Looking to build another long distance road car and love the looks of the 55 and 56 Packards and found I can find one reasonable but that torsion leveling suspension system looks like it might be hard to find parts for if it would break on the road,from what I have found some 55s had it and some did not and in 56 most had it but there was a delete option. What I need to know is can that torsion leveling system be removed and the regular suspension be installed or is it a different frame for each suspension system.
You can't swap between the two, from what I understand, the cheapest '55 Clipper had the '54 suspension under it yet (coils in front and parallel leafs in back) and the torsion bar thing is a whole different bird. I was just driving around in my '55 Clipper Panama this afternoon. They ride real nice but my leveler motors don't run so it seems like the ass end of my car sticks up a bit. I've been told that the load leveler system isn't all that hard to work on and also that you can rig up the motors to an extra power antenna switch so you can lower and raise it at will, which I would like to do eventually, just haven't had the ambition to tear into it yet. There's lots of info on the net about how it all works. As for finding parts on the road, you aren't likely to find parts for the other suspension system at the local Oreilly's anyway so I'm not sure there's much benefit to that. The torsion bars seem extremely unlikely to break, these things were mega expensive and over-built like tanks. Don't fear the load leveler/torsion bar system, jump in head first, then once you've got it all sorted out, come over and get mine going too! If you really want a long distance road car that rides nice, the torsion setup is the way to go anyway, it's a marvel design.
I think I will look for one with the regular suspension and go through it and it should be good for as long as I live,I will not be using the Packard drivetrain too since I doubt not much could be found for them at the parts stores these days. I was looking and found I could get one cheaper then a mid 50s GM or Ford product.
From reading the Packard collectors forums there is only one (1) part that gives trouble. That is the electric leveller, basically a starter motor and gearbox to wind up the ends of the torsion bars and level the car. It automatically compensates for different loads, passenger load and trunk loading. It is pretty reliable once it is sorted. But, the conventional system is totally different. They had a regular coil spring IFS and leaf spring rear. When they converted to torsion bars they kept more or less the same type front suspension, but with the torsion bars, the back suspension was totally different with torsion bars and trailing arms. Just buy the kind you prefer, it would be much easier than swapping out the whole chassis. If you want all the gory details these guys can help. Packard Motor Car Information - Packard Forums
Its time to start looking at some to see exactly what they are,I have never really looked at them before so if I want one I need to do it.
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