A guy ask me about doing the front suspension work on his 40 coupe last night at a cruise-in and ask me what I would recommend,,,being that I am opinionated My thoughts were dropped axle and split bones,,, He ask about the independent fronts and I said it was up to him ,,,at least you don't notice them as much until the hood was up. His riding buddy said why not a dropped axle and 4 bar? I said I don't thing I have ever seen that setup for a fat fendered car using a transverse spring,,,maybe it would work with coilovers,,, Mr. know-it-all says he has seen the 4 bar,dropped axle,transverse spring setup many timeson 35 to 40 Fords,,,,, Am I living under a rock,,,,any info on this,,,not that I would do this but the gentleman that owns the 40 thinks his pal knows everthing but is unable to doing any of this kind of work. HRP
Speedway sells a 4-bar kit for these cars. Saw one just today laying on the ground at the swap. Looked light and had really short bars. I see no benefit over the stock or slightly split bones.
I have had a dropped tube axle four-bar under my coupe for almost 20 years. The vendor was Butch's Rod Shop (in Ohio, I think. No longer in business.). After the addition of a panhard bar, the thing has worked great for quite some time. I think TCI has a setup that uses the more common dropped tube (SuperBell)or I-beam axles. The one I have is a fabricated tube axle.
if you give me a call i'll walk you through what you need to use.i used dropped axles and transverse springs on both these cars. -danny
no.i'm sorry for the mixup.the 39 on the left has reworked stock wishbone,and the 40 on the right has a wishbone that is split.i don't feel that a 4 bar setup has the strength to hold the front spring without alot of stress on the shackels. -danny
Dropped axle and a stock Ford spring with a few leaves removed. And a wishbone ... HRP ... I know you have seen the old 40 a bunch of times ... Tell your MRS ... Happy Birthday ... on Monday for Ouidasue and I ... .
I have done several ch***is with dropped CE I beams and split bones, they work great. The most popular ch***is we do is the Heidts SuperRide IFS and parallel rear springs. I think CE used to make a 4 bar for the 35-40 but it isn't in their catalog any more. Maybe that says something.
A four bar is something that most people have seen in a magazine, read about and now they have to have it cause it's the "right way" to do things. The front end doesn't really move enough laterally for a four bar to make that much of a difference over a wishbone or a set of hair pins. Also a '40 ford spring mounts in front of the axle, so unless you buy a kit you're gonna have to spend some time making some sort of a bracket, or modifying the frame to keep the front wheels in the fenders.
Thanks for the replys,,,,as for splitin' bones thats nothing new to me done that many time,,,,as for 4 bars,,,I've done that also,,,I'm no vergin,,,,but never on a fat fendered car. HRP
This has Magnum 4 inch dropped axle and Magnum dropped steering arms, stock sway bar, Posie transverse spring #2040, 5:60 x 15 Cokers up front. 8BA flatty. Wishbones have not been split.
My '35 sedan (same frame) has a rear four bar and MII in the front. The big promise of a supple, smooth ride....better than a straight axle and leaf rear, has never materialized. I finally got the MII riding decent in the front after jerking around with different springs and shocks, the rear finally works ok but since "day one" this setup has transmitted alot of gear noise from the 9" Ford rear into the body. I have determined that it must be the four bar carrying the noise. I am on my third set of gears and this set is as noisy at 60 mph as the first set.....and one of the top shops in the nation set up two of these ge****ts. I'm about ready to call CE and order up a parallel leaf spring kit for the rear.
I think a four-bar on the front of anything later than a '34 is gonna limit your turning radius too much. A low '40 already needs the tires tucked farther under the fenders for clearance, and putting those bars outside the frame will limit the clearance even more. The frame is too wide and the fenders too narrow. Plus, it's not gonna make for a softer or better-tracking ride. Why do it?
Hotrodpro? Have any more pics of the 40? Very close to my thoughts for the one in my shop. I have driven 40's with all three setups and think that the dropped axle with split bones is a fine option. It may take some sorting, but it can be very close to an independent setup. Although the cost is close to the same I would think. I drove a friends 40 coupe with Butch's four bar and found it to be a bit too soft for me. Retro, I don't know if that will stop you rear end noise. I had it in my previous 40 sedan with CE springs and with a 10 bolt Chevy and an 8" Ford. I have that same suspension in my 46 B coupe and also have the noise with a 9" Ford in it.
I might try five pounds of bananas next I guess!! Ha!!......I'll just drive the **** out of it anyway, earplugs are cheap.
IMO a 4-bar makes ABSOLUTELY no sense on the front end of a '40 Ford. The ONLY thing a 4-bar does over the standard 'wishbone' (either split or stock) is limit the drgree of caster change over the range of the suspension travel. Since the stock wishbones are almost 4-feet long and the total suspension travel is maybe only 2 to 3-inches, the degree of caster change at the end of a 4-foot 'arc' is VERY small. The added complication, aded expense, loss of turning radius, probable loss of ground clearance, and the need for a panhard bar to locate the axle side to side makes the consideration of a 4-bar ridiculous! Dropped I-beam axle and wishbones is the BEST way to go. Another 'trick' is to use a 1935 Ford spring in lieu of the '40 spring. It's a bit of a b***h to get it in, but when you're done the shackles will sit almost horizontal (instead of hanging down) and side to side sway will be almost totally eliminated. If you can't find a '35 spring, any good spring shop should be able to look up the specs for a '35 spring and shorten the '40 spring accordingly. JGMagoo
Fat Jack has installed 4 bar front ends with dropped tube axle for many years. He even had them on his 46 race car. I had him build a frame for me in the 80's when a 4 bar was king and it worked fine. The trend today is back to the wishbones and dropped I beam which works great and looks the best. Almost anything looks better than a MII...IMHO. I am 30 years behind times and trying hard to stay that way.
Does this guy have a running, driving car or a project? If a complete running and driving car, is he happy with the ride and steering or just wants to lower the car? I would not split the wishbones unless I had to. I bought a completely stock 1940 Ford last year and plan on doing the following this spring so I can drive it 2-400 miles on the weekends in relative comfort. Install a low mile stock 350 sbc, I've had setting in corner of garage, adapted to the stock three speed. Install Posie 2" lowering springs front and rear, upgrade the steering with a weedert 525 bolt in box. Install tube shocks front and rear. The usual new tie rod ends and king pin bushing as necessary. Sway bars front and rear. Use wheels and tires to get the rake I'm looking for. Everything is a bolt in and should be an easy swap.
Keep in mind, when you rake a 40, the rear end gear oil will trickle down inside the stock drive shaft tube and dissolve the torque tube center bearing.
You got that right, this thread is 18 years old and the owner of the car insisted on a mustang II front suspension, the car was sold shortly after the suspension work was done and to my knowledge has never been finished. HRP
Speedway 1935-40 Ford Bolt-On 4-Bar Front Suspension Kit Run a stock 1938 Axle and split bones in mine, with a reversed eye spring.
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