About how much lower will a medium arch rear spring (like from speedway motors) vs. stock w/reverse eye? This will be on a '29 Tudor hi boy. I Just looking for ballpark figure, nearing the time to choose a rear spring. pec
I learned the hard way. I bought one, took it apart, and tried to stretch it to the A mounts. It won't come close. It is a T spring design, but maybe even too narrow for a T. I figure that it would work OK if new mounts were welded on an axle. I expect to use it in a couple years on a narrowed 9", and will likely add the top two leafs from a Model A rear spring to give it a bit more capacity. A little more info on the product description would have helped, but almost enough of the tech info was provided, just not translated. Alliance Vendor, Vern Tardell sells a reversed eye Model A main leaf. ...saved 1/3 of my Alliance membership fee.
Just my 2 cents,as i'm currently dealing with the same issue on my 31 full fendered roadster . I used a 39 Merc rear with model T spring hangers ,mounted on top of the axle, mounted on 48" centers. This dimension is slightly narrower than the stock A hangers because i wanted enough clearence for the 40 ford backing plates and wheel cylinders. I bought Vern's reversed eye main leaf and mounted it to my orig spring pack,minus 2 of the shorter leaves. This left about 4 inches of space between the top of my 7:00 x 16 tire and the bottom of the fender lip,which to me was too much . I contacted Speedway about the spring you mentioned and was advised that it would NOT work with stock dimension spring hangers, As Russ B mentioned . Then i called Posies and asked about thier model A spring, which is supposed to drop the rear about 2 1/2 inches from stock . An honest salesperson advised me that most people don't actually get that much drop because if they are replacing an old orig spring,it most likely has sagged a couple of inches over the years and is not allowing the car to sit at stock height. Fortunately,a friend had a new Posies spring that he wasn't using so i tried it . With 2 leaves removed,the car sits about an inch (at most) lower than the stock spring with the Tardel leaf,but the suspension it alot better. Still a bit high for my taste so i'm thinking of stepping the frame (still undecided).A stock late model T spring that i tried gave me the same height as the stock A spring with the Tardel Main leaf . Hope that isn't too confusing and helps a bit ,Bob
It is a shame that Speedway continues to offer these springs for sale without the simple information their catalog to prevent customer order problems. They, and any other springs, should be described as what they are (correct reproductions or non-stock) and include the correct dimensions for perch spread to mount them correctly under tension as Ford did. Someone, perhaps Snyder's in New Springfield OH, surely must offer a correct 28-31 Roadster Spring which has a lower profile and fewer leaves than the other body style of Model As. These were the old days "lowering" springs everyone looked for to drop their coupes a bit.
If anyone is interested I will be posting a link to POSIES Rear Model A Load test charts. They show the load, compressed eye to eye distance and the associated spring arch. Hopefully this will take a little mystery out of the Model A rear springs!!! 29-31R-C Narrow Model A Spring (46 1/2" perch centers) 29-31R-N NEW Ultra-Narrow Model A Spring (44 1/4" perch centers). The loading is about the same and can be estimated for our standard width Model A Rear Spring (29-31R 48 -48 1/2" Perch Centers) Thanks Todd
Link to POSIES Model A Rear Spring Load Tests #29-31R-C for 46 -46 1/2" Perch Centers http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/...atasheetsm.pdf #29-31R-N for 44 - 44 1/2" Perch Centers (New Spring Available end of Oct) http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/...atasheetsm.pdf Any questions, please call us! Todd
I have the medium arch spring under my roadster. It is very good. I used universal hangers and trimmed 1/2" off and used the smaller shackles. Fit perfect. The spring top sits right at the top of the pumpkin. Posie's stuff is better quality. But speedway's is way cheap. As alway's prices reflects quality and customer service. I recommend it for low budget builds or cheap bastard's. Btw: I believe leaf springs compression rate is linear. As seen in posies test, for every 100lbs, the spring compressed 1/2". So the rate is 200 lbs/inch. Makes it easier to set up ride height. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Jalopy Journal
