Hello everyone, I have been visiting this site for years although this is my first post on here. So I had an idea and was looking for some advice, maybe someone who has tried it before? I have a 32 3 window full fendered coupe, drop tube axle, mono leaf spring, 4 bar. This winter I am replacing everything with a chrome I beam and springs, and chrome 4 bar setup probably from Speedway as a kit. The car is pretty darn low up front, to the point we had to put a steel oil pan skid plate on for protection! This car is a father son project, and my dad loves the low stance with the front tires just inside the fenders. So with the car that low needless to say the ride is a bit stiff. I know going to a mustang ll setup would ride a bit better, but we both like the traditional drop axle look. So all that to say... is it possible, or should I say easily doable to ditch the leaf springs over the dropped I beam, and use coil over shocks in place of the standard tube shock? The thought was, since it's fendered it would mostly hide the coil overs, and maybe get a better ride out of it. Also it would be easily adjustable so I cold raise it up a bit in the front for more ground clearance... when he isn't looking of course haha. Is this able to be done or is it just a silly impractical idea? Would I be able to find such relatively small coil overs? I still need to measure the current length of the shocks to know where to start looking for properly sized coil overs if I continue with this idea so I haven't done much or a search on that yet. Thank you in advance for any advice!
if you were to replace the conventional tube shocks with coil over shocks you would also have to beef up the shock mounts . the shocks you have on there now are just dampening the axle , coil overs would be supporting the weight of the front of the car
In principle, I did what you are contemplating to a '47 Ford Coupe I built about 8 years ago and I was was very satisfied with the result. However, there were considerable alterations involved because, as others have said above, the load factor on the shock mounts is dramatically increased. In my case, I used an OT shock/spring ***embly and built a bolt on structure for the frame, and modified the spring mounts on the wishbone (which is ahead of the axle on that era Fords), and incorporated beefier Panhard and anti-roll bars. As I said, I was very pleased with the outcome, but it was a lot of work. I did it mostly as an experiment and because I had all the bits and materials laying around the shop already. I photographed the entire process at the time but a PC meltdown last year lost a bunch of my album. For a 'fat fendered' car the extra bulk of the upper mount structure wasn't a problem, but for your car both space required and the appearance certainly would be considerations. In my opinion, your basic idea is sound from a functional standpoint, but may not be as practical in your specific application for the reasons stated.. Ray
welcome to the hamb with your first post here. What a nice old time car build style, especially with the smaller headlights and straight spreader bar, that we don't see often enough. .
Maybe ditch the mono leave and play around with a regular or Posies spring ; bet you will be able to improve the ride a bunch when you get it dialed in.
Brother, that chopped top 3 window just looks way to bad *** to have anything but a dropped axle in it, in my old Roadster I had a Posie spring with ****ons in front and a four leaf I had made that also had ****ons in the rear and it and it didn't ride bad at all, just work with it a little. Car looks KILLER.
Be aware that a 32 leaf spring can be tuned up to ride very nicely, and a Mustang II isn't a sure thing in the ride department. My 32 Tudor has a dropped I-beam with a stock spring, with reversed eyes and a couple leaves removed. It rides as nicely as the 39 Chevy I had years ago with a MII front suspension. Like said above, ditch the mono leaf spring and buy the correct width leaf spring for your particular axle. Then you can add/remove leaves to get the stance and bounce that you want and/or can live with.
Thank you everyone for your input and kind words! I was thinking the same thing about having to beef up the shock mounts to support the weight of the entire front end of the car. I will most likely just use the springs that come with the new chrome I beam and 4 bar kit. Is there any real difference in ride quality between a monoleaf spring vs a standard multi-spring? We have coil overs in the rear over our old 10" 12 bolt heavy duty Winters quick change. The shocks have adjustable dampening rates so it rides pretty well. I guess we are just looking for the best ride quality up front when we do the I beam swap. Thanks again!
Deucecoop....just remember,you have a *****in 32.not a new Cadillac....don't try to make your coupe ride like the Cadillac
^^^^^ the stock or aftermarket multi leaf spring is very tunable with a mono leaf you are pretty much stuck with what you got. if you believe that coil overs area must have then you will need a pan hard bar along with your 4 link and beefed up shock towers.
I'm not trying to turn it into something it's not... I'm not feeling this out on the hopes of changing it into a Cadillac like ride... just searching for the best of what I have to work with. It was just an idea I had, but I know it will be easier and make more sense to go the traditional route. And now that I am sticking with the leaf spring, i was just trying to get opinions on which is better, monoleaf or multileaf.
I prefer to work with a multi leaf and ride wise if a new spring is in the works you really cannot beat a posies super slide.
Check Detroit Eaton website , lots of spring info & been around long time. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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