I'm asking for a buddy. He has a 63 Econoline Van, and wants to lower it. Alot I guess. Anyone have experience or knowledge of this? He mentioned a 4" drop axle up front may be an option... I don't know, I've never owned one, or seen one done, in person. I saw that gold one posted here last week. It was cool. but seems the builder said he clipped it front and rear. Anyway, If you have anything to add, feel free. Pics would be cool too. he wants it done before Detroit Cobo Hall if possible. Thanks
Wow. I have removed leafs from mine to set it down and experience tire rub. 4" can be done I think, but he may have to modify the fenderwells.
He might need to raise his front fender wells like Spooky said. I know on a VW bus you have to in order to get pretty low.
I got a '64 as a daily and from what I've researched, MAJOR chassis modifications are needed to drastically lower these. Mine hits the bumpstop sometimes at stock height. Unibody construction doesnt help matters either.
MAS, they advertise in Street Roddwr would have the axle. I MII would be another option but more money than he would probibly want to go. I would go with the MAS axle the fine tune by removing leaves.
Let the air out of the tires..... Sorry, couldn't resist..... I have a 66 and I want to raise it up in the front...
I don't know how much he's looking to drop it, but he should be able to get an inch or two by changing the spring eyes. Seems I saw a tech thread on that a day or so ago. Can't tell you if there will be any interference issues as my son's '63 is more gasser style and has plenty of clearance.
Lowering one of these can be done, like others have said with major mods, major, big time pain in the ass. The rear axel is below the leaf spring, you could flip it to the other side but that would drop it a bit, perhaps too much. The front is the same kind of hell, these things don't lower easy, it's not going to be some bolt-on kind of deal. The easiest way is the de-arch the leafs or bend the eyes back to give it a lower stance. If you do this you may need to alter your drive shaft and an alignment for the front end for sure. I've thought about lowering my econiline (63 as well) but it's a pain, the stance is cool normal. Also keep in mind the 61-63 front ends are different than the later years of this van.
61-67 front ends are basically the same, BUT the 61-64 crossmembers are totally different. A friend of mine tried to lower his with a tubular drop axle (Model A, I think) it worked, but he had to completely rework the steering and drop the sway bar. He said it drove like absolute crap... and honestly, didn't look that much lower. The rear end can't be lowered too much without reworking the rear frame be severely c-notching it, which also means notching the bed for the pumpkin. It can be done, and done well, but it involves some major fabrication
If ya go om the vintAGE-Van web page there is a guy doing droped axles there..........Ive thought about a mustang 2 under the dodge A-100
I'm dealing with the same issues on my 63. It'll take a ton of work to get low. I'm planning on having the front axle dropped, pulling leafs in the front, and lifts and a c-notch in the back, big words, but easier said than done... I'll post pics if it ever happens. I've also got motor clearance issues... what a pain in the ass. Good luck. The gold one that you speak of was built by the pinstriper/painter E-Dog, it has a custom-made dropped axle up front with a 4-link, and a huge c-notch and 4-link in the back with airbags all around, if I remember correctly.
Tire clearance ,and turning is the problem when lowering the front.They don't have very big fenderwells up front. The rear is easy, axle on top of the springs.Plenty of fenderwell in the rear.
Here's a mess of econo pics, notice that very few of them are lowered? http://www.showtrux.com/showvans/earlies/ford/gallery/index.htm
i picked up a 66 van a few weeks ago, after looking it over and trying on the new tires and wheels, i surprised myself...realized this is the very first vehicle i've owned that i don't feel the need to obsess over trying to get as low as possible! amazing. i don't feel like banging my head against the wall to lower it, and still have half a foot of clearance. it WOULD be fun, if i didn't have a bunch of more important projects on other cars, to do one from scratch, laid on the deck.
I realized one nice thing about these vans is that I've spent the last few weeks under my van... and never had to put it on jack stands! It sits high enough at stock height that I can crawl under it with ease.
You must be skinny, my fat ass can't squeeze under my 63 even if I greased up . The 302/C4 did squish it down a bit up front though. I haven't done it yet but I think a "slight" lowering is possible without too much trouble. I'm hoping to place some 17 inch Murano spare steel wheels on there and then bring it back to about stock hight. It should ride and handle pretty good when combined with the poly bushings.
that would make steering even more difficult. These things came with 13" or 14" wheels stock (depending on the model). A little lowering in front will be OK with stock wheels, but too much and you'll rub a lot. I can't see how lowered with 17s would work.
what about doing a mustang 2 set-up/abody try this??? on a econo or maybe a A series dodge?? that would seem to drop. it not sure about tires tho
Why would you buy and old straight axle van and put in IFS? That's like buying a Model A and putting in a LT1, A/C, air bags, IFS, etc. Anyway, these things have FRONT steering and not much room in the wheel wells up front, so I'm not sure it would work without serious fabrication... and then you still wouldn't be able to turn. Keep in mind that, while there is more room in the rear wheel wells, the frame goes STRAIGHT across, so any lowering in the rear will require c-notching the frame (and bed) or your rear end will be smacking the frame on every bump
At the pumpkin run this year there was an extremely dropped Econoline on 17's. I think it may have run airride. I was looking through my pics of the show, but I guess didn't take any of it. It was for sale. Sorry no details on how it was lowered. Guess I'm just useless sorry. Like Hellfish said it can be done, but expect major fab work.
Was it a white, chopped van? There was a guy from KY or TN at the Cinematic with one. He said it rode like utter crap and was scary on the highway. In fact, the first thing he did when he got to the show was change the wheels to smaller ones so he could steer. I forget how he lowered the front (i took pics underneath), but he c-notched the frame and added a huge hump in the bed to lower the rear
Yeah that was an early ford. I got no pics or info on it but it was different. I had an early chevy a couple years ago. Decided to go w the 70s surf theme instead. Lowering looked like a hassle. But there a blast to drive! The looks you get are priceless. later,Bill
nice lookin van, nice chop too. but damn, it ain't even low! while working on mine, i had it sitting on the brake drums to reach the roof for paintwork, that's about how high it sat off the ground. i did a little measuring while it was like that, up front you could get tires to fit pretty easy, even tucked up high in the wheelwells, provided you ran as much backspacing as possible, or got in there and cut out those humps that are towards the outside of the wheelwells.
my 65' runs great and stopping sucks! in the past i helped a guy try and lower his and after messing with it for way longer than we should have ended up getting another front end to replace the one we fucked up! tire rub is a major issue and if you attempt to raise the wheelwells you will not be happy with the results.
Hellfish, I think that was it. The wheels look the same, but it was primed flat black at the pumpkin run.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/oldeconolines/msearch?query=lowering&charset=windows-1252 Try these yahoo group threads on lowering....
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