I am setting up the front end on my A and have a question, I have a 26" spring but I have a 46 ford axle so the perch pins are much farther apart than that. I am running the axle suicide, is it okay to make a set of shackels that are long enough to use this spring? Theoretically it should work but I wanted to double check. Thanks
Posies makes the right spring but they don't list it in the catalog .I bought one last year. I can look up the part # if you want
The spring is behind the axle though, I am wondering if it would cause the spring to behave as though it were too soft or if it would create a major amount of roll when turning. I am going to change the spring, I am just curious what the potential issues of having a longer shackle in the front is, if any
or shorten the axel, I took an inch and a half out of my 40 axel to do a spring over. The axel is cast steel so welding it is not a problem, as long as you know how to weld. I've been beating on mine for three years with no problem.
The axle is FORGED steel, BIG difference. Couldn't do THIS if it was cast. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=359918&highlight=world+fair
The Ford suspension is designed for the spring to be in tension when mounted. That's why a spring-spreader is necessary for any pre-42 Ford spring to be installed and a Panhard bar is not necessary. With longer shackles and an untensioned spring a Panhard bar is necessary to eliminate shackle sway which is what Ford did on the 42-48 passenger cars.
Geometrically it should be possible - if there aren't clearance issues. The important thing is that the shackles sit at the same sort of angle - say 5° either way - as the stock shackles. Is your dimension of 26" installed or not? with the weight of the car on it or not? Remember a leaf spring will increase in length at it is loaded. Long shackles will tend to reduce the roll centre migration effect. If the new shackles are a lot longer you might find that relatively mild lateral acceleration now corresponds to silly roll angles, so an additional axle lateral-locating device might be needed. If you've got one of those the shackle angle becomes less important, but closer to vertical is then better.
I set it up just to see what it looked like, when loaded they should be about 50 degress or so. I will most likely change the spring but was interested in how it would work. The ground clearance is what I think could prove to be a problem.
sorry but shortening the axle just seems silly,,why ruin the integrity of a perfectly good axle ,,when finding a proper spring is no big chore ??
no kidding.. and why put a 26" spring on a 46 axle? I am just curious.. the 46-48 Ford I beams were the widdest ones Ford put under their cars (Lincolns were a bit wider) so what is the reasoning for putting such a narrow spring? Lowering maybe? or a severe pre-loaded front suspension.. inquiring minds want to know
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