Wheel Travel on a 1951 Fleetline

Front End Issue...Riddle Me This..??? Why.. would my P*** side not have any travel and bottom out on bumps... and the Driver side rides like a Caddy... I lowered it 3 inches.. Cut the Springs Exactly the same 1.5 coils off...The shocks are New.. Sway Arm Links are New.. Sits level , Same height on both sides...Same Rims.. Same air pressure in both tires... SAME EVERYTHING.... Any Answers.. ???... Could it be a weak Spring.. Or something Else..???

 

motor torque ? push

 

What....???..

 

bump stops are equal?

does the car sit level from side to side and front to back. How about when you have a p***enger (so not just you in the car)

 

The bushing on these old chevys are metal to metal, thread type. Very primitive and require constant lubrication. its possible the bushings on one side are worn, dry, and or rusty.
I have had some good results heating the bushing end caps and grease fittings to soften the old grease, then lube it.

 

I had it apart when I lowered it and did Brakes... I lubed it at that time..and cleand them up...So does the bushing control the Travel..??? Im learnig as we go here..Im new to this part of the front suspension... Do any of you know where I can find a good diagram of how a stock 51 is Supposed to look like... ?? Thanks guys..

 

This help ya?

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1949_51/4951csm0302.html

 

Yes Thank You.. But How would this effect the Travel.. I can jump up and down on the driver side bumper.. and no bottom out...but I can push up and down on the p***enger side and it hits.. feels like metal to metal...like I don't even have a shock in there..???

 

Also when I put it back together ...DiD I Do Something wrong.. I wonder if thats possible..

 

Sounds like a bad spring or shock to me

 

how do you know its bottoming out at front right? not being a smart *** just asking because maybe the rear is knocking and thats what you hear. if you are hearing it bottom out.
when it bottoms out, how far from the floor does it get?
does it feel bouncier from one side to the other?

just a thought, you checked to see if there wasn't anything jammed between the spring right? everything looks good now, after you worked on it?

 

a weak shock will make it feel bouncier on the right

 

I had a bottom shock bracket brake once, the bracket that goes under the lower A arm.

 

The car only had 4 inches of bump travel when new, taking "approximately" 3 of it's 4 inches seems to be too much. Plus the Springs were stiffened up about 20 pct.

Dropping it 3 inches at the wheel is about 1 7/8 at the spring. This only leaves 5/8 of an inch of spring travel.

Stock Spring Height 10.1875
Travel Limit Height 7.75
3 inch drop height 8.36

Now suppose the car was already down a 1/2 inch?

So a 3 inch drop on a 60 year old front end which had 4 inches of travel probably won't work. There is enough error in wear etc that one ended up in shock bind, coil bind, or on a bump stop.

 

Shocks Are New... The driver side has a nice flow.. never bottoms out.. P***enger side does it on every bump.. and it is absolutely the front end...as I said.. I can push the car up and down by hand on the p***. side and it will hit.. I weigh 210#..and have to really bounce it.. to bottom it out...but when I hit any good bump.. or tiny pot hole... it slams like a log wagon...

 

Good point.. But I've done this to Many cars.. and never had this problem before.. and the driver side...NEVER hits the stops..or.."Slams"

 

Is it possible..I put the parts back in...In a way.. that might be causing this.. Maybe the bushing is in wrong so it isn't riding correctly..???

 

Put a small tie wrap around the shock rod to check travel.

 

Oh..I got ya..to see if it slides up the rod and how far..??

 

And if its different...Then what.. ??

 

If it travels a lot more than the other side than its probably bad/weaker

 

As I read you , there are 2 issues. Running out of travel, and running out of travel unevenly. And the car is sitting level.

If only the one shock is bottoming out then I would swap shocks side to side and see if the problem follows the shocks.

Since you are running out of travel it would be nice to know why. The original shock had 5 inches travel which is 5 * 1.65 = 8.25 inches.

The original wheel travel was 7.625 inches so in theory the shock shouldn't be the limiting factor. If the tie wrap ends up smashed then you know the new shock is too long and has become the travel limiter.

You can put some playdough on the bump stop and see if that is what you are hitting. Both of these exercises are looking to find out what is actually bottoming out.

If the shocks are limiting travel you can gain some travel by finding a shorter shock or bu t******* the rubber isolators on each end.

You can pick up some travel by shortening the bumpstops.

Playdough between coils can help you find out coil bind.

If you cut the springs with a torch then one spring could have lost it's temper.

If they are coil binding it's new spring time.

A 8558 Moog spring would drop it about 2 inches. If you cut the bumpstops and made sure the shocks don't bottom you could end up with closer to 3 inches travel than one.

Hope this helps.

 

Ok..Thanks... So the bushings and those other components don't affect the travel..All of the travel issues would fall to the .".Springs..or Shocks.". Right...???

 

Is it common to put new shocks on.. and one Could be bad... ??

 

P.s. The Bump stop cant be a problem..Cause they are in the trash Can.. They were crusty and shot...

 

That would be extremely rare in my experience. But something odd is going on here.

Travel should be limited by the bumpstop, if the bushings are worn/dislocated they could throw something out of alignment so that is a wild card.

So you are coil binding or shock travel limited in all likelihood.
Monroe Compressed-Extended
5751 8.5 13.75 5.25

 

You could try switching the springs and shocks side to side and see if you get the same result. I'd do the shocks first since they're easier to do. At least that will start some process of elimination.

 

So..my shocks..can Kinda be adjusted...as in...it has the threads on the top..so you can tighten the nut down and it compresses the rubber bushings... this I ***ume would make the shock travel shorter...also..Is it better to have the sway bar links tighter or looser... ???...Also..the upper control arm on the left side.. seems to sit lower, or closer to the bump stop.. than the right side does..when its just sitting on the tires...almost like something is weaker on that side and is letting it sag/or sit lower...But the car sits level.. when you measure it from the ground...

 

By the way..it sits nicely.. wheels aren't ****ed in anyway.. drives nicely down the road...No pulling.... I'm wondering if the lower control arm is an issue.. cause I didn't do anything with them.. I only took off the top one to get to the springs out... I believe I did lube them... but maybe its bad... ???