Hot Rods Car lean to driver's side

Hello everyone, hope you guys are well.
I am based in UK and imported a nicely done 31 model A roadster at the end of last year, bought through this great site.
It's an Zeed and boxed A frame with reverse eye transverse springs front and rear, sorry do not know manufacturer, and a dropped front axle.
It sits low, but looks spot on. The front is level side to side, but is around 1" lower on the driver side.
It was very well put together and everything is spot on otherwise.
The build is pretty much brand new with new parts fitted to the original ch***is and '40 donor parts.
I am certainly no expert so am asking the following;
Could it be the new rear spring is sat slightly off-centre in the frame perch, with the curve of the perch changing the angles of the axle?? The rear p***enger side wheel is also 1/2" or so further out of the fender??
Many thanks in advance, shoot me down if this a dumb question!

 

Could be the spring. You see a lot of buggy sprung rides sitting like that. I would not worry, the wheel offset I would look into tho

 

Old cars get tweaked. Any way to set the frame on level surface on know height blocks and start taking measurements?
Body shop frame table - got any friends at a body shop ?

Figure out if the frame is tweaked, or if it's suspension / spring related, before buying parts - shipping to UK is pricey.

 

Your lean could be attributed to several things including something as simple as the rear spring u-bolts being tightened unequally.

 

Or the original owner being fat and the car just took a "set" that way

 

This has absolutly nothing to do with your issue but it reminded me of a judge here in Anderson that drove a 1962 Chevy II and it had a severe lean as it drove up and down the street, I saw the car for years and then one day he stopped at the Shell service station next door and got out.

That man must have weighed 400 lbs plus and the car sat almost level when he got out! HRP

 

That's my story for Rusty and I'm sticking to it. No obvious signs of a broken spring(s) but who knows what happened in a previous life. Possibly it got hit hard and that's why the bed was replaced with the Studebaker bed that's currently on it.

 

I take offense to that. I prefer "Failed bulimic"
Good at the binge bit, not so great when it comes to barfing

 

....Often referred to as the "French Fry Effect"!

 

...........We need more and BIGGER pictures. Looks like a cool little Roadster.

 

When you say “level side to side” but then say “1 inch lower on the drivers side” it confused me

Are you able to measure from the ground up to the frame on both side?just to compare.

 

Any lean to the driver's side would be accentuated by driving in the UK on cambered roads and driving on the left.

 

He may just tip over into the left ditch!

 

Just put mother in law in p***enger seat and it will lesn the other way!

 

The cure may be as simple as swapping the transverse spring so the 'low' side of the spring is on the other side of the car. Are you measuring at the frame? Lots of bumpers dont sit level and make the car look like its leaning

 

Just for sh**s and giggles check your tires for same size , manufacturer , series , tire diameter and air pressure.

 

Spring shackle angles being the same and check your axle for straightness or damage/bent. Like I said wiggles and doesn’t cost a dime .

 

Lastly, maybe a quick loosen/remove suspension hardware and reinstall. Eye your springs and center spring bolt that are not cracked .

 

"Diggin' the scene with the gangsta' lean"........I know, I'm not helping. Check all of the obvious things that everyone has suggested. Unless the frame is truly messed up it's likely a pretty simple fix. Good luck.

 

A Riley Tourer is cool but it’s got nothing on your Model A @Zodiacsix , your roadster is great!

 

You can actually see that my truck leans to the drivers side in my avatar photo. I got stopped by a deputy sheriff one day and he asked why it leaned and I said "fat driver" and he wasn't appreciative of the answer even though he was standing there looking at all 275 lbs of me. I put far more miles on it alone than when anyone rode with me.

Back to the 31 A roadster. Simple things first. Make sure that the tire pressure is the same either in all four tires or in the two front and the two rear. Tire pressure has to be equal. Then tire size side to side. Sounds crazy but check to be positive.

Check for worn bushings or other ch***is parts or a spring that doesn't look the same on both sides ***uming that it has transverse leaves side to side.

Then with the car on a very level floor bounce the suspension a few times to settle it out and start measuring and writing down the measurements.
Corners of the bumper to the floor on all four corners.
Matching spots on the fronts of the frame rails front and rear (matching side to side) .
Between the axle and the frame on each side front and rear.

That should give you a reasonable idea of where it is off. Then you can figure out how to correct the issue. That may be as simple as what Chop&Drop said in post 4. You may have to loosen the U bolts wiggle the car a tad and properly tighten the bolts to the proper torque going back and forth between the U bolts to tighten them evenly at small increments.

 

I had a similar thing on my 32 roadster... I unfastened the rear u bolts on the spring and pulled the car body from side to side to make sure the locating bolt head was seated correctly in the rear crossmember hole then refastened the bolts gradually and evenly until fully tight.
This seems to have done the trick and it sits level now.

 

^^^^^^ start with this, then maybe check the other suggestions.
If all that fails to fix it, - put the steering wheel on the ‘correct’ side and the driver’s weight should help a little……...

 

.......This is key right here.

 

Is there any lateral locating device on either axle, other than the spring shackles? I mean a Panhard bar or such? Are the shackle angles consistent all round? What are the shackle angles?

As I've calculated before, stock early Ford transverse-leaf suspension can articulate around 7½° in total, freely and without any spring deflection, provided the shackle angles are substantially right. If set up properly an early Ford should self-correct as regards lean when parked.

The minute you add another lateral locating device you are imposing a second rotation regime, which may manifest as a permanent lean, unless the shackle angles are changed accordingly. What you are describing is entirely consistent with a rear Panhard bar which is half an inch too long or too short, fighting shackles at the stock angle of about 45°. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's something else entirely, though, but if that is what you do find the fix is to get the Panhard bar length right, and to set the shackles at substantially vertical.

I'm not sure when Ford first fitted Panhard bars — "track bars" in factory parlance — but I think that it was before 1940? Can someone shed light? If there are '40 suspension bits there, that might include a Panhard bar.

 

You Brit-based petrol-heads are always trying to pervert....uh...I mean convert the CORRECT thinking world to your RIGHT thinking world! Next I suppose you'll want us to start calling them "boots" and "bonnets"!!! And don't get me started on "loo" and "fanny"!!! LOL!

 

Great! Now I'm hungry for fries.....

 

That's a great tune....

 

Go to slightly taller tires on the low side. You should be able to work out how much with some measuring......

Searching for info yourself is not that hard............

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This was once a normal problem with old Frods that saw constant use with only the driver. The cure is quite simple. Pull the spring (providing the spring center bolt is seated correctly in the crossmember. Take the spring pack and, strafing with the main leaf, rotate ever other spring 180° so that there is an even distribution of sagged spring leaves offset by leaves with good arch on each side. Do it front and rear and the car should sit level. If not either the spring needs to be replaced/ rearched, or something in the frame itself is bent or broken. Almost always the spring leaf reversal works. Just keep in mind that it will probably sag sometime in the future and will need to be replaced.