How well are your traditional built '34 Ford's handling at high way speeds, 60 -80, stopping, steering, ride, etc.? If the answer is "great" what did you do to make it a safe comfortable ride? Reason for asking is I have a friend who wants a MII under his '34 Ford P/U and I have talked him into going traditional, dropped axle, spring, split bones, drums, etc. I said it can be done traditionally so help me convince him it can be! The build; '34 Ford P/U on a pass frame, 351 Cleavland, 5 speed, 9" Ford rear. Front and rear suspensions and brakes up for debate. Thanks!
Well,my trucks a '32 not a '34 but there are some similarity's,,I have a reversed eye spring on the front and a 4" dropped beam axle and split bones and drum brakes,,I also installed a panhard bar,,not the most traditional thing but it greatly improves the steering.No bump steer! I used a transverse spring on the rear and a 9" Bronco rear axle. 327 SBC and auto transmission. I can run 60 to 85 with no ill effects,,I have bias ply tires. HRP
All the early Fords from 28-34 can be made to ride and handle quite well with a little tuning in the spring department and good shock absorbers. Removing a few spring leaves front and rear. Keep 1 and 2 remove 3,5,7,9. It may take a couple of tries to get the spring right but it is worth the work. This makes the difference if the front end and steering are right and the springs are mounted in tension like Ford designed them to be.
my 34 tudor drives and handles good, it has a mustang II front end, with fenders and hood you never know it is there, my 29 roadster has a 4" dropped axle and rides and handles good, they are both good at 80 mph i do run a sway bar on the rear of the roadster, my 38 pickup will also have a 4" dropped axle and i expect it to also drive and handle good, i really can't tell any different between the two and i enjoy either ride
15 years ago I had 34 coupe with mII friend had one with dropped axle we drive the shit out of both one day,one was as good as the other,always thought the mII looked like shit you really see it from the front on 34
15 years ago I had a '34 Fordor, smallblock automatic, stock '34 front axle with half the leaves removed, split front bones and tube shocks on the front, '65 Mustang steering box, Camaro rear end with parrell leaf springs. it run down the road great at 70 plus, also no bump steer and steered beautiful and rode great. I really miss that car.
this one i built had a I beam upfront,drums,split bones, banjo rear and on bias plys and a flathead....whenever i was on the highway i was running 70(sometimes down to 65 ,but mostly 70!,cuz otherwise i would get ran over)
I believe to make them work great it is the comination of small details like you have all said so what Caster Camber did you end up with? Any mods to the front crossmember? Again what's your steering box of choice? Thanks!
Original early dropped axle in front. Posie dual spring rear kit with biased ply tires. I installed a t-5 trans and I can catch myself going too fast....for me. Low 70s is my personal limit. I doubt that you want to go road racing with an early Ford but they do handle better than the fraidy cats think. I use the stock Ford specs mine came with an F1 steering box I have an F100 box in my roadster.
As long as you upgrade the brakes and the steeringbox from original it will be a great driver at any speed ;-)
I have been over 170 mph in my model A. Original dropped axle, transverse spring, hairpins and a F1 steering box.......
I have to say I really like the look of a strait, or a dropped axle, But all of them I have ever been in ride now where as smooth as a independent on Michigan roads.
Well if he expects it to handle and feel like a late model car he is going to be disappointed no mattter what you do to it. There is nothing you can do to a beam axle to make it feel like a late model indepent or have the same handling characteristics. That is not to say that it will not handle well or have a good feel to it. It is just not going to be the same as a late model. The absolute best thing you dan do with one that is "Traditional" is to make sure that everything is up to par. I won't go down the list but in general make sure that anything that can be worn out is not worn out. Next upgrade anything that can be upgraded, ventilate you brakes for instance, debur your spring and put the tefdlon sliders between the leaves. Play with your spring rate I until you get it dialed in not just throw a spring in there and hope for the best. Tube shocks, maybe not the leatest and greatest off road nitrocell muthers, but a good decent pair of boingers that are the correct lentgh and dampaning rate for intended use. You get where I am going with this correct?
Im running a 5" drop magnum axle '..,...durant super low mono spring.... front panhard bar ...vega box ...with socal buick brakes.... rear is a socal 4 bar with shockwaves ....it goes straight stops and handles well no bumpsteer im very happy with it
My Old 34 had F-100 front brakes and stock Ford nine inch drummers on the back.... Ran a Mustang box and 4 bar with a Mor drop axle..... stopped,steered great... Not super trad by any means..but hey.it was the late 80's..... hahahah
My 34 pickup is set up with a 4" Super Bell axle, monoleaf spring, panhard bar, Efco shocks, hairpins and a Vega box. It is all right out of the Speedway catalog. Also using disk brakes. It behaves very well especially on our crappy WA roads.
We put a 4" dropped axle on our 32. Vinyl sliders in front & back springs, front and rear pan bars, split front A bones, vega box. Flathead with T5. We get no bumpsteer but had the wobble which was corrected with a steering dampener. The car runs out OK on bias tires.. After all this, I'm thinking there should be a difference between those cheaper "mystery" vega style boxes (which we have?) and the brand name boxes - could make a difference in wandering/steering feel?
The Jalopy Journal
