Hey fellas, I was just wondering how to lower a 1955 Ford in a period correct (aka cheap ) way. I'm looking to get about 3 inches of low.
Cut the springs up front and blocks out back.......although they would have just torched the springs till it was as low as they wanted...others are gonna chime in and say Aerostar springs.
Thanks for that. Looks like I'll have to get the 'ol hacksaw out, since Aerostar springs'd be pretty scarce down here, haha.
I believe the best and most economical way is a set of Ford Aerostar mini van coil springs up front and lowering blocks in the rear. HRP
Thanks HRP, but I just looked into a pair. $400AUD just to get a $42 pair of springs shipped to Australia? Sheez, you Americans have all the luck!
The problem with hacking/torching coil springs is it increases the spring rate; go too much (and I'd say 1/2 a coil is max) and the spring get too stiff. Now the vehicle rides like an unloaded lumber truck.... If you can't find some Aerostar springs, maybe somebody can get you the uninstalled height, number of coils, and wire diameter of them. That may be enough info to make some breaker yard searches worth while. There's still some that try cutting/torching springs, it didn't work well then or now....
Aussie eBay isn't much better. $250 dollars is a lotta dough for a 19 year old Auto-Electrician, especially since I'm from a rural area, so there's added postage.
One lo-buck 'back in the day' way to pick up a bit over an inch is to unbolt the lower ball joint, get some longer bolts (with some fabbed spacers to take the ball joints place), and bolt the joint back in on top of the lower a-arm rather than 'inside' it. Make sure you support the lower arm with the car weight on it while you do this, and use top-grade hardware... This and about a 1/2 coil cut off will get you close.
I've experienced the "unloaded lumber truck" ride in a late 80's Ford Falcon with cut springs, it was fairly uncomfortable. But at the same time, it was a fairly common modification to 50's Holdens to stop them from rolling over around tight corners, and even with cut coils, the ride is still quite soft.
The really cheap way (but probably not highly recommended) is to fill the trunk with bags of sand. Want to go lower, put in more sand. Just stop putting sand in before axle hits the bump stops. Not helpful, I know, just to give you a laugh.
Yep....when in doubt......and short on cash....cut it. No torch though......if you can help it. Can always wrap the hell out of it with wet rags, but I would wear thru 30 hack saw blades before I did that. Someone can high speed disc cut without a problem.
Hi, I dropped my 56 merc 3 inches by cutting 1.5 coils out of the front. If you have the stock blocks in the back, you can't just remove them. Reverse the rear spring shackle works nicely. As for Aerostar springs, they are not heavy duty enough and you will be slamming them control arms into the frame. Mine hits the frame only on very large imperfections on the road, just remember to turn into parking lots slowly! Good luck
Cut some 1" square tubing and bolt it to the bottom of the lower A arms. Knock the rivets out of the spring pocket and replace them with bolts and nuts that extend through the tubing you will install. Place the spring pocket below the tubing. This will lower your spring pocket and drop the front @ 2.5". You will still have control of the car as the spring is not weakened. If that is not low enough, cut 1/4" of a coil. Get some 2" aluminum bar for the rear, or 2" rectangular tubing for rear blocks. (Or whatever size you want to lower the rear.) You will need longer U bolts, perhaps from a truck over there with a 3" diameter housing or have some U bolts fabbed at a spring shop. Don't torch the springs you will just ruin them and your car will not drive well after that and you will not want to drive it. If you cut too much off the spring, it won't work as a spring anymore as it will just bottom out.
My first car back in 1960 was a '55 ford Fairlane. In high school with no money I used 3" lowering blocks , plus front spring clamps- 2 long J bolts on each front spring tightened down. Had to drill 2 holes on each lower control arm. I remember every once in a while they would pop off if you hit a big bump- lol. You said cheap.
Traditional for me in the '50's was to set a blow torch on a 4x4 and aim it at the front spring. Come back in 15 minutes and move it to the other side. Pretty hard to reverse this procedure though.
This do you better price wise? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Moog-CC8...ccessories&fits=Make:Ford&hash=item486e9a5324
reverse the rear leaf springs eyes, that'll gain an inch, then using a vice and clamps carefully remove the lowest leaf spring and flip it over on to the top. Watch out this can be dangerous so if it's not secure and unrestrained they can fly out, when your bolting them back together. That'll gain a few extra inches, don't know which state you are in but lowering blocks are mostly banned these days in Australia. Most guys I know weld some made up steel blocks to the diff and run longer U-Bolts. But that might still need to be engineered.
I did the 1" bar stock on the lower A-arm before Aerostars were around. Never had any problems. I now run aerostar springs. The reason I switched was I needed springs anyway. Blocks in the back is a no brainer. Back in those days I was just trying to lower my ride. There wasn't web-sites and magazines and "traditional" enough was not part of my thought process.
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