Cheap/easy ways to lower a 37 Ford pickup?

Hi, my 16 year old son wants to drop his '37 Ford pickup a bit, but he lacks funds and is also some what short on time and skill. Of course I can help him out, and he can use all my tools, but I'm not too knowledgable on this vintage Ford suspention.

What's the best place to start? The truck is all stock.

Thanks, Joel

 

Question is how much lower do you want it?

There is only so much you can do to lower these trucks without making too many mods, especially with the lack of skill, time and money, and when done, it may not be low enough.

I decide to take the extreme route, I don't money, a little skill, and boy do I have time.

good luck.

 

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Quote "I would remove the axles off....unless he wants to drive it."


Yes, he wants to drive it down the road, so it will need to have axles and tires and springs, etc. It has 16" wide 5 wheels. Is there any 15" wheels available for that wide 5 pattern?

 

I think at this point, he'll take whatever he can get done cheap. So if he can get it down 2" for $100 worth of parts, but then it would cost $300 to go another inch or more, he would stop at 2" Are there longer shackles that can be installed to lower it some?

 

I called up a guy last night who knows his early ford stuff. He suggested that we reverse the spring eyes and remove some leafs. We'll give it a try, he can do that for free using my hydraulic press to reverse the arch of the main leaf.

 

Shackles 6 in

 

Cheap Fast Safe. Pick two.

 

About 800 pounds of SakCrete. Leave it in the bags, stack it right behind the cab.
$39.50 plus tax at Home Depot.

 

x2. but remember you cant get too crazy with the stock torque tube driveline (if thats whats still in place)

 

Reverse eyes, longer shackles, and spring leaf removal are going to be your cheapest route. All can be done poorly and incorrectly.

My 38' stock engine/torque w/ a hydro brakes upgrade. 16" 6.00

Reverse eye rear w/ longer shackles.
*Spring is a posie.
*keep an angle to your shackles (stock is like 45 degrees) you don't want them straight up and down.

Front is a 3" drop axle, drop spindle arms. Stock spring.

before

after

 

Saxon, that is an awesome truck.

 

Not sure the experience you both have but be real careful if you are removing the springs yourself. Lots of pressure there.

2" lowering shackles, yes it's ebay but it's so-cals.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1932-1941-F...ar:1936|Make:Ford&hash=item3a726e7c28&vxp=mtr


Thanks B&G. Little by little.

 

Update:

Thanks for all the help, he made alot of progress today reversing the spring.

First, he got the spring out. There was one big surprise, when he started loostening the bolt that goes thru the center of the spring and the crossmember, the bolt snapped off and the spring un-sprung rather violently. Luckily, no body parts were in the way, and he now has a healthy respect for the potential danger of a spring.




Once he had the spring apart, he traced the shape of the main leaf on a peice of cardboard, then flattened it out using my press.









Then, using the cardboard as a guide, used the press to arch it the other way.



Then he had to cut the ends off the 2nd leaf to make it fit on top of the main leaf.





Here it is all assembled, with the eyes reversed and only 7 leaves instead of 12.



It seems that this will drop it at least 3", and the cost will be zero. Hopefully tomorrow, it will be all installed.

 

Sorry the pics came out too big, I'm trying to resize them

 

Nice job and for a good price. Glad no one was hurt also.

 

He got it put back together today. Now he can't wait to get the motor back in to see how low it sits!

It took a lot of prying and jacking to get the shackles lined up.



Be he got it with a bunch of help from the old man.



So that worked out great, and took a lot less time than he thought it would. Next we drop the motor in, then later tackle lowering the rear.
Bye for now, Joel

 

He can use 15" Ford pickup wheels from the 1960s and 70s if he uses 40 and newer brake drums and a Volkswagon tire on the front. This will get the front way down. I have been doing this for almost 20 years on my pickup

 

That sounds like a good idea. Will the '40 drums fit right on there?

Another guy said that some circle track cars used aftermarket 15" wide 5 wheels. Does anyone know more about where to find those?

 

The old VW Beetle tire size was 5.60X15 and may be called 155SR-15 or 165/80R-15 now. Just tell the tire store its for a 1973 Super Beetle.
Yes, your 37 drums pull off and the 40 and newer fit with no other changes. You need better brakes than the mechanical 1937 brakes and 40-48 will fit but much better is 53-56 Ford pickup brakes on the front. These accept self adjusting parts from about 1967. Now you have self energizing, self adjusting front brakes. On the rear you can use Lincoln backing plates from Wilson Welding with 71-76 Chevy shoes and self adjusters with the 40 drums but this may be a little much for a 16 year old. Maybe not

 

Those General Jumbo wheels are rare and expensive... and too wide for the front

 

He got the motor set in there today, and it dopped it down pretty good.
It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but it's a lot lower than it was.

 

Nice job and it didnt cost a bunch of money.

 

Fenders are going back on I hope.

 

Ya'll have it looking good. That will be a fun project. I'm kind of partial to 37 Ford Pickups though.

 

Looks solid

 

Sorry about all the wiseacre flack you received, it all went well and you guys obviously have a firm handle on what you're doing!

That was a good operation on that spring; but NEXT time, with reversed eyes, it would be easier to mount the main leaf to the shackles, then pilot the rest of the leaves with the long center bolt, and clamp the leaves together with 2 C clamps, securing the center bolt and trimming the excess...
Great job, you and your son.

 

Cheap and easy hmmmmm you could always take a backhoe and crush the cab down with the loader should get you down a couple more inches pritty cheap.

 

Check out the thread, Customs The Mexicali Merc, another 40 Custom in the works. It has a good how to on getting the rear down, and it's piss easy and cost nothing!

 

Same suspension....



This was done with a posies reversed-eye front spring (essentially the same as what you have now), a 4" dropped axle, & Chassis Engineering front shock kit. I didn't touch the rear. Could have reversed the eyes there, removed a leaf or two, and/or gone with longer shackles. There is NO WAY I'd ditch the 16" wide fives for 15" steelies on that truck.

The truck looks great now & looks like it sits good. If you want to go lower you're just a dropped axle away from nailing it IMHO. (Dropped axles make great Chistmas/birthday presents for a deserving young man. )

JH

 

I am glad there are some young guys interested in the old iron.I went to the swap meet in Portland and it looked like geriatric day,with lots of pain pills when we boarded the shuttle.The scene needs young blood!Keep up the good work.Remember,they need to stop as well as goooo.