Technical My AV8 is to low in the front, help me!

In the home stretch of my AV8 build and I’m noticing the the front is just to low. If I remember correctly The factory 10 leaf Spring was taken apart, cleaned, greased, new bushings and reinstalled in my okie joe dropped model a front axle. I’m running 6.00s in the front and the tires hit the fender brackets. I was wondering who sells a quality replacement front spring. I’m not looking for a reverse eye or any spring tires lower it more than it is. Do I just go with Macs or Snyder’s?

 

Your car is not too low. Your tires are too big. Go to Cokers web sight and look at tire dimensions. Firestone 600-16"s are 28.5 inches tall. 500/525 Firestones are 26.5", and 450/475 are 26.2" tall. Put a snubber between the axle and the frame, and add one spring leaf if you have to. You'll be fine..

 

if the the spring is giving you the ride you like, and your shackles are sitting at the correct angle, you could just add a shim on top of the spring. or, add another leaf to the pack if the ride is too soft

 

If you decide on a new spring, Posie's make springs with Teflon buttons in a stock height.
http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/super_slide_springs/

 

I sell a brand new 10 leaf spring. You can order one thru Millworks Hot Rod. However, smaller tires will likely fix the situation

 

I had the same problem with my avatar, had a 4" dropped axle and 5:50 16's and always rubbed at full turn and sometimes when I hit a dip. Had a super slide spring and wasn't happy with it, never rode good. A lot of dropped axles are narrower than stock, on the coupe I'm building now I went with a 4" dropped tube axle for the extra width.

 

I like the way it sits, I'd put smaller front tires on it. If you raise the front it's probably going to be higher in the front than it is in the back, as it seems to sit pretty level now.

 

When we were kids, we discovered that Volkswagen Bug spare tires weren't bolted down. All you had to do was pop the hood (trunk) and run off with a brand new tire, and useless rim. The tires were 5.60-15 and were 26 inches tall. Every hot rod in my area had those tires on the front of the car.
There is nothing new about real Hot Rods. Often we can learn from the past....

 

That thing sits perfect! Add a smaller tire and if you have to, tweak the fender bracket

 

But it looks so cool. . . . !!!

 

I’ll probably play with some leaf or two, The tires are in great shape. Thanks guys!

 

Playing with it tonight I thought about how I had to loosen the fender brackets to pull them into the headlight bar, I pulled the fender bolt out of the LF fender in the out side and the fender jumped up 1/2”. I may loosen the pass side fender mount (cast style) and tighten the driver side more first then tighten up the pass side. How would one bend these? I imagine heat but even off the car it would be hard to get it right in the money for that small bolt to line up with both the fender and the bracket. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

well...i would take the fenders off, make a piece of metal that you could vise grip on the axle, or bolts on the spindle, what ever, to indicate where the hole should be, or where it was, take your pick, just so you have a reference point. next, i would weld up a piece that bolts to the bottom bolt of the fender bracket, and under and across to the other fender bracket to keep the frame from moving, and then pull the fender brackets in with a comealong. try it cold, heat if you have to. but my point is you need a reference point, and you dont want the frame rails to move and goof up you measurements. you could even make a cardboard template to make sure both sides are the same. just my thoughts, good luck

 

You could put a washer between the frame and the fender support bracket on the lower hole easy and no taking the fenders and brackets off

 

550x16 fronts 750x16 rears, with a 4" dropped axle: no rubbing

 

possibly sagging after 90 odd years of use. Measure the arch as a starting point.
If not, replace your dropped axle with a straight axle.

Smaller wheels will possibly stop the clearance issues with the guards, but will effectively make the car lower, which is the original problem.

 

Here are some pics of my front spring/shackles, Doesn’t look like I have a lot of travel, hence why I thought I need a new spring

 

Here we go

 

By the look of those shackles you need a shorter spring.You dont have any real spring travel.Just looked at the opposite side photo.Could be the spring has settled on the one side.Re-arching may help,or a new spring.

 

Btw you can’t heat and bend cast iron.

 

That spring doesn't look like it has a lot of arch, therefor little change in length when it articulates. Look at the ends of the spring and where it would hit the perch bolt. If it is hitting you will see the marks. A couple of dabs of paint could make it more visible. Maybe the tires hitting could be keeping the spring from flattening all the way. The difference in spring arch that we see in the pictures might just be camera angle.

The reason he wants to raise the car is to gain tire clearance. A smaller tire will get him that clearance and a spacer between the spring and the frame will retain the desired stance. Both of which will buy tire clearance.

 

I didn’t know that, thanks! I think I need a new spring, I’m gonna order one, get it installed and go from there. Not sure about the fender bracket.... for what it’s worth before the build when I got it it had stamped braces that were cut off right after the 2 headlight bar bolts. I bought these cast ones off eBay

 

they are not cast iron, they are forged steel. heat, bend, weld, what ever you want

 

Yep, everyone calls them "cast" fender braces but they are really forged.

 

My '34 was too low. I just got a few inches of 1" x 2" flat bar, drilled a hole in it and added it to the top of the spring.

 

You could try a shorter main leaf.
Paul in CT

 

I’m sure there is a way to “shim it up” but that wouldn’t help a tired spring correct? This is the stock spring that was in the truck before I had the axle dropped with a banger, now with the flathead it’s lost it’s arch. A shim between the crossmember and the spring isn’t gonna give me more arch to have suspension travel hence the need for a complete new spring or am I missing something

 

First off, I think it sits just about perfect the way it is.. If everything is working as it should, meaning that the spring is not bottoming out on the frame or perches and the ride quality is good then the tire size is wrong.. If your dropped axle track width is narrower then the stock axle this will bring your wheels in towards the chassis and cause interference issues. Too much front tire is the likely cause..



I would much rather bolt on a smaller wheel and tire combination up front and decide whether this is an effective solution to the problem then reworking the suspension as long as that has been done properly.. You could try wheel spacers to push the wheels back out if you think the problem is too narrow of a track width.. I’m not really a fan of running wheel spacers but for short term diagnostic purposes I think it could give some idea whether or not the spring is right and then decide what solution to perssue. This is not something I like to do but it can give you an idea of what can be manipulated to resolve the problem..

When you setup the front suspension for the current ride height, did the radius arms get reworked for 5-7 degrees of caster angle..?

 

Yea it’s at about 5-1/2 degrees negative caster. Front tires are new

 

Your photos of the shackle show the angles aren't bad, especially if the spring has settled all it's going to settle. I also believe a smaller diameter front tire would get the clearance you desire. If the truck is still too low in the front, I'd go with a spacer on top of the spring pack. I had to do this exact thing on my 34 coupe. Works just fine for me.