I have wanted to lift my '56 Ford for a long time now I just never had the money. Although I found a guy selling a set up off his '53 Chevy in the local cl***ifieds. He said in an email all I would need is the odd line, ram perches, and batteries. It's $300 for everything. First question is what are ram perches? Also how much work would it be to put hydraulics in a 1956 Ford. I have a rough idea of what to do and the fab work that would be involved. I know it's not a bolt in set-up like my air shocks. Thanks!
Here is the car in question... All it has now is 3" blocks, gabrial high jackers and an Air Lift compressor. I do have a brand new set of CC850s also waiting to go in.
I have done a lot of hydraulic installs and repairs, and a "ram perch" is not a component of a hydraulic system. I would ***ume he is talking about a bracket of some type to hold the hydraulic cylinder, But we all know what ***uming gets ya. If you can get a picture of what he has, I would be glad to look and give you an opinion on the deal and what else you might need. I will say that it is a install that requires a decent amount of mechanical ability as well as some fabrication. I've never looked at the suspension of a car like yours but if its a typical all coil-spring design, it shouldn't be much different than the car he is taking it off of. I will also say that if you are getting a used set-up, that I would dissasemble all the fittings and re-teflon them all, replace the check-valves, and start with fresh fluid. I'll check back in here. but feel free to PM me if you have any questions that I can help ya with.
If you're just buidling an easy up/down setup then here's a leaf spring pic. If you're gonna get loco the leaves probably aren't the best thing.
Thanks! And yes just simple up and down! No hopping for me! Also I have heard you still should keep blocks with this set up?
simple rear setup like posted above is best imho ... for what you wanna do.. you will need to remove a couple leaves (personally i think you should always leave 3, i dont trust less), also probably still need the blocks .. front is relatively simple to setup best advice i can give is dont go cheap and dont buy used.. theres a reason the parts were taken out.. new isnt THAT expensive.. id say 2 - 4 batteries, 4 will lift/lay nice and last a little longer but 2 can work great if you dont mind charging somewhat more often (this is up for debate, but seems to be my experience).. 2 will however lift decently on a high pressure setup (meaning newer parts) .. if you must buy used, test it all out, and be prepared to tear it all down and put in all new seals etc... i personally dont use used cylinders unless i know the guy that ran em before me and take em apart and inspect (many are bent, gouged up inner walls, etc) ... hoses i dont use used, just isnt worth it , but i geuss ya could what im sayin is the car looks nice.. dont go too cheap, if you buy used tear it all down, learn about how the parts work, put in new seals, check everything over, etc.. i could see that with some nice fenner geared pumps and 2 batteries bein a nice lil street setup oh, and dont believe the ******** hydros can ride GREAT ... and they put less stress on a car than airbags due to always having a cushion (not talking hoppers here talking street setups). .. youve been offered plenty of help but if you need more feel free to PM me
Wow, thanks a lot! I think I'm going to wait until I can afford to get all new stuff. Guy still hasn't even sent me pictures of the stuff yet. You pretty much sold me on waiting and getting new **** though