Yes, I am running them on my sedan delivery. It used to have P&J style ladder bars with coil overs. I wore out a couple sets of coil overs so I changed it over to parallel leafs. It also gives a lot more room for exhaust. With the ladder bars it was hard to fit everything under there. With the leafs there is plenty of room. I juggled with the leafs and lowering blocks to get it to set the way I wanted it. I think I ended up with one leaf out and 1" blocks. Rides good. This is the second 32 I have put them under. Worked good both times.
Flat-Top had a coupe with this setup years ago. It wasn't exactly an aesthetic tour-de-force, but I think it worked ok. As an observer, I would say the setup hides itself and blends in better under full-fendered cars/trucks.
Norm Jones had a 32 five window with posies leaf springs on it and he said it rides better than the four bar on his roadster. we have put several kits on skinny fenderd cars and they don't look as cool but they do seem to ride better. it is harder to adjust the ride hight but you just have to play with it.
My first 34 P/U back in the 80s came with parallel leafs installed nicely sometime in the 50s-60s so I kept them and added a 10 bolt. I liked that setup so much I went with the Posies kit when I built this 32 P/U.
There was a set under my 32 3W when I got it....you can see them in the photo......I think they look pretty bad.....so I cut them out and I am on coil springs now.......not coil overs but Veaga coils...I have the same thing under my 32 roadster....... .
It looks like they mounted the rear shackle under the frame. Posies shackles go through the frame lowering the rear of the car and keeping them out of sight. I had planed to run fenders but they aren't that bad. To me anyway.
Yes, yours looks good......but mine were pretty bad.....but not all that bad considering it was done in 1958.....with all junkyard stuff and a old Lincoln buzz box.... I was going to redo the entire chassis anyway......so I did it the way I have my 32 roadster.... I am in the middle of getting the chassis BLACK now....but you can see the coil cans on the frame in this photo. It will be a triangled 4 bar setup with a swap bar....and ride on Vega coils......Got a pile of stuff at the power coaters and some more at Advance Plating in Nashville.... Randy
I know what you're getting at, but that's a terrible argument here. Reference Nads' post about knowing how much better a four barrel works but soldiering on like idiots because we love 3x2's. Am I the only one who thinks the paralleles don't look bad... and definitely better than any kind of coil?
I did this Deuce 3/W in the early 70's with parallel leafs ( I think they were out of a 71 dodson p.u. ),..... this car rode great and had a really stable feel in turns,.... it worked great with the transverse sprung front suspension. this is the same car years later when someone else had it I liked this set up so much I am useing it on a 34 3/W I am building for myself now as a daily driver,........ I am useing unpacked front springs off a 52 Ford P.U.,.....
I have Norm Jones' old 32 Tudor with them, it rides fine, its a non-fendered car, doesn't look that bad.
Gasheat, Back in the Pete & Jake,TCI, Boyd's & Calif St Rods 80's days I built a very traditional 34-3W coupe, I hadn't an idea of what the hell I was doing, It had a very nice transverse leaf spring set up & rear which I still have to this day. Well y'know talking to buddies @ cruise nites looking for advice, looking in every mag for ideas,you get all twisted around. I finally decided to do my own rear spring set up. I had Hollywood Spring & Axle make me up one front & 2 rear semi elliptic leafs. I mean the couldn't have been more than 28-29"'s in overall length. I made up 2 front locating & mounting plates, the moved to the rear & partially boxed in a plate for the rear shackle. Man, this car with fenders & radials was one of the best riding cars that I ever have travelled in. W/o fenders & running Dirt track tires it was a whole different ride. Weight did count with the leafs, I had some very cool short cab shocks from an Isuzu NRR=10-12"s fully extended & were the cats meow. They also were shrouded so they looked ol school! From most any angle one could not tell that this was a leaf spring car. I drove everywhere for a couple of years & sold it to a Knucke who never finished paying me for it. I miss that car, wonder where it is now, cuz that chassis was the best one that I ever had. My purple 34 was what I thought it was all about. It's a total Pete Eastwood P&J Spax Eliminators coil over deal, It bottoms out,flattens exhaust pipes & has a 4 bar up front to boot. The overall ride is good with bias plies and all, but I have another chassis & if I do build another 34 I may do it with the transveresed leaf & a very nice set of rear short shocks that work in relation to the suspension,as my blue full fendered 34-3W rides real nice with that set up & no shocks @ all. I never have any luck posting pics, but I'll be glad to email some with the build up of the 1st 34 with the twin leafs if you'd like. Kevin
Yes Von Franco's coupe has them. He told me he's going to change them to transverse some day but probably just for looks. It's twice as much spring mounted farther apart so everything else equal it's gotta be more stable. Nothing wrong with transverse. it workss like sideways 1/4 eliptics..but it works best if the axle is located by arms and not the spring itself, as the mentioned Corvette does. parallel leaves are also an easy and simple way to locate an open drive shaft rear end without having to deal with radius rods or arms if you don't want to.
I switched over to the Posey kit about 15 years ago from a stock 32 spring in my 5w. I added old style traction bars, that had the same pivot points as the spring(427 for power) and some extra leaves to make a little stiffer....really liked the set up.....a few years ago I added 2 of the small firestone overload airbags to help when I fill the trunk(really a useful addition). Its got around a hunnerd thousand miles on the present setup(300 total over all the years) and it is great. I am running stock fenders and splash aprons on the rear frame horns and it covers up everything nicely. It has been driven fairly hard...hahaha...and it handles great. I am considering a similar setup on my next "long distance" 32, but with more emphasis on the air portion . Skot
In this photo of my mor-door you are hard pressed to see the rear springs,,,I have the same set up as Tommy,,,,,HRP
It's not a Ford, but I'm surprised nobody has posted a picture of the early-'30s Chevy coupe with a Nailhead from the Alter Boys CC out East. I think it belonged to a fellow named Pete? That car has parallel leaves all the way around and it looks great. I think it just takes some de-programming to accept parallel leaves on a Ford even though guys were doing it way back in the teens for handling.
I am doing this on my 32 I am building. Don't know what the springs came off of, I boxed the rear section of the frame, welded in a piece of 3/4" pipe through the frame, using P&J bushings, shackles are off a '50 Ford, knocked out the bolts & welded in correct size for the bushings. Looks like it is going to work out good.
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