I have started to work on this project that has been on the back burner for some time. This will be my first 31 build so of course I have a bunch of concerns and ?. First is the ride height of the body.....the wheel well top sets about 6 inches above the tire which at the moment is a Coker Classic L78-15 that the PO had chosen. This is a Brookville frame with a straight rear cross member and what appears to be a 40 spring. Perch eyes are 49 inches apart. As it sets the cross member/spring appears to be able to hit the rear of the differential housing under deflection. Pic follows: I have an A cross member that I can use to help lower the rear along with the notch. Still think that the cross member needs to be relocated a bit to the rear for differential clearance. The hangers on the rear are 7 inches and appear to be an after market item. They would have to be a bit longer to facilitate the move to the rear of the spring/cross member. I****ume longer hangars are available somewhere.?? Before I rip into this I thought I would solicit some thoughts from those with a lot more experience setting up frames etc.
Check with Pete & Jakes or other suppliers for longer spring hangers. Should be something out there that's longer. And the higher arch of the A spring and crossmember should give you even more clearance. It's obvious somebody didn't do the proper mocking up when they put that together. The crossmember and the axle housing can't be in the same place. Or, how about just putting the A spring on those hangers first, and hold an A crossmember in place? That may be enough upward clearance, and not require any welding on the axle.
Went searching around and found a good set of 36 rear trailing arms but I don't have an A spring. My friend is going to grab one at Hershey next week so I will wait till I get that and see if the spring and the cross member will alleviate the issue and lower the body a few inches. The existing arms that were installed are going to be too short to go up to the center by the rear u joint so I am going to have to replace those. That presents the question of using the 36 arms and the built in spring perches???? with the A cross member in a 32 frame. Could that be an alternative and what might be the + -?
Now the ladder bars need replacing too? I'd start with the spring and see how that fits. Then move from there. If you need to replace the bars with the '36 wishbones (for whatever reason) you will at least have a baseline for your measurements.
The ladder bars were shortened and then attached to the side rails of the x member. I am certain that the flexing of them on the road would lead to an early demise. May as well fix that at the same time and terminate them up near the rear ujoint so they have a chance to function like Henry intended. We will see how this will turn out when I get the A spring.
If the axle itself is where it needs to be in relation to wheel base front to rear then longer hangers will change the wheelbase to shorter. Adding an A spring in there will Raise the body, without the A crossmember. You're probably going to need to Change that rear crossmember no matter which way you look at it unless you can afford to move everything forward and crowd the engine compartment.
thanks fellas for the input. Yes, the rear is centered in the wheel well so it is staying in that position for sure. Will have to work around the spring and cross member deal and see where we go from here.
Yeah i agree with 31Vicky, is the axke where it tn needs to be? It could have spring brackets designed for a 32 spring that is curved a later (35 to 40) spring is straight. If it gas brackets for a 32 spring but us using a available later spring it will pull the axle rearward and make the axle hit the crossmember. Brackets for a 40 type spring would space it forward.
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