Technical 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Lowering Issue

OK guys new to this forum and this is my first real old car purchase. So i will get right to it. I purchase this car about 2 weeks ago. Drove it on the trailer and brought it home. Got it running pretty good (350 with 350 Turbo trans ). So the rear end has been changed to what i think is a S-10 ( Chevy of some type ). I have got some work to do under it, doesn't look great kind of a lot of janky stuff going on but it due time i will get it right. So here is the issue, the rear of the car has tires that are barely tucked under the wheel well looks pretty good. Front needed to be lowered, i measured and looked like a 3 inch lowring of the front would do the trick and make it look pretty good. So after doing some searching it looked like there where 3 ways to lower, axle, spring pack, and cross member replacement. I chose the 3" lower spring pack looked like it was easy enough and thought i can do this. So this past weekend i started this project and after some issues i got it in place. So i was not able to put the U-bolts back in to hold the spring pack in place because the axle and cross member are interfering with each other by about a .250" or so. So i cant figure it out, i dont think they were that close before i started but did not look that close. I did notice the Wishbone Ball Bushing was in pieces and have a new one on the way think this might help. Anyway, can someone give me any ideas on what might be going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Introduce yourself. Let everyone know where you're at, might be someone local that can take a look. Oh, post pictures, we like pictures.

 

Welcome from East Tennessee. There is a fourth way to get the rake you want. Big tires in the rear, little tires in the front. In the meantime, take pictures and show us what's interfering between the axle and crossmember?

 

Will do on the pictures. It current has 255/60-15 on back and 205/60-15 on front. Just want to get the rake down in the front to at least the top of the tire. I was hoping the 3" spring pack would do the trick but it only seem to go down about 1".

 

Here is a few pictures. Hopefully i did it right.

 

My name is John. I live in the North Texas are just outside of Dallas. This is my first OLD car to work on so bare with me if i dont completely understand. I really like it though! Just trying to get the stance right. Not looking to restore it pretty much just want to enjoy it as is. Thanks for letting me join.

 

First replace the wishbone rubber ball. Then mock up the front spring clamp as it might stick out even more than the edge of the crossmember. I wouldn’t be scared to grind off a quarter inch of the crossmember lip, but there’s probably not that much extra to grind off the clamp.

And pictures from the side of the car to show us the interference.

 

...Avoid thumbnails, hit the "Full Image" button.

 

Looks to me as though your old spring has fewer leaves than the new one. While you're counting those,
measure both springs from hole center to hole center across the top of the springs. I think the new spring is shorter than the old one, that's why your shackle is running into the front track bar. This first picture is of a stock '48 front spring and axle under my '29. Note that the spring has an arch while the shackles hang almost straight down. In the first small picture of your spring and shackle, your spring is almost flat, and the shackle is interfering with the track bar. In order for your setup to work, the shackle has to move toward the outside of the car. Yours can't because the spring is flat. Look at the picture @lothiandon1940 enlarged of your front spring.

 

agree with above that "new" spring set is wrong for your car. more leafs in new set is not the way that you lower this type of car. had a '47 coupe that had main spring de-arched and a reverse spring eye done. a good spring shop can do this for you. reinstall stock set with this done and check results. if still too high try removing 2nd leaf from top 4th from top of stock spring set. each leaf removed will lower about 1/2". shock absorbers need to be measured to make sure not too long or short. I used gas shocks made for rear of early 60's Corvette. by doing all of this spring set will be much flatter than stock. remember that all cars not the same. this info is to get you looking at this differently. others should be giving more ideas on what to do.

 

I had similar problem U-bolt problem on our '47. I ended up welding a flat plate on the back of the crossmember, the plate extended below the crossmember with a horizontal slot in it. On the front of the crossmember I welded a thick plate that had several vertical tapped holes. The retainer plate had a "tongue" that fit into the slot and holes that matched the front plate. The parts were mounted so that when the lower plate was plugged into the slot and bolted to the front plate the spring was clamped securely. There was now room between the axle and the rear of the crossmember. I had a aftermarket crossmember from the '40 Fort which didn't have lips like the stock crossmember so I believe you would also have to trim the rear lip and work thru the front lip. The front mount could also be a tab with thru bolts, like Weedetr's spring clamp kit does.



My shackles also hang inward as do yours; but I don't see any interference with the track bar as they clear at rest and will swing outward in use.

