity. I purchased one of those springs and wrecked the spring spreader before the spring stretched out to the proper width. I ended up reversing the eyes on the original 37 spring. I know this won't get you any lower, but you want those shackles angled properly and the spring to have enough tension to do the job. I think a new perch and shock towers are in your future. Warren
So, I removed the two middle leafs and kept the top leaf and the main spring. It really looks much better now with just that.
It might look better, but it will ride there’s nothing there. Bottom out with every bump. I think you should use every leaf you had, but de-arch them all. It’s easy to do with an H press. Lots of threads on the HAMB showing how. And with the flatter spring, it will be wider and your shackle angle will be better.
I have built 10 with the spring on top, gussets on the bottom. I use 1/2" U-bolts, some with 25,000 miles and Red Ram Hemi engine, and running on rough dirt tracks.
With the angle the shocks are mounted, they are not going to do much dampening. They are in low 60% efficiency range. .
The shocks are no longer mounted. I will have to raise them up no matter what. These cars do not need much of a shock. I’ve had some early cars with no shocks at all.
As mentioned by someone earlier in the thread, the spring and axle are ‘37-‘41. The weight difference between a ‘40 model Ford compared to a t-bucket is huge. With all of the springs in place, the front end won’t budge with me standing on it. Now it’s still very firm, but flexes nicely when I bounce on it. (I’m 320 btw.) The shackles are much closer to 45 degrees now. It might settle a little more after being driven. However, I might still move the spring to the top of the perch and gusset it, just to make it lower. The picture below shows just the main spring. It’s almost flat there. The shackles still aren’t exactly 45 degrees, but they are a little closer in real life. I’m using a wide angle lens to get the whole front end, so it distorts it some. I do think the spring is shorter than a factory, as someone mentioned earlier.
You need to have more than two leaves in it. Take a look at how many leaves the Ts in Marty's photos have.
the spring is too short and shackles too long... I don't know if you can blow this up, but it's the correct way to do this.. take the spring out and put a 2x4 between the axel and mount..... thats where you wanna end up.. with the spring out measure how long the spring needs to be to where the shackel are at 45 degrees..
measure the spring... it needs to be at least 32.5'' to work correct..the shock mount needs to be 9.5 bumped out and 14.5 full extended... but you can work with what you got, just make the bumped out measurement1'' longer than the compressed shock so it doesn't bottom out... i'd say just by looking that spring is onl;y 31'' and needs to be 32.5
I ran into this on my 31... thinking my axel was a stock 31... turned out to be a 36.. I orderd a 4'' drop and spring for it.. the 36 axel lowers the front about 1.5 or so... with the correct reverse eye spring... and a couple leaves out.. I got the 4'' I wanted... the way we did this 45 years ago...pulled the axel sent it to mordrop and had it lowered .. then took the spring apart.. laid the main on the floor and drew the arc with chalk ... then marke the spring every 6'' or so... put it in the press and slowly reversed the arc to match the chalk line on the floor.. so on my 31 I ended up with a 4'' drop and drilled axel as "EXTRA" parts....lol
If the spring is 1.75 wide, it’s not a 37-40 spring. And Ford didn’t make springs with holes in the ends to hold little rub pads. Believe me, you have some aftermarket spring from a place like Speedway Motors.
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