I am building a late '40s-early '50 era A-V8 full fendered model A coupe and need to know what front and rear drop to use. I am going to order a 4 inch drop axle and 2 inch lower reverse eye front spring for the front. Is that too much in a full fendered car? or should I just run the stock spring with the 4 inch axle? I don't want a radical rake but a subtle rake that is period correct. Also I need the car to be lower lower in the rear and come down about 3-4 inches, so do I order a reversed eye spring for the rear also and remove some leafs? Anybody have a pics of a similar setup and what drop they used? Thanks for the help, Tex
From what I've been able to find out streeters weren't belly draggers in the late '40s. You can move the spring mounts down low and behind the axle and get a couple of inches of drop. A problem you'll have with a fender car is the tires hitting the fenders if you drop it much. Put it together with the stock spring and the dropped axle and see where it lands I'll just about bet you won't need the reverse eye spring.
Heres a pic I took today. The original suspension had 6 inches between the top of the tire and the underside of the fender. I just recently installed this 4" dropped axle with 2 leaves taken out (thats another 1/2 " drop) plus I reversed the eyes for another 1". I dont know how you can get 2' from reversed eyes. Anyway, now I have about 2 3/4" clearance between tire and fender
Heres another. As soon as I get the rear axle back under it, I can roll it out for better pics to show the new rake.
I have posted on this before, but will do so again. A 4" dropped axle with a reversed eye spring (which gives 1" of drop) is too much for a model A running full front fenders. You will have clearance issues between the front fender braces and the tires. If you already have a 4" dropped axle, then go with a spring which does not have reversed eyes. If you have already bought the 4" dropped axle and the reversed eye spring you are going to end up having to put a 1" spacer between the top of the spring pack and the underside of your model A front crossmember.(that is if you are running a P165R15 tire on a 6" wide wheel)
my current 28 coupe project has a 4" beam ...with a posie 2" drop reverse eye spring....and 4 leafs.....even t******* the fender braces.....there is no way you could run even a 560 15 on the front.....i have the car mocked up with 155/15 bfg's....and will probably end up running a 145/ 15 .....and end up c notching the frame.....it will probably end up with burns on the tops of the fenders.....but....sometimes you have that.....haha ....going for that tim wells / thom taylor stance.......brandon
my `28 tudor has a 4" drop superbell , reverse eye front spring...and i have no fender/tire rub problems. i have 155r15's on a 4.5" wide rim
my Model A ride height: this is with 6.00x16 tires front and rear. The front end spring is very modified- several leaves cut shorter to clear the frame, and the reverse eye main leaf from Pete and Jakes as the base for it all. I think I'm running five leaves total. The tires rub the fenders on hard turns (because there is so much body roll). The axle is stock, undropped with mounts on top. The rearis the stock spring with two leaves removed and torched at the egdes to bring it down about 4". There is a rear spring that has reverse eyes available that lowers it about 2.5, then I would remove some leaves from that and it will get you where you want to be. Of course, the best option is to kick up the rear of the frame and run like a 7.00x16 or 8.00x16 rear tire.
My front spring had 10 leaves. You only have 5? Is your ride Very Soft up front? Are you using tube shocks? How are they able to drive the hotrods in the magazines? Their tires are closer to the fender than mine
around the fairgrounds doesn't count.......when was the last time you saw any pictures of say a alloway car on the expressway ....real world ....stuff that is 3" off the ground ....generally isn't driven much ....or ....has a lot of scuffs and dents on the bottom half....haha brandon
BTT. Anyone have pics of their setup? Examining this question myself. From the info posted so far their 9" drop claim must be BS: http://rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/135_0505_drop/
Screwed by the magazines again?? Say it aint so! Not long ago, StreetRodder ran an article claiming that they lowered that Model A sedan NINE INCHES. This is a full fendered sedan. When asked how they could lower the car 9" when there is only 6" between the tire and fender, StreetRodder declined to respond. I admire Ryans goal of putting print magazines out of business.
Mine looks a little lower than that red one.... here you go... Mine is a little more 50's-early 60's instead but you get the picture... My profile picture shows a side shot. Hyfire
That article promotes MT Products brakes that cost more than $1300 and they are not even self adjusting! You can search the HAMB for information on how to get the same brakes but BETTER and about $1000 CHEAPER.
i guess you could possibly drop 9".....if you dropped the tire and wheel height ....from say a 30" to a 26" ...and a 5" axle....and a 2" spring....that could get ya 9" lower.....brandon
i want to say it was jima 's sedan or at least he was involved with it some how so if you want to more about that id search his posts for a while back and if that turns up nothing real informative pm him? tim
Wait, 5" axle + 2" spring + 4" smaller tire = 9"? We cant go and put all the magazines out of business. If we did a couple HAMB'ers would be out of work. And Hyfire, your car gives me wood.
Heres a pic of my 31, it has a 4" drop front axle with stock front springs & 600-16's that rubbed the fender braces before I installed front shocks, I will put 500-16's on the front then put a reverse eye main leaf in to drop it a bit more.
Thanks for the feedback Orcas Tow, Is the rear stock or lowered? I plan on running a 16-600 on the front also because that is what I have. What type of front shock did you run? Lever or tube style? Can you post some pics of your car I really like it!
I responded to your SCRATCHED RECORD belly aching posts EVERY time- on the board and to your e-mails and PMs. Sorry you can't afford a set a decent brakes and I'm not going to bother to do a parts break down AGAIN on the costs of all those parts or the fact that I sold my WORN OUT original brakes that needed EVERYTHING for more than the completely new ones cost- but what can I expect from a person that can't even remember what magazine they read the story in??? I've seen PLENTY of stock model A's that sit A LOT higher than that example you posted- PLUS the 19 inch wheels WILL sit an inch a half closer to the fenders than a 16-inch wheel with a similar height tire. YES, the car did go down 9-INCHES in the combination of DROPPED & NARROWED AXLE, REVERSED EYES, REMOVED LEAVES, SMALLER TIRES ---AND the fact that the original axle in the car had been straightened to make the car even HIGHER than a stocker! When I was done the front tires were BURRIED in the fenders so much it would need to be raised a little for regular driving- but I'll forever stand by the claim- no matter how many times you want to bring it back up on a message board. The numbers do not lie. Message boards will "bury magazines" right after you start flying your water powered car to work. Also- why do the REALLY COOL message boards and web-sites look like old magazines? I use my computer for work- I ENJOY my magazines (old & new) as my greatest form of entertainment- with a HUGE plus being they don't usually have someone I never heard of on the other end of an annonymous screen-name trying to ***** slap me when I open one up
since I have the coupe here, I could snap some pics: it ain't pretty, but it's cheap. I was mistaken, I have only 6 leaves up front. It rides decent- not too harsh but very sproingy, and it does sometimes bottom on the frame (really need a rubber pad there, like for when you decide to drive over a curb when you can't stop ) not running shocks either- probably would be a good idea though
Hey Doug- If you need it, I have one of those Speedway Model A front crossmembers that lower the car an inch, or maybe two, I'm sure someone on here can tell me... If you want it, PM me and let me know what the address is.. I kinda remember how to drive there, but I fergit the actual address 8=) I was going to use it, but the ch***is I just scored has one in it already, so this one is kinda surplus.. I don't want to SELL it, but if ya need it, PM me, I'm sure we can work something out...
Stock front and rear springs, 4" dropped axle, 195/75-15 tires. The radiator apron is hammered from pushing snow and gravel in the winter.
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