1952-59 Ford Just Lowered Today

First project with my son today. We lowered the '53 with Aerostar springs and 3" Blocks in rear.

Wish the front was another 1"-2" lower as the back is about 1" lower than the front.

But my son enjoyed working on the car and is looking forward to getting his license.

Pics in album can't figure out how to post them here.

 

That should do it.

Looks good! I went a little bit lower on mine, but different strokes ya'know. Have fun cruisin' it!

 

Thx, ya I wouldn't mind going lower but trying to keep costs down, and ride quality up. The car is for my kid and he is just starting to drive, so a little less for him to be thinking about while driving.

 

doing mine today hope it comes out as good

 

The new springs will settle an inch or so in time. If still not low enough you can snip a bit off the coil to customize the ride height. Springs will come out easy now that you've got shorter ones in there. Looks good.

 

Also, you can drop the front by spacing using A-arm spacers (essentially they drop the lower spring cup of the a-arm).

I understand with the new driver thing, it takes a minute to learn how to drive a slammed car. Its not like the kids in the HS parking lot are gonna care all that much, as long as he digs it and is comfortable driving it.

Take it easy!

 

Looks good! I did the aerostars in mine as well along with dropped spindles, but its not low enough for me either in the front. Looks close to what yours is. Another thing others have done and I may do is add some square tubing to the coil buckets, which will drop it some more. This is not mine but someone that did it sent it to me

 

Just got done with mine today

 

Nice...inspirational to see this group! I ordered my brake parts today...on the road soon.

 

Ya mine already is starting to settle a little. It's almost level now. Was a pretty easy project and the results are well worth it. What a difference even 3" makes. (ok ok... thats what she said... had to beat someone to it)

 

Ha ha- I was just thinking about saying that. Have you noticed a difference in the handling? Myself and others have noticed a great improvement.

 

what about t******* down the bump stop it looks like mine is sitting right on it

 

Don't trim the bump stop if it's the cone-shaped kind. It will actually ride better with the bumper acting as a booster spring; if you saw it off it will bang when it bottoms (and sooner or later, it will).

 

First , very nice looking ! Your boy is very lucky to have you as his Dad ! I like it where it is but since I live in Pa , the roads are really bad around here so I can't go too low .
I was going to just use the square tubing but sounds like the new springs are better .
Can someone tell me what year springs to get and how much do they cost ?
I am on a super tight budget so I might just have to do the square tubing . Something will be better than what my 55 has now !

Jim

 

Jim, I also did the coil spring swap. I just have been told if I wanted a little more I could do the arm tubing, but I dont know if anyone has done both together, it may be too much and not allow the coils to do their job. Anyway, here is the information you need. I think I paid about $60 a pair for mine locally, and I used KYB gas shocks

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260795

 

I think I will just do the springs . I just want the front end a little lower but not to low to the ground . I am also wanting a better ride in the front end if possible . Here in Pa. I drive a lot of back roads and don't want to bottom out !
How does the spring change ride for you ? Is there a big difference in the ride now with the new springs ?

Jim

 

While you are improving the ride and handling with the Aerostar springs,you may want to consider this upgrade also. www.energysuspension.com has polyurethane sway bar links and bushings most of our Fords use a 3/4" sway bar the center bushings are part# 9.5156(these have the zerts for lube) click on the end links and it shows you how to measure them and the part number,I also replaced my tie rod seals with the poly all the pieces ran under $50, O'Reillys and Autozone and Pep Boys usually have them on hand,just look up your own part numbers.

 

I just added those to my lowered ride. I picked mine up at the local Summit Racing store.

 

The ride is good, about the same as it was before lowered. I have not bottomed out and have gone over some pretty good dips and steep driveway approaches. Seems like it will be a good ride height for a daily driver and not have to worry about every dip or driveway. Front springs 1990 Aerostar about $70 total with tax from autozone.

 

I bought my springs from Jamco before I had heard of the Aerostar springs. They cost twice as much and have the worst customer service on the planet (Ordered last October and still haven't received everything I ordered). So if I had to do it over again I would go with the Aerostar springs.

 

Call up Jamco and cancel your order. have them put the balance back on your card or call your bank and have them cancel payment. It's not too late to go Aerostar!

 

I agree ! WTF ! Jamco is suppose to be such a great supplier of quality parts but October of 2009 ? Cancel the order and call you credit card company and tell the the problem and tell them NOT to accept any charges from them ! I would call the c/c company first so Jamco doesn't try to charge your c.c after you call them and tell them that you were tired of waiting 10 months for springs !
Go get your new springs for $70 or less and you will have it done this weekend , not a year later from Jamco !
That's just plain bad business !

Jim

 

Yea I am looking into it. I did get the springs from them in January of this year. Have them installed. Luckily the parts I didnt get weren't an expensive part $20 and a sweat shirt $20. Told they were on back order and even with repeated calling and email never could get an answer out of them.

 

That still ****s ! A damn sweat shirt with their name on it . You would think they would have cases of those things laying around . Heck they give them away at shows and things like that .
No reason they shouldn't have given you a credit on your C/C account because there was no products in stock .
Glad to here you got the spring . How did theirs work out for you ?

Jim

 

It has only been driven on the last few days. So far so good with it. Been apprehensive about it since in my experience customer service reflects craftsmanship a lot of the time. Yea I had a slew of product I was looking at buying from them but know I wont go through them regardless if they are the only ones who sell it.

 

Has anyone actually run the aerostar springs with 1/2" blocks in the coil buckets? I have heard rumor of this combination causing problems, but would like some first-hand knowledge.

I already have 3" blocks in the back, and the pics I have seen of shoeboxes with 3" blocks in the back and aerostar springs up front seem a little nose high, so I am looking for a little extra drop on top of the aerostar springs.

Would it be better to cut 1/2 a coil off the aerostar spring rather than adding the coil bucket blocks?

Also, is this upper a-arm mount for dropped springs from Jamco useful or necessary?: https://secure.jamcosuspension.com/products/sfID1/73/sfID2/39/sfID3/77/productID/698
Are there any alignment issues without using it with dropped springs?

Thanks for any help. I need to do some front end maintenance, and I want to make things a little more even while I am in there, so I want to have as complete a plan as possible first:

 

The whole point of going with Aerostar springs is that you don't need to cut coils and have the poor handling which is a result. I absolutely would not cut Aerostar coils. My 2 cents.

 

.
I put Granada/Monarch spindles on mine, and also put 1" square on lower A frame. Am contimplating using Aerostar springs, but don't know if this will drop my 56 too much. Its still on stands.

 

skoh73,
The idea of cutting the aerostar coils seemed bad, especially since they are progressive, but I have heard of others doing it. So it seems like wait and see if small spacers on the lower a-arms with aerostar springs has worked for others.

 

How about it? Are these Jamco Upper A-arm brackets useful after a swap to aerostar springs: http://jamcosuspension.com/products/sfID1/73/sfID2/39/sfID3/77/productID/698

It seems like they allow you to correct for changes in camber with a shorter spring? Right?

Has anyone run into alignment issues after swapping to aerostar springs?

Also any advice on getting that last inch of drop after replacing the springs?

Thanks.