If everything goes right I should be picking up a '53 Customline tomorrow morning. I did some research and found that Jamco offers kits to lower it the right way. Is this the best/cheapest company to do it with or is there somewhere else that is more cost efficient and/or quality of equal or greater value? Any help would help me out a bunch! Thanks everyone! -Dan
I think that '49-'53 Fords are the same but I may be wrong. I think '56 is a little different but don't quote me. This is my first '50s Ford...
They are not the same -- Ford started using ball joints in '54, but most of the same lowering techniques can be used. There will be ten different opinions around here about which are the good ones, but these are mine: 1. Hands down the cheapest is to cut coils, and it works fine. ***uming that your springs are not new, I'd start with 1 or 1 1/2 coils. Your ride will be affected some, but there are no other downsides. 2. Another freebie is to flip the spindles side-for-side and upside down. This results in a substantial drop, like 3" or more, but it messes up your camber. That can be corrected by heating and bending the upright, and it must be done carefully, but I've never heard of anybody having a serious problem with this procedure. 3. You can install spacers between the lower A-arm and the spring plate (it has rivets now; you drill those out, add the spacers, and re***emble with bolts). Some people call these lowering blocks, although they are obviously a different deal than the blocks used at the rear. Some believe that these give you a good drop without compromising the ride; in my experience there is no advantage to this over cutting coils. 4. Lowering springs, from Jamco or anybody else, work fine. The difference between these and cut coils is that these are new springs, and will probably result in a little better ride -- less bottoming. 5. Dropped spindles -- Fatman sells these, and they are not cheap; they are also a welded ***embly and I always found that a little nerve-wracking. This is not an all-inclusive list, but these are the most common techniques. You can do any of the first three yourself for almost no cost; the Jamco or Fatman solutions will cost you some or several hundred dollars. My own car is subframed, but if I were gonna do it again I'd probably use both 4 and 5.
53's ran king pins and 54 on were ball joint. I had a Customline that I simply cut the front coils and added lowering blocks to the rear. My 53 Victoria is bagged. You'll love your 53 - check out this thread for some great ideas http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93370 but be aware that if you lower it too much that changing a flat on the back is a nightmare.......
I have also have a 53 customline and try'n to get it set up for bags, I bought the knuckles for my spindles and stearing arms. Now the problem is how to get the king pin out? After thats doen i plan to drop in my engine. So any tips would help.
Check this thread out "Fairlane Dave" used springs for a Ford Aerostar to get a 3 inch drop at a $60 expense. Great find! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260795
All of the above are correct with lowering tech. other ideas include redrilling the bumper mount holes and dropping the frt and rear bumper down on the splash pans - this results in a 1 to 1 1/2 inch lower look with out loosing any more frame clearance for those speed bumps in the park - a set of lake pipe compleate the drop look - ja**
I went with 2" drop coils from jamco. It really did the trick and dropped it right down to match the rear 2" blocks. Rides tight now. My only concern is the camber. It's not bad but it does toe out a little. Anyone have any thoughts on that? I know drop spindles/control arms are better and I have a set of jamco's, should I change to the drop spindles and the og springs? i do drive it almost everyday but never farther then a few miles at a time. I think this is still within your question.
I cut the coils on my 50 Ford, cut 1 1/2 off and it gave me just over 2" of drop. Had a wheel alignment done and it drives great, doesn't bottom out, steers straight, tires are not wearing funny. For the back I used 4" blocks, had to tunnel the drive shaft. It was fine with nobody in the backseat but when someone rode in the back it rubbed.
I ***ume that by "toe out" you mean the wheels are tilted in at the top? "Toe" is the difference in the distance between the front of the tires and the back, and is unrelated to camber. ***uming that you do mean that you have negative camber -- tires tilted in at the top -- that can be adjusted by any wheel alignment shop by shimming out the upper A-arms. If you install dropped spindles and go back to your stock springs, you will have a little more suspension travel, but it's a much more expensive solution that just getting the front end re-aligned -- and you would want to align the front end afterward anyway.
There was a very large thread on here a while back,if you change the front springs this way you will get a nicer ride and a 2 1/2" -3" drop on your '49 to '59,go to Autozone and tell the counter dummy" I need the front coil springs for a 1990 Ford Aerostar 2 WD" should cost about $60 for the pair,it's a bolt in swap.If you get a 52-56 Ford click on Community above,click on social groups,click on brands and look for the 1952-56 Ford owners group and do an intro and join up.post a pic and swap BS with the guys we now have 92 members in just 2 months and a lot of Ford owners who can p*** info your way.
Saxon and everyone else. We now offer an Upper A-Arm mounting bracket. This bracket bolts in place of your upper a-arm cross shaft. You then pivot the cross shaft 90 degrees and bolt it inward (simular to GM). When using drop springs, the geometery of the front end changes. This allows you to install the proper shims and get you're camber set right.
has anyone ever done this?????? sounds easy and cheep but what is exactly involved do i just swap the uprights or do i remove the backing plate and drums and swap the whole spindle and upright to the other side and any hint on where to heat and bend it .i would like to try this if i mess up i just buy the jamcos but saving money and doing things the old skool way is what sounds better right know
[QUOTE="sickboy";4249371]has anyone ever done this?????? sounds easy and cheep but what is exactly involved do i just swap the uprights or do i remove the backing plate and drums and swap the whole spindle and upright to the other side and any hint on where to heat and bend it .i would like to try this if i mess up i just buy the jamcos but saving money and doing things the old skool way is what sounds better right know[/QUOTE] If you do this what do you do with the steering arm (??) where the tie rod attaches? Every time I have ever read about this procedure I read it messes up you ackerman.
is there any difference with using the aerostar springs victoria vs a customline as this ***le states? sorry for the lack of early ford knowledge. (converted chevy guy) -chris
The Vic and the sedans used the same front springs, so the Aerostar spring swap should work just as well in your Vic as in my sedan (which will be getting a pair shortly).
www.butchscoolstuff.com About $80, takes about 2 hours to do it, and it drops the front end about 2". I did not have to realign the front end and it rides exactly the same as before - except some of the roll is gone - Nice folks also!!
hottweelz, I ordered the JAMCO Deluxe Cruiser for my wife's 53 Ford Vicky on July 28 (purchase invoice 2452). I got partial shipment of the kit two weeks later (coil springs, spindles & brakes) with a note saying that the other parts were backordered. I waited three more weeks with no word from JAMCO, emailed the sales guy who told me that the parts were being powder coated and finally talked with someone in shipping & got the wheels moving. Last Friday, Sept. 12, I got the upper & lower control arms & shocks. I never got any installation instructions or alignment settings at all -- NONE. Today (Monday Sept. 15), I spoke with your Tech Support at 1:00pm PST and was promised the info by email -- as of the time of this message I still have not received anything. For almost $2,600 I expect better customer service. Any suggestions other than escalating my problem up the ranks? Email me at smoothie51@verizon.net please. Thanks. Augie Holtkort
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