Thread: Will this raise it??

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Yes, and I did read the article. Can't figure out how they straightened out the tie rods and such though. it says they were going to add dropped spindles and cut coils. I did that already. Mine are not at all straight unless I put on the 225's. If I put back the stock spindles, and kept the cut coils It should lower it down some. If I then changed out the tires to a 215, and changed out the front rims. The tires may sit higher into the fenders, while the body comes down just a little.. I think..

Originally Posted by slantback37

Yes, and I did read the article. Can't figure out how they straightened out the tie rods and such though. it says they were going to add dropped spindles and cut coils. I did that already. Mine are not at all straight unless I put on the 225's. If I put back the stock spindles, and kept the cut coils It should lower it down some. If I then changed out the tires to a 215, and changed out the front rims. The tires may sit higher into the fenders, while the body comes down just a little.. I think..

In the article, the owner wanted the car to sit low in the front. He accomplished that but using the stock spindles and cutting several coils out of the springs. The result was a poor riding, poor handling car because there wasn't much spring left and the control arms were no longer parallel to the ground. To correct it, they installed 2" drop spindles to accomplish part of the drop and new stronger springs which they only needed to cut 1.5 coils out of to achieve the same lower ride height but the difference of having a lot more working spring makes the car ride better and also leveled out the lower control arms.

On your car, perhaps your springs are more worn and maybe you cut them too much. Maybe you should have started by cutting 1/2 coil to see how the ride height was. I don't know why your lower control arm is so close to the rim with the drop spindles. It shouldn't be like that. Did you check to make sure the lower ball joint is well seated into the spindle?

Ok. I was just out with the 37. I measured my back spacing.. From the edge of the rim to the area where the rotor sits is 3 3/4".. i also looked at the ball joints. I think I can tighten up on them. They are only a few threads above the nut..

Randyr. Thanks for the advice, but after looking over that article again. I refer to the picture that shows the lower A arm. It is no where near the rim.

Rspears, and Jerry Clayton. I have read over what you guys said numerous times. I am gping to put the stock spindles back in. Also. I am going to buy new 350Lb coils. The. Coils in there are the original that came whenever the frontend was new. I changed the front shocks with gas ones last year. When the new coils come. Can I then cut a loop out to lower the body down? I am also going to use a 1/4" spacer behind the wheel to change the backspacing.

Originally Posted by slantback37

Randyr. Thanks for the advice, but after looking over that article again. I refer to the picture that shows the lower A arm. It is no where near the rim.

They are also using the aftermarket tubular lower A-arms which are more streamlined than your OEM ones. Might be something to consider....

The 350 spring will be too weak probably--If you need to cut a spring for ht you need one with a higher rate to keep from bottoming out.
The stock spindle s will solve the closeness of the wheel lip to the control arm and you won't need the spacer--in fact the spacer will make the scrub radius worse

The 350 spring is the one that is recomended for a small block fat fender according to Dayton.

Also. On that 36. Is that a aftermarket frot suspension?? Mine was cut out of a MustangII, or a Pinto. A friend of mine says there may be a difference. Besides. If I had mucho dollars I might just change out the works, but I am just a janitor working in a hospital.

Originally Posted by slantback37

Also. On that 36. Is that a aftermarket frot suspension?? Mine was cut out of a MustangII, or a Pinto. A friend of mine says there may be a difference. Besides. If I had mucho dollars I might just change out the works, but I am just a janitor working in a hospital.

Yes, it does look like they used an aftermarket setup on that '36. If it's any consolation, my '37 has a '78 Mustang II crossmember. I put 2" drop spindles on it without the lower control arm clearance issues that you have.

Well. I can start from the begining and see what happens. On your setup. Did you also cut the coil?

Originally Posted by slantback37

Well. I can start from the begining and see what happens. On your setup. Did you also cut the coil?

Yes, but, even though it's more work, it's a good idea to cut 1/2 coil at a time to avoid cutting too much.

Also those coils were the ones that came with the car when Ford put them in. Wouldn't there be a sag problem?? The shocks that came with them were crap. One was just plain broken, and the other you could push it down with your finger. I