Don't have a good picture; but you can kinda see the front mount plate in this picture (yellow circle).

 

I have no interference with the track bar just between the new spring pack and front axle. Is there supposed to be clearance between the spring pack and front axle? Mine is overlapping about .125" or so of an inch. So there is no way they could pass each other. Right now as it sits i cant get the spring pack U bolts on the axle side to even bolt on. Axle is in the way. I dont remember how much clearance there was with the old spring pack but do remember i had no problem taking the U bolts off. Anyway, try to get some side pics tonight. Wishbone ball bushing ordered earlier this week, maybe that will help. Old and new spring pack have 10 leafs each. Thanks for you guys help so far.

 

Okay, if you have 10 leaves in each spring pack, is the old spring longer than the new one. Don't go by end to end straight across, measure from the center of the spring eye up and over the spring to the other eye. I believe you'll find that your old spring is longer. And what on the new spring is interfering with the axle? Again, looking at @lothiandon1940 's picture of the newly installed spring, it looks like the spring clamp bolts are hitting the bottom chord of the axle. It might be camera angle, but if that's what's holding you out, I would move them.

 

I interpreted his description to mean the crossmember was hitting the axle, not the spring pack. Maybe he means the spring really does hit the axle. If so, something is really screwed up.

 

Forgot to include this:

 

Alchemy, you are correct. It is between the cross member and the axle. Sorry about that. I have a few pictures of a side view i will upload later. Maybe it will be a bit more clear. Thanks

 

If the rubber ball is really bad it might allow the wishbone to pull forward an inch. That might solve all of your problems. Also put a straight edge along the axle to make sure it’s not bent in the middle.

 

Never put a jack directly in the middle of a beam axle. Jack it up under the perch bolts.

Now do the straight edge test to see if it’s bent. Someone could have put a toe strap on the center of the axle and bent it. I think I can see a kink in the back edge just outside of where your jack pad is in the photos.

 

Did not know that. Thanks for letting me know about jacking the car up. I will check out the straightness of the axle tomorrow sometime. About how much clearance is there supposed to be between the axle and cross member? Ball bushing should be here tomorrow sometime. I live outside of Denton Tx, there is a car show tomorrow pre 72 vehicles called Pistons & Paint. I was hoping to take my car but dont think i will make it but i will attend. Was hoping to see some cars like mine out there. Thanks

 

I don’t know how much clearance Henry designed into it, but it’s surely more than -0.25”.

 

I don't suppose the original design was made to accommodate lowering of the car at some point in the future

I wonder how much the axle might have moved forward due to the knackered ball? I expect the tendency would be to move forward due to caster. A couple of ratchet straps to the axle and some suitable points might be an easy test to see how it might pan out pending the fitting of the new ball?

Cnris

 

Update: Axle is bent about .250"-.375" to the front. So that is definitely part of the issue. Thanks Alchemy.
The ball bushing is worn to the front side, big chunks missing on the front side but back of bushing looks good. So i should get my bushing today and maybe install and see how much that helps. Anyway to possibly correct the bend in the axle with it still in the car? Thanks guys.

 

No.

 

You don’t have spring clamps on, and you will need to unhook the rear ball, so you are already over half way to rolling the whole assembly out from underneath the car. Then you could probably rig a bottle jack, some heavy chain, and a large I beam to straighten the axle.

See, you’re not that bad off.

 

Thanks for all your help so far. It will probably be awhile before i get to doing that. Car came with a 3" lowing Speedway cross over. I might put that on and see what happens. Supposed to have received the Ball Bushing Saturday but that did not happen, supposed to be here tomorrow so i will put it in this weekend and see if that helps some.

 

Changing the crossmember is not a weekend job, especially for a beginner. 46-48 axles are not a high dollar item, so I’d replace the bent one and the rubber ball first.

 

Replaced the ball bushing. Did not change the clearance issue. Not interested in replacing the axle at this time. So i might be taking the time to replace the cross member in the next couple of weeks. does not look easy but i think i can do it. Any suggestions or insight as to how to accomplish this. Thanks

 

The front crossmember is a major part of the chassis providing strength. Personally I wouldn’t do the job without welding it in. Bolting won’t be rigid enough.

Stripping all the front sheetmetal and radiator out, as well as brake lines and wiring, doesn’t seem simpler than replacing the bent axle.