The ranchero is missing apparently the rarest part on the damned thing, the rear coil springs. extensive search has turned up nil, and i'm really not relishing the thought of digging through piles of springs trying to find ones that'll fit (decent parts guys exist only in myth around here), nor the thought of combing the junkyards for god knows how long looking for a worn-out stock set only to be gouged by some yardape (another downside to so cal--yards are a rip, particularly the specialty ones) nor the expense of having some custom bent. yeah, i know, hot rodders are supposed to adapt and invent and reinterpret and make it fit and all that, but i'm just trying to get the parts fetcher up and running so i can begin to adapt and invent and reinterpret on a car that calls for it, so if somebody knows a place to get a pair of rear coil springs for a 1965 V8 falcon ranchero, i'd be very grateful to hear about it. or if somebody knows of a more readily available spring that'll work well, i'd be very grateful to hear about that as well. cheers.
as stated above they are leaf springs in the rear ! dearborn classics should be able to hook you up !
thanks for the info. my car has leaf and coil springs on the rears. the left spring is still there, mounted just as pretty as can be on what look like original perches. the right spring is missing, which is why i'm looking for a replacement set. perhaps ford engineers thought use as a truck necessitated more rear support. perhaps the new rear suspension on the 65 galaxie inspired the use of a coil spring. perhaps they were a dealer option like the gigantic truck mirrors that came on the car. perhaps some dude did a real good job of making them look factory when he added them for whatever reason. i'm not too sure but whatever the case, i got 'em, and they look plenty stock. if i'm misinformed, well, i guess i'll just run leaf springs and no coils. anybody have a ranchero with stock suspension?
Does'nt a 65 Ranchero have rear leaf springs? never heard of coil overs unless someone has change the chassis at some point.
Sorry man, but that is NOT stock. I have had 5 of those critters and believe me NONE of them had, or ever had any coil springs on them in the rear suspension. Take a picture and we can probably tell what kind of aftermarket part or cobbled up from some other car, this thing has had added.
guessing they were some sort of poor aftermarket atempt at early helper springs for extra weight or worn out leafs !
that is very possible. i went back and edited my last post, as i sounded like a dick to myself reading it back. i have a talent for writing like that but it wasn't my intention. i know my old comet didn't have any coils, but thought rancheros might be different. if you've owned falcon rancheros, that's good enough for me, thanks.
Didn't take it that way, just wanted to make sure you understod that it didn't come that way. Would still like to see a pic.
The Falcon series Ranchero's had a nasty habit of drag ass if you put more than a couple of hunderd pounds load in them. My '65 has coil over shocks on it now. Still squats pretty good with 300 Lbs of dog food right by the tailgate.
Mustang restoration parts vendors sell all kinds of leaf springs that fit. 4,5,even 6 leaf. Reversed ey and mid eye springs too. All kinds of different spring rates
My 65 Ranchero Deluxe has these on them, is this what you are talking about? I have owned this since 1986 and have done very little. It's a stock driver. I never changed the rear shocks, they are still very stiff. Some of these pic's are when I put "Flow masters" & duel pipes on a few years ago. I have also looked for replacement coil over's, out of curiosity but never found them. <O</O
Those were aftermarket accessory items, sold by Monroe, Gabriel and even Ford back then. They are also leaking oil which means that they aren't really damping any more and the stiffness comes from the helper spring, not the shock. I would do away with them and get a good quality conventional shock on there if it were mine.
airborne- they're sort of like that, but mine are mounted perpendicular to the axle, a straight 90* not at a 45 like a lot of coil rears. really just to fight squat i guess, they can't be doing much for traction (ok maybe they fight hop a little, but with a stock 289 2V, that ain't really a big concern) or location latitudinally. mine are much shorter too, maybe 8 or 10 inches compressed. they're not coil overs either. the more i think about it, the dumber i feel for not assuming aftermarket in the first place.
Jazzbum, you said something in one of your posts that made me think. You Said "huge truck mirrors...". Makes me think that someone maybe bought your truck with an eye to towing a trailer. Ford had all sorts of wacky accessories that were dealer installed at the time of purchase. Could definitely be original to YOUR truck, just not all Rancheros. I won't swear to it but I think I have seen the helper coils you describe on a Ranchero before. I have had a few of these over the years.
There were a couple of companies that made bolt on Coil Spring Helper kits for cars in the 60's, I'm sure that is what you have. There was a perch that went on the axle and a brace for under the floor for the top of the spring I can picture the box but can't remember the name.
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