Hi, I am just about to rebuild the front end of my 1955 chevy with all new bushings and ball joints and since it is all going to be apart I was thinking of looking at installing some new springs and shocks. The old springs are definitely longer than stock ones and have been in there a long time and the passenger spring is actually starting to sag a little. The front shocks are pretty crappy looking too and currently there are no ball joint spacers I wanted to get an idea of what some of the other members have used in the past so that I can maintain the nose high stance. Putting a straight axle in this car is not an option because I am trying to preserve the history of this car because it is an original documented survivor from the 60s and we already know that not all of these cars had straight axles thrown under them. I knew this day would come. I remember that when I tracked down the original owner he had long forgotten what the springs were out of. He was nearly 75 years old lololol! So I am looking at what some of you have done and your set ups in your tri-five cars. The front end doesn't have to be sky high because the car was really never like that but I am considering balljoint spacers so I can sneek in a longer spring in to get a couple extra inches even. Part numbers, descriptions and pictures are much appreciated Thanks Jay
don't use those wedges as they will break the spring use a/c spring instead as for springs how stiff is your frt end you can use drag springs and cut to length or spring from a heavier car with a/c option newer cars have different rt and left springs right from the factory so buy two from the same side. if you like your ride try to find something with the same wire size, bigger stiffer smaller softer for the same length and # of coils. you could also look a oval track catalogue for street stock springs
can you post the overall diameter, free hieght, number of coils, and wire diameter? I might be able to tell you what they were originally from, and an old Sealed Power part number that would at least get you a good start.
Not a bad idea George but the springs are still in the car for now. I really don't want to start tearing it down because we still have a few more months (hopefully) of good weather here. What I am looking for is ordering the parts before I pull it all apart. Like I said part numbers and personal experience is what I am looking for. Jay
Option: Price a pair from company like Eaton. They have all specifications of stock parts, then have a set custom wound 2-2 1/2" taller (roughly 1 wrap of coil) than stock.
1964 wagon (348/409 air)HD spring comes to mind. and or go here to read this .-----> http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=800937
Thanks Henryj! Some ideas here are good. Seems that the guy was building something a little to high for my liking. Jay
I used a set of the '64 409 springs in a '55 I once had. They did the job. Show-cars.com has 3 different sets for around $84 a pr.
Caveman! Thanks for chiming in. Couple questions for ya man. Did the car ride super hard after? Was it hard to aling the car? Did you have to cut any of the coils? Did you use ball joint spacers? Thanks Man Jay
It was quite popular to use springs for an air conditioned station wagon to raise the sedans up back then. That usually got the car up just high enough but not up in the silly looking range. Being as most of the guys only had one street driven car in those days their jacked up 55 tudor still had to be drivable in day to day driving. You might look for a tag with a number on it on one of the springs out of the car too as they may be stock but taller springs.
Jay, the car had an '09r in it, so it didn't ride too bad, I bought a set of ball joint extenders but never used them, I still have them in a drawer somewhere out there. The alignment was close, and good enuff for a young guy. The fun part was when the pedal was mashed, the frt would lift nicely. It looked fast, even if it wasn't. BTW, I have never seen another set of ball joint extenders like the ones I have. They went between the joint and the spindle, not above the joint.
It would be cool to dig those out man if you still have them. I would love to see those extenders. Jay
http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=26001 http://www.afcoracing.com/springs_conv.html http://www.summitracing.com/int/sea.../part-type/coil-spring-spacers/make/chevrolet here are some links they are not highlighted so you might have to copy and paste you can also look up BRP in St. Catherine Ont talk to Larry
Thanks for the links man. I am really surprised that I haven't had a lot of people chime in set-ups that worked for them? Hmmm? Jay
Extenders..... [img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/824/y1gh.jpg] [img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/716/7wn3.jpg] [img=http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/854/anf0.jpg]
Hey man thanks for the pics! Those look pretty cool. I have never seen anything like that before? Where did you get those? I am thinking that they wouldn't change the ride height? Am I right? Jay
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