I'm building a 32 Roadster (replica). I bought a used nearby 4" drop axle that is roughly 38" perch hole to perch hole. With the (Speedway) perches in, it's just over 36" from center of perch to center of perch. I bought the spring Speedway advertised for a 48" axle (which mine is). The spring measures 31 inch eye to eye. My shackles are 1.5 inch center to center. Not to make you all do math, when I lay the shackles out flat, they're a little over 33" center to center, when they're in the perches. I stretched that Speedway spring, which measures 31" eye-to-eye center pretty much flat (just the longest leaf) and I couldn't get it to get long enough, and if I did it would have been truly flat. So I bought Johnny Law/Vintage's 33.5" spring. It looked goodish without any weight. But as soon as I put my 200lb self on the crossmember the shackles went almost to the perches. And if I bounced a little they'd bottom out. I weigh less than a motor. No Weight So my quandary is: 1. Is my used axle weird? Are my perch mounts too far out? Should that 31" spring have worked. Seems like Speedway's axle drills the perch holes closer to the frame, which would give a better turn radius capability too, it seems. I could buy the axle they run with this spring set and perches and I'd probably be fine, it works for them, but another axle is kind of pricey. 2. Or, is Johnny Law/Vintages's spring just too cheap and that's why I go down too far when I stand on it? It wasn't the most expensive spring. Should I get a better 33.5" spring and things would work out? But are my perches being farther out a downside? 3. Or, do I need a 32.5" spring set to get that shackle angle a little tighter, or is an inch less too much? Maybe I could combine it with the shackles that are 1 3/4 center to center and I'd only be*****ing up a 1/2". I'd really like to stop throwing money at it. Any advice would be much appreciated that leads me to a final solution!
Johnny law is a notoriously trash brand, do a search and it’ll come up dozens of times here. most if not all aftermarket axle do have narrower perch pin locations than stock so lots of springs are sold to fit those specific axles. With out looking at a catalog I’d think you just got a*****ty Johnny spring. Pretty crazy amount of arch in that spring for a front spring as well.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I think you're right. I was looking at the Speedway reviews of the unit with their axle and the spring/perches/shackles I already have; People seem happy with it... and tucking the split wishbones a little tighter won't hurt anything. I'm thinking I'll buy the Speedway axle, and sell the other axle on. Looks like an easy, (probably) guaranteed solution. Thanks again!
Oh man, no! You've been a member here long enough to be wise to this. Speedway is questionable too, although price and the fact that they have online gravity like a giant planet seems to draw people in. While I'm at it, don't buy a "Speedway Vega" steering box (the same Chinese everyone on ebay sells). Buy a Borgeson one. Costs more, but is real. This has also been discussed many times. Do ourself a favor and look here: https://www.peteandjakes.com/ There are other places too. AND, ask here first! BTW, with that flat crossmember you're going to need pretty decent cutouts in the frame for spring clearance.
Oh, I've been creeping the HAMB for years, but generally avoid posting. Strangely, you wouldn't probably think how much HAMB stuff when into my fake Lotus 7 build before this car; a lot of stuff like fender mounting, motor mounts, wiring tricks, etc. correlate when you're building a car from scratch. I was on here a lot for a totally different type of car. But, I realize that I don't have much to say that hasn't been already said/done. Last night, for some reason, I thought I was real unique but with some time I realized 37 people have said that they like that Speedway spring I already have, with only one naysayer (pitting), and since I already bought Speedway's perches and shackles, it seems like their axle, in this instance, makes sense. I knew Johnny Law was questionable... but it was so cheap and the right size ha. Yes, lesson learned (again, I bought their heater for a Lotus 7 replica and it worked but I saw/felt cheap wires, box, etc). On the steering box front, I bought a 16:1 direct from Lares. I also bought speedway's bearing setup king pins. The flat front crossmember isn't reality yet. I was just fitting my parts together to make sure they worked (they didn't). I haven't actually welded anything yet... but I'm not against the idea of cutouts and a little lower. My plan is to mock it all up and see how it sits before I start welding and cutting. Thanks again for the replies. I was a bit hasty in posting, not that hard a question it turned out. I was overthinking.
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