I wonder how much I can lower the rear of 1932 ford with just changing the spring. I tried to turn the main leaf in press and left two leaves of the spring. It’s not tightened yet but did not seem to make much change to rear height. I know it’ll lower a bit when everything is tightened as they should be. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Doesn't look like you have enough weight to compress the spring. ***uming you are going to have a fuel tank in the rear, upholstery, maybe a battery get a 200 pound friend to sit in the trunk and see how much it comes down. When I built my avatar years ago I set the springs up with a bare shell on the frame and had to add leaves back with all the weight fenders and everything listed above was added.
If he was to use a ‘40 spring that requires new spring hangers on the rear end, his ‘32 spring is curved and the spring eyes are not parallel.
When I first built my tudor it started out with a couple leaves removed and a slightly flattened spring. After a few years I put the removed leaves back and flattened the pack a little more. Right now the ride is great, not much bottoming out, and it sits about two or three inches from the rubber bumpers. I use 48 Ford rubber bumpers because they are softer and cushion the impact more than the stock 32.
I have a dropped axle in front, maybe 2,5-3” and I would prefer the rear to be down like 2-3” to compensate the dropped axle. I Don’t know if it’s possible only by modifying the rear spring. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Possibly the main advantage of achieving that kind of drop by modifying the crossmember is that the spring characteristics can remain unchanged, meaning that the guesswork of spring rates etc is avoided. Worked for me. Is there a reason you're holding back from going that route? Chris Sent from my SM-T515 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Try removing the third leaf up, and maybe the second from the top. And, it will settle more after you've driven it a hundred miles or so. Maybe the spring was from a closed car and has more leaves than a roadster would require. Just don't lose any of the removed leaves in case you need to put them back someday. All my adjustments were done with just a press, no cutting needed. Granted, my car is full fendered, but it sits a lot lower than your car does. And I don't even have a reversed main leaf.
On my 34, which is the same curved spring mounted behind the axle scenerio ive got a couple things going on. First is I was using a 40 rear axle that has different spring perches. When I modified the 40 perches, I welded them on 1" lower than a stock 34 axle would have. I removed 2 leaves and lengthened my shackles an 1-1/4" all that got it so low I actually shimmed between the spring and crossmember 3/4" If I were too do it over again I would just flatten the rear crossmember the desired amount. I did just that on a 40 Ford I welded together and it functions well and uses all stock unmodified parts exept the crossmember obviously. Without having a spring made, or at least a main leaf made and the rest of the pack modified I dont think your gonna get the desired result with spring work alone. Just my experience bro good luck. My ride height for reference
I’m quite sure it is from closed car. Does it have different shape than the roadster spring? Or just more leaves? How many leaves there is in roadster spring? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That was the first idea, but the frame is really good and I just try to avoid cutting it. If I don’t get it sitting right with spring changes, I’ll probably change the rear crossmember and the rear axle too. I have a good 1935-36 axle and 1937 crossmember which I could flatten to get the right stance. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I don't know the leaf count in closed vs open cars, but I'd guess the roadster has at least two less leaves. Drive your car a bit and if you aren't happy, you can remove the spring on a weekend and flatten it a bit more. Trace the arch of the leaves on a flat space and run each one through the press to remove an inch of arch. The same thing you did when you reversed the main leaf, except not as drastic.
I thought you'd say something like that! I thought that about mine too, but the relative ease of getting the stance I wanted soon won the day! Chris
Are you going to run full fenders? The extra weight will bring it down some. Like alchemy said, start taking out leafs. A word of caution. I reversed the eyes on my 32 and had no trouble with the main spring. When I tried to flatten the second one from the bottom it snapped and went flying. Luckily it didn't hit me or something else.
I happened across a home made ch***is with a 32 spring that was heated & steeply bent on either end about 6" inboard of the shackle eyes, it appears to be well done & square with the side edge of the leaf however have not attempted a trial fit in anything as of date. Back in the day so to speak it was common practice to heat coils to desired ride height & in this case ***uming proper heat/cooling procedures were followed I'm still uncertain how metal quality might have been compromised.
how much is ‘some’ would the weight of fenders really be noticeable ? I would be keen to know by how much ?
I didn't measure mine when I removed the fenders so I could not say. It would stand to reason any change in weight would effect the ride.
De-arching is done evenly across the whole leaf. Originally the leaf should be close to a true arc (semicircle), and afterward it should just be a flatter arc. Trace each original leaf, and then re-arch it across the whole length to be one inch less. Or whatever you are shooting for. When I was doing mine I drew lines across the leaf every two inches. I started at one end and gave the press two pumps after initial contact. Then moved to the next line. Then the same on all the leaves. If you need more drop, then do the same in between the lines.
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