Aw man, if I was Kevan's neighbour he'd have to turn the hose on me to get me the heck out of his shop.
So another question, will I need to mess with the steering or add drop spindles If I do the drop axel? I read somewhere that you have to do those as well.
When those guys were saying drop spindles, they just mean dropped steering arms on the spindles. Yes, those are usually needed when used with a dropped axle. Some guys buy new bolt on arms that are already dropped, but you can also heat the stock Ford arms and bend them if you know how to properly use a torch. It's good to magnaflux after bending. This is not willy nilly stuff. You need to know the reason for the drop, where the tie rod will fit best, how much to drop to get it there, and how to keep the proper Akerman. Probably good to drop in on your experienced neighbor for advice and to actually see parts in action.
Okay so I tracked down the local guy with a 3 window coupe and asked him about lowering his. He says for the front he used a drop axle with reverse eye posey with 2 leafs taken out. What is a reverse eye posey and where can I purchase one? What else will I need to do? I've read something about the steering rods needing to be bent? Also I noticed my wheels look like they have a lazy eye so when I change out these parts what will I need to correct that, I assume all my bushings are shot. Does anyone know where I can find a front bushing kit?
That's look I'm going for too. Mine was a parts car when I got it, and someones old beat hot rod. It now has a 327, a/t (maybe 5spd later), 9", vega steering, limeworks '40 column with wheel, front disc with '37 Olds wheels.. The only mods I ever wanted to do on the outside was run no hood sides. All the parts I had already or where given or bought cheap. When I got it:
I already had a cut down 9" I bought in pieces, but think an early bronco will get you close with a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern (it's 58" wide and the stock '35 rear is 59.5").
So, I've looked around and need some wisdom. I called up Posies rod and customs for a drop axle and some revers eye springs. They mentioned that I would need to buy 37-48 ford spindles and steering arms. Why is that? Is it because they are using later axles? I don't want to have to buy extra stuff I don't need do can anyone help me out?
Your stock 35 spindles will fit on the Posie's axle (still need to drop the arms), but the choice of brakes is small or harder to adapt. The 37-48 spindles (still need to drop the arms) will take the hydraulic Ford brakes easily, as well as all the aftermarket disc kits. What kind of brakes do you want?
Hmm why did they say I need them then? Here's exactly what they said "We offer a 4” drop axle, #4004-2 (2” lower) that matches the perch boss and goes to a 48” king pin center. However, this axles is designed to use the spindles from a 37-48 Ford, not the original 35. So if you chose this axle you would need to get new spindles and steering arms." I already have hydraulic breaks and I'm just running the drums now.
If you already have hydraulic brakes, what spindles do you currently have? Are you sure? Show us a nice close pic of the spindle where the backing plate bolts on and we can tell you. I don't know why Posie's said what they said.
Looks like stock 35 spindles with 40 brakes adapted. Just pull those kingpins out and plop those spindles onto the new axle. But you will probably have to bend the arms for clearance. Search the HAMB for a tutorial on that. I know a few guys have posted them over the years.
The Jalopy Journal
