Is anyone running 2” or longer dog bone spring shackles on the rear on their car ?? My 1936 Ford has a Posies Low reverse eye drop spring on top of the banjo rear. I want to get the back 2” lower and have seen these extended length shackles sold by SoCal speed shop. Anyone have some pics or info about how they affect the ride and handling?? Thanks ! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It'll ride the same, put them on and go. They're easy to make from strap steel drill the holes and square them up with a square file.
Long shackles was the way it was done "back in the day", however, the main reason that they were the common means to lower an early Ford was that they were cheap and easy to come by. The long shackles really effect the handling of the car, creating major body sway. A cheap effective way to lower the car is to heat the springs a few inches in from the spring end. The smart way to do that is to use a pair of jack stands set at the height you want the car, then heat the spring with an acetylene torch. We use to torch the springs under cars all the time in the late '40's, '50's My '36 Ford coupe was a tail dragger in the early '50's, got tired of it bottoming out on bumps so I raised it back up.
Have you considered making your own shackles? Made these 40 years ago. Still working. Reversed eye springs usually lower a car 1 inch so you might also consider removing one of your Posie leafs.
If the '36 shown in your Avatar is the car you are referring to, upon reviewing the pix I noted that the car appears to be sitting quite high in the rear. Was the pix taken before or after the Posie rear springs were installed? I have a '48 Columbia under the rear of my car with a stock '48 spring and '48 shackles which are about one inch longer than the stock '36 shackles. My front axle is a '41 that has been dropped 2" I have attached three pix of my car, one taken in '61, another taken in '60 and the last taken in '08. The three pix show the '36 in some of it's many styles, however, the suspension has always been the same. Note the front axle is not bent as it appears in the '60 pix, for some reasons the pix distorted when it was copied.
First off let me say that you having that beautiful car for for all these years is beyond amazing to me. Total respect for the people in this hobby from its beginning. Just like Rock and roll , real Hot Rods or anything else. True pioneers are only made once. Most of use are just trying to copy things done better by guys with no money ,tools or resources 50+ years ago. My car is under construction. We have installed a Posies in the dirt front end kit and the reverse eye low spring out back. I also plan to install some 235/75/15 tires on the back. Currently they are 205/70/15’s all around. Here are some before and after pics Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This is how I would lower the car if it were mine. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-progress-report-rear-crossmember-for-32-frame.5920/ You could also use this x member if you box the rear frame section where it attaches. Might make it too low and have to alter or go back to stock rear spring. https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAMPED-RE...ash=item41b7b8795b:g:mW0AAOSwo4pYKRbr&vxp=mtr
front looks great. if you want the rear lower, you could pancake the rear crossmember, so stock spring/shackles etc. Longer shackles are fine, but you will probably need a panhard bar to restrict sidways movement. Heres some pics of a fabbed one I saw on a 40 coupe, worked well apparently. If you want cheap, remove a few springs. You could also swap the main leaf for a reversed eye spring, might give 1 inch, another way is to have your main spring reversed and made shorter, so you have to spread the spring more to fit it, so flatter spring, more drop, but you have the Posie spring, so probably dont want to do that. A friend ofmine put a posie spring on the back of his 40, replacing the stock spring, hoping to drop it an inch over the tired stocker, but it actually raised it an inch. Shackles and panhard, pancake the cossmember, or loose a few leaves. Coupe's looking good.
Neilswheels, Do you have any additional photos of the bracket that attaches to the rear spring clamp. This looks like an interesting setup; one I would be interested in duplicating.
If you have not driven the car with the new springs, be careful as they will settle some. The long shackles will work but you will need a panard rod to control the side sway.
I took a few leaves out of my stock spring and used a set of Vern Tardell lowering shackles on my 40. It works but definitely added some body roll to the car. I bought a Posies rear lowering spring which I will install in the not so distant future
I'm shocked your car sits so high with a Posies spring. I put a Posies spring in my 40 Ford and used stock shackles. It was plenty low! Any lower and I would have needed to c-notch the frame. Perhaps my spring was modified because I bought it used... I've not seen a 'from the factory' Posies spring to compare it to.
I just installed a rear posies with a later shackle and it doesn’t seem like it lowered it enough. It’s supposed to be at least 3 inches but I don’t see it. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
