I read a few threads about using replacement ford aerostar springs in Mercs to lower the front of the car...... Does anyone know of a shorter direct replacement front spring for a 1950 dodge???? Thanks
This showed up a while back in one of the other 50's Mopar threads, but as I recall, the spring seat was removed and just turned over. I will be in the shop later so I'll have a look at one of my cars and see if that will appear to work. I cannot remember if the oem is bolted or rivited so will check that. .
Thanks, get back to me when you can. The coils in my 50 wayfarer dont look like they come out too easy, Ive been wanting to cut a few coils but there is only about 3 inches of coil visible, which doesnt seem like enough to get a spring compressor in there.
Ok, back from the shop...It appears that the spring cup would be removed from the top of the a-frame and the attached to the bottom of the a-frame rather than the mount itself being reversed. The oem is riveted so choose your new mounting hardware carefully. This will give about 1½" drop and you could put a spacer between the two for additional. Watch the ground clearance! Something else I found on the donor car.... Yes, those are severe cracks in the frame and along the welds. I do not know if this has been an issue for anyone but I suggest cleaning things real good and having a look-see... .
On my '53 there is not very much coil visible either, but that deep spring pocket up top is what makes it a bit safer (in my opinion) to remove these springs. I chained the spring to the frame after getting the car on jackstands. Then I put a jack under the lower a arm and put gentle upward pressure on the arm until the long threaded bolt holding the upright to the arm turned out easily. After that slowly lower jack until spring has no tension on it. The tension should be relieved from the spring before it is physically able to get out of the top and bottom pockets. Almost forgot, remove the sway bar prior to trying to drop the a arm down. Scott
Awesome, Thanks. So you unbolt the four bolts on the upper a-arm right then let the pressure out of it??
No, actually you will be taking the lower arm apart from the upright which holds the spindle and brake drum. If you look at the point where the two connect there is a large bolt that goes through (in this order) the a arm, then through the upright and then through the other side of the a arm. This bolt has a large nut on one side and a grease fitting on the other side. With upward pressure from a floor jack on the lower a arm, remove the nut and then begin backing the bolt out. there are two grease cups on either side of the upright, capture these as they will need to be re-installed. after backing the bolt out, slowly let the jack down. Stay out of the direct line of travel of the spring, plus i chained the spring to the frame. You will have to remove the sway bar to let the lower arm swing down far enough to get the spring out. The lower arm will swing down and out of the way(being guided by the jack). The spring should be in it's totally relaxed position and you still won't be able to get it out because of the deep upper pocket. I had to pry down on the lower a arm with a 2x4 in order to get it far enough out of the way to remove the spring. If you need pics i might be able to scan some from the repair manual. let me know. Also, mine is a 53 but i believe they are very similar in construction. Scott
Alright thanks. Also, can you cut enough coils to lower the front 4 inches??? Im assuming that would be more that 2 full coils cut out.
I'm not sure how much drop you can get, I would be inclined to measure the distance between the bump stop and the frame while the car is sitting on the ground. I'm not sure if there is 4" available there or not. It's really not a hard operation to remove and cut the coils so I would recommend doing one coil and putting it back together and driving it a while to see how it rides. When i cut 3/4 of a coil and then put it back together my before and after measurements were almost identical but after driving it for a while it seems to have settled down a bit. maybe 1.5" lower. you can always take more off later. scott
Don't know if you started cutting or not yet, but if you take two coils out of a spring that's already sacked out you're going to be sitting on the bump stops. If you trim the bump stops, you'll have about two inches of travel, but you'll be bottoming out. I think 1 to 1-1/2 is the max on these cars, unless you have brand new springs.
check out post number 307 in this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350134&page=16 Not exactly a coil replacement but definitely a lowering.
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