I have a 34 Ford 3 window coupe with a TCI chassis that I want to lower the front suspension. It has a 4"drop axle which I have about 2" of clearance between the tube axle and the center spring clamp, which has been fine for street driving. What are my options? Does anyone make drop spindles for a dropped axle?
Already done the reverse eye on a mono spring. Presently have about 1.5" between the spring and frame. I would like to get 2 inches lower?
You could go with a 5" drop axle, but that would only get you one inch lower. I think the only other option would be to flatten the front cross member, but that would require modifications to the radiator. What size are your front tires? Would changing to a shorter tire help? Dave
The reason I want to lower the front end is to run shorter tires. Presently they are 27 inches and tuck nicely. I want to go down to 23"-25". The 5" axle would get me there with a 25" tire and appears to a reasonable option as I could likely get another 1/2" out of the spring and even go with a 24. Any downside? Any opinions on how short a tire I should go (looks). I will be running a 255/70/16 rear tire, with the front wheel being 16" also.
Let's see some pictures of what you're talking about but also remember you don't want anything below your scrub line Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thx, nice to here opinions on front tire height looks. The 5" drop axle looks like it would work and still give me a scrub line. The biggest issue I see is the spring clamp to axle distance. It is fine now at 2", but if I wanted to lower it more than the 5" drop axle gives me it could be an issue. I see there are clamp elminators out there that may help a little. 3030 mentioned "Flat front crossmember". What is that?
Currently your crossmember dips down in a shallow U. Flatten it out so it's more like a _. Not a bolt-on mod and will involve adjusting lots of other things as well.
No such animal that I know of. Is your car a highboy? Or does it run fenders? If it has fenders, you will likely begin to rub the fenders before you could get it as low as you intend. Ive been running my sedan for a long time and its about as low as you can get a fendered car and still drive it at speed...safely. It has a 4" dropped axle from Chassis Engineering with a Posies reversed spring (with 2 leaves removed). I plan to replace this spring with a Posies Super Low reversed spring because I would like to gain another 1/2" to 1" myself...that is if I can ever bring myself to stop driving it long enough to tear into it. I would start with the 5" axle, then play with springs. While I'm not a fan of the mono leaf (because I had one break doing 80+ mph late one night...and that knucklehead spring company owner still wants to argue that his springs dont break...I can send you pics to prove it like I did to him...but he still didnt stand behind his "lifetime guarantee"...anyway, I'm getting off track). Next, you then could install a Model A crossmember (like mentioned from the earlier posts which is flatter than the '34) to raise the spring mount upward (thus lowering the ride height), the 5" axle will certainly be a step in the right direction. My sedan runs the Michelin XZX 145/70/15 which I believe is about 24.5" tall. I have bought the 135 versions which I think are about another 1/2" shorter to replace them with. Together with the new spring...it should make me pucker at the sight of anything taller than a doodlebug on the roadway. Let me know if I can provide additional information.
This my unit. My wheels are 16". It is looking like the 5" drop axle would be the way to go. A 24-25" tire would make it easier. It is great to see your examples. I am running a mono spring I installed last year. It is strange though, as I had to install with no spacers above the spring to get this ride height.
If you've got a mono spring, and it's all the way up in the crossmember, do you have a big stack of spacers underneath? If so, maybe you can fab up a different type of clamp that doesn't need those spring spacers. Then you would have more clearance between the axle and clamps. Your front tires look tall. I think a shorter tire and one of those 5" axles would be the perfect combo for your car. You will probably need to lower the rear a bit as well when the front gets super low.
Shorter tire will drop you and inch or more. You mentioned it has a "TCI chassis". I'm asuming it has a TCI front crossmember which is 1" dropped over stock. Flattening the crossmember further will present radiator clearance issues. I'd be wondering about how 'dropped' your mono spring is prior to investing in a 5" axle, which may present steering arm and scrub line issues when coupled with shorter height tires. I'm running stock 34 frame, TCI (dropped) crossmember, Posies low spring (with notched rails) 14" rims, and a 4" dropped I beam. Pic in my avatar has only a short block, now fluids, etc.
The tire to fender "fit" would stay the same with a 4" axle / 27" tire and a 5" axle 25" tire, which is what I think is his primary concern. Overall, the front would wind up being 2" lower (1" from axle, 1" from tire). I'd go the flattened crossmember route. Too deep of a drop on the axle with too short of a tire will start to raise scrub-line concerns.
My plan is to lower the front end and use a 24-25" tire. 5" drop axle and a little less spring should get me close. Modifying the cross member I will hold in reserve. I would like to drop the rear of the car 2" also. To do this requires modifying the rear half of the (stock) floor for clearance, notching the frame for the axle. Also narrowing the rear axle for the wider wheels I want. What kind of clearances do you guys have 1)front axle to spring clamp 2)spring to frame 3)tire to fender? Presently I have 1)2" 2)1.5" 3) 1.25" I drive my car a lot and have not had issues at this ride height?
Done new look. Replaced floor, mod. frame, 5" drop axle, wider rear wheels and new tires. Thx for your advise.
It looks Rodzy! I was wondering about the mono leaf, If it were a Durant mono it should have come with little metal plates-(shims). Sometimes they go on top of the spring and others top/bottom and depending on what exactly you're looking for in spring height some totally on the bottom, but it runs the risk of bottoming out on the axle/x-member bolt plate as spring to bolt plate decreases, but it has been done successfully. Drops it quite a bit =1 & 3/4". Years ago, Rollie @ Hollywood Spring & Axle would set a spring up for the height desired, That man was a wizard, That's why all the sprint car guys, P-Wood, Jake and everybody else used him for axle work. Looks like you did a kool drop with the wheel/tire set up. Great looking Model 40!!!!!
I ended up using my old chrome multi leaf spring to get to this ride height. One of the frame mods I did was to relief the frame above the spring. I have a couple of inches of compression which so far seems plenty.
Got the car lowered and a new interior, but have been dreaming of installing a Boss 429 (520) engine. My car has a hot rod small block firewall which would have to be modified. I really like what flatheadpete did with his. Not sure if I could keep my under floor pedals? Other than welding in new motor mounts can you think of any other show stoppers?