I have a stock 48 ford 2dr. sedan. it leans to the drivers side about 2" . I crawled all around and couldn't find anything that looked wrong or broken. the guy that had it before me put a new eaton front spring in the sedan but it didn't fix anything. talked to a guy today that said that's just the way the 35-40 are because of the transverse springs front and rear. is that true? can I put a longer shackle on one side and even the old girl out? I was going to buy posies 2" lower springs for the front and rear ...just don't like the lopsided look!!!!!
Seriously, if you plan to lower it anyway, go ahead, it might be that the rear spring is the issue. New springs, shackles, bushings etc. may solve the issue.
I dont recall 46/47/48 Fords leaning to one side or the other and I have owned more than a couple of them. I would be checking the front and rear suspension and mounting points. Check the shocks and mounts as well. If your going to lower it you will need to check that stuff out anyway.
One source of trouble with transverse Fords is springs run with U bolts at center loose or badly installed...some people have managed to assemble them to crossmember with the center through bolt head cocked or even entirely outside the hole in crossmember. If you find this, look it all over carefully as this sort of thing will eventually crack the crossmember itself.
Back in the dark ages, it was not uncommon to see a Ford leaning to the driver side if only it was driven with a driver only. The way we cured it was to remove the spring and reverse every other leaf. That seemed to level it out and also not make a habit of òooooooooooooold a driver aboard. It's been years since I saw one. The reversals of every other spring was a cheap repair and if it didn't help, off to a spring shop it went.
Some years ago on the same question, the late Dick Spadaro said the first thing to look into, was the front and rear spring u-bolts. He said he loosens both sets, then shove the car to level, then tighten them evenly. a couple years later, building my 32, that did fix my lean. It won't take long to at least try that first before buying parts, and also look at what Bruce said above, making sure the centerbolt head is in it's hole in each crossmember, front and rear. .
^^^^ I was going to make the same suggestion. People that don’t know what they are doing over tighten the first ubolt and make it lean. Loosen them up and see if you can level it out.
thanks I will try that this am......I only live a few miles from DICK'S SHOP and I use to hit him up for information and of course buy parts
never hurts to measure tires lowered friends 50 ford when we set it down sat crooked . he had got new tires one was a different size