I have heard of several people lowering their Chevys WITHOUT doin a Mustang 2 in the front.The lowest part of the front seems to be the front of the idler arm. Who has relocated or raised theirs or built a skid plate to cover it. If I raise mine I will have to notch my oil pan, but what will that do to my steering geometry etc? I should have taken a better pic of the front of the idler arm where it mounts instead of the back.
I've had friends with some damned low 49/54 Chevys with the stock crossmember and steering but don't think they did anything with them. Laying frame wasn't something that was done deliberately then though. That usually meant you had a flat. You might check around the Corvette trinket vendors and see if there is a modified steering setup for the early Corvettes that used the same setup.
I don't know for sure but I know it will change geometry. To keep same geometry you would at the very least raise the wheel side (outboard) tie rod end the same amount as you raised the pitman arm, I don't think you have an idler arm. Pat
There's no need to to raise the idler arm... Based on 17/18 years, 35,000+ miles of driving, here's the setup I've used on our '54. Jamco 3" drop coil springs, Jamco short gas shocks, Buffalo's 2.5" dropped spindles, his dropped steering arms and Just Suspension short travel stops. This places the fender opening about 1.5/2.0" above the wheel rim top edge. With these springs it rarely bottoms out and with those stops it's soft rebound. Have scraped the the bottom of the crossmember a few times, never the idler arm... dyno dave
Dyno Dave has a good recipe for a low ride, although they're not really called dropped spindles, but dropped "uprights" with this GM suspension type. The stock spindles pivot on the uprights, while the uprights swing off the upper and lower control arms. Anyway, I had a very close setup to his on my 54, but used Fatman's 2,5" dropped uprights and their dropped steering arms instead of Buffalo's, then cut 1 1/2 coils off the original springs. Left the idler arm stock. Worked great (still working great) and is pretty low! And yes, you will scrape the cross member, occasionally....or more often, if you don't pay attention.
Thanks guys, my 50 will be on airide. Not interested in "laying frame" but will sit my ride height pretty damn low. My car sits up like a lumber wagon at the moment
My Grandparents had a 54 tudor sedan from 54 to 61 and I loved riding in that car. Yours is flat beautiful.
Firstly, I wouldn't worry about geometry on 49-54 steering [it was shit from the factory] You will never eliminate bump steer with centre pivoting long tie-rods and shorter A-arms [they both move on different arcs] Try heating and bending up the Steering Arms and the Third Arm the same amount. Or machine up tapered plugs and weld them in place. Then re-drill the tapered hole so the tie-rods mount from the top side
As it is now it drives great. Not looking to correct a bump steer problem because I dont have one. My concern was the front of the idler arm hitting something in the road etc and causing me issues.the front mou ting point u der the frame will be super low
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