HI all, and those who can help; I am building a 1948 Mecury M-47 Pick-up. I am going to hotrod it. Unfortunatly I got a little carried away wnd stripped right down to the fram before I took a measurement of rid height. I was wondering if there was a way I could measure ride height with just the rolling ch***is? This is probly a silly question to all you professionals. But Im trying to learn as much as I can. Im going to put a Mustange II IFS in front and 4 link with pan hard in back. Any help would be greatly apprcieated. Thanks Dave
your first mistake is the mustang 2 suspension(belly****on),i'd stick with straight axle but if you are willin to sell me the suspension and steering?..scrub radius is usually followed by the NSRA for the standards in ride height,no suspension components or driveline below the wheel rim..if you plan on "streetrodding" it.Also other factors like driver weight,fully loaded weight etc...most builds are started at ride height,kinda hard to do with just the frame..
Need to consider weight of motor, ******, body and what rim / tire size combo you are going to run. Lot's of factors to consider. I would have the body and front clip on the frame with engine / ****** mocked up before setting up the front end. Just my two cents - good luck!
Thanks Primeisnotacrime and Chevyrat. It looks like I will have to put it back together to determine ride height. I will also check out NSRA as suggested Primeisnotacrime. Once again thank you for the help. At least I will become an expert at removing and installing fenders, motor ect. And Primeisnotacrime when I finally get the old suspension out. I will let you know incase your still interested in it. Dave
Ride height is exactly that, the height that the car will ride at when finished. The weight has nothing to do with it. The main reason why you want the vehicle together for ride height determination is for looks. Imagine putting the truck on stands and removing all the suspension. Now lower or raise the truck to what you want, put the tires and rims in the wheel wells [ need to be the diameter of tire that you plan on using or make calculations to account for this] and decide if this is the look you are going for. This is your ride height. The center of your rim marked on your frame is the key factor here. You are building your suspension to match this point. The weight of the motor ****** body etc. all come in too play with your spring selection, not ride height. The springs maintain the desired ride height when the weight of these things are added. So basically, remove all of your suspension, put the cab, fenders and box back on in their correct places, put the truck at the height you want it, put the wheels in the wheel wells and stand back and look at it. This is ride height. Make sure to mark the relation of the wheels front to back. Now mark the wheel centers, buy your suspension, I bought Welder Series off the Alliance - great guys. and get to work. I have done exactly what you are talking about and will help all I can. Is that Cobourg Ontario? Peter
Thank you very much Peter M. That helps me to understand it alot better. Yes I am in Cobourg Ont. I'm probly going to need some more help. Once again thanks Dave Ps good idea too flatout ford. But I allready have a Heidts Mustang II front supension for it.
Peter has it nailed. Set the body/ch***is on fixed stands at the required final height, then fabricate the suspension (without the springs fitted) to give an acceptable suspension travel both up and down with the tire and wheel sizes you have decided to use. Shock travel, bump steer, and the rubber bump stops all need to be thought out. What it weighs does not matter in the least. And you can have any final ride quality you like, firm riding or soft riding too. That is all determined by your final choice of springs (free length and spring rate), and it is the very last thing you do once the car is complete and all back together again.
you are correct peter but,weight is factored into it.Take this into consideration,once you have your factored in "look" you want from a profile, consider the suspension you plan on putting in your car or truck,in his case Mustang 2 suspension,you can get coilover shocks with variable load ratings to "correct" weight variables to maintain the "look" but it comes at a sacrifice like ride harshness,cornering ability,etc..with the additional weight not factored in,like driver,engine,full tank of gas,etc..ride height is gonna be affected,unless you have airbag suspension.Either way he has to put the truck back together,loosely if he wants to find his ride height
RIde height??????? Hell if it's s****ping the rails on the ground it still ain't low enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once you know how high it must be, that sets the loaded height of the springs when installed. You can then fit any spring rate you like, mushy as hell, or as stiff as a rock. If you like it soft, you want to fit very long springs with a low spring rate. The weight of the car will compress these long springs back down to the correct wanted height. If you want it really hard, you fit high rate springs maybe only slightly longer than the installed height. If you do it right, both the soft and the hard springs will both end up at the exact final ride height you want. And that could be super low, or really high. You sure do not have to sacrifice ride harshness, or handling, just because you want to change the ride height.
well I say first and foremost ignore any anti mustang II people unless you are building an early 30's car. I do appreciate anyone who keeps an axle in thier car... axles are cool... but cool don't make your car ride and steer any better.. it is just cool which is why I like axles on other peoples cars and not my own. if you can't see it, MII it. MII's like the lower A-arms parallell to the ground. I got a buddy who put many thousands of daily driver miles in a 48 chevy coupe that was lower than parrallel and he had no complaints or issues with tire wear or alignment. so do the MII and adjust ride height by t******* the springs (or not) and set up the rear height to match after everything is together.
no offense to the MII setup,it's been around since the late 70's and has been a proven suspension setup,and if you're gonna hide it under the fenders by all means go with it,you won't be disapointed,might as well go with a SBC and a TH350 for good measure also since parts are easily available,and if you drive it everyday it'll make the trip to O'Reilly that much easier! i'm done with this thread...
Thanks to all for your help. I will try and send photos to all as the build progresses. Once again thanks Glad to be a newbie HAMBER Dave
Did you get a universal fit Heidt's crossmember? Otherwise, it should put the truck at a nice ride height as-is. Please let me know if there's anything we can do to help. We're near Kitchener.
AMEN! Bags make it to where you can go to every show and fit the theme... Traditional show = stock ride height Low rider show = Layin frame Rat rod show = tail down <O</O My opinion is that bags take our cars to the next level... They truly give us the power to ride how we want to every time we get in and drive.<O <O Bags can get you love at each one of these shows!
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