I am building my first Model A and I want an aggressive stance. The car will not have fenders and I want to use split wishbones. I want to get the car low in the front and I was thinking a 5 inch dropped axle would be the best for this. How much trouble will it cause with the geometry if I use the 5 inch drop and will the wishbones have to be modified to achieve the correct angle? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Do you have a pic of the stance you like? There are plenty of cars running Magnum axles, which are 5" drop. I've seen bones mounted anywhere from through the frame rail to a mount beneath the rail.
I attached a picture of the stance that I would like. I found the picture on here but I don't remember who it was.
Good news! I know that build! It's @billthx138 's build although I am not sure if he has it anymore. I don't believe his drop is that heavy in the front, meaning it's less than 5". Here's the thread.
Also because your messing with drop via the drop of the axle and not springs your wish bones won't be any different than if it were a stock axle. What you would be running into is not being able to drop your stock steering arms enough to clear. They do make bolt on steering arms that you attach after cutting the stock ones off but a lot of people don't seem to like that idea.
Yeah I was wondering if I could achieve a good rake with a 4 inch drop, C notching the frame, using a super low spring, 30 inch tires in the rear and maybe some 25 inch tires in the front? Also, would I be better of using a 32 crossmember or the Model A crossmember? I appreciate all the input, I know there is alot of experience on here. By the way I am using 32 rails.
model A cross member,@ 6-7 degrees,, reversed main leaf, shorten the second leaf, c notch the frame, tires wheels appropriate size: check with the ones you like, a million model A coupes here and in magazines, google Model A's Run Forest, Run
Hey there are several ways to acheave what you want. But you should take a look at the Dennis lacy build, that epic. He runs a non dropped stock front end. And it's still low You could run suiside front end and get it very low. But I would claim with a five inch dropped axle you could get pretty low with un split bones and a flatter spring. But if this should work it needs hydraulic brakes and some very modified steering arms. But do'able, maybe a cowl steerer would aid in the work of getting a flay steering arm and avoid bump steer.
^^^^^It is also parked on a hill with the rear tires on the flat at the top of the hill and the fronts sitting below the rears. A drop axle is not a real problem when it comes to steering geometry. it just moved the king pins higher in relation to the original. Where you run into the real problem is getting your tie rod to clear other suspension components.
5.9" drop as measured top of kingpin land to perch mount land. It's an old Mordrop with deuce spindles and 42 brakes. Tie rod goes over wishbones. Lots of red wrench work on the steering arms.
32 rails climb 5/8" from the flat area in the center (at about the door post) to the front cross member. Hard to see that in a picture like that.
That coupe pic has a radical rake and it looks great....the problem with a 5" dropped axle might be ending up with the oil pan too close to ground. You might be better off with a 4" dropped axle, and running 18" wheels to get the desired rake. If you plan on driving a lot, it can be a real pain if the oil pan is lower than speed bumps and stuff.
Thanks so much for your help. I think I'm just gonna stick with the 4 inch drop, c notch and use a low spring. With all the steering issues it could cause I think this might be the safest route.
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