Technical Front and rear suggestion

Suggestions and opinions needed. I am at the stage of my AV8 build where I'm going to send out the front axle. I'm a little hesitant of what to tell joe on how much to drop it. 32 axle with unsplit bones. I don't and will not Z the frame. How much should I drop the axle. I've searched and read a lot about different rear springs but I'm wondering what that will get me in relation with how much I drop the front axle. 1930 RPU no fenders or hood, F-1 crossmember and steering, 39 three speed, 49 F-1 front brakes, 40 ford rear brakes, stock model a rear end. Thanks, Pat

 

I don't understand the question but if you are thinking old school and common a 3-4" drop is what I remember seeing mostly when I was looking at swap meet axles in high school and those would have been what was left over from the good old days.

 

3-4 inches should work for the drop.Just remove 3-4 leaves from rear.What spindles are you using and engine?The stock rear won't take a lot of abuse.

 

You can only drop it about 1 5/8 inch before it starts to stretch.

 

I just don't want to get the axle dropped and then realize I can't get my rear end low enough without Z'ing it.

 

8BA and 36-41 spindles

 

Calculate the clearance for the rear axle to the frame. Then set a ride height, allowing for your allowed rear suspension movement - ie what amount of up travel you can live with. You can get the rearend lower by different spring arch, reversed eyes, longer shackles, modified crossmember, or custom mounts.

Once you have that rear height limit, then just figure out the amount of front drop to put into the axle. since dropped axle, you probably will not need much changes to the front spring, shackles, eyes, etc.

My gut feel is you can drop axle about 3-4 inches and still get the rear low enough to have nice stance with a reasonable suspension travel.

 

So on a 32 axle that'd be the factory drop of __?__" plus 1-5/8" additional drop for a total of __?__"

 

The 32 axle has a stock drop of 2 3/4", you can get 4 1/2" and still not have the stretched taffy look.

 

Thanks harv !

 

Yep, no more than about 1.75" over stock without starting to see some distortion in the web. I won't stretch drop a 32-36 more than 2.25" total and at that you will see a slight narrowing of the web but they still look great. You can get away with a little more if you allow the axle to narrow during the drop as that will stretch it less. This is a 33-34 (dimensionally the same as '32) that I dropped 2.25".

Guys always want to go crazy with the drop... but there are lots of other small things you can do to get the front of the car down and still have a great looking, mildly dropped axle. Another thing to keep in mind is the further you drop the axle, the more trouble you'll have with the tie rod/steering arms. Much more than this and you're running the tie rod into the scrubline, etc...

 

that's a real nice lookin' axle.

 

Here is a 32 axle Joe just did for me. Its a "5in drop" i dont see why people say dont go over 4in. Its still above scrub line with 16in wheels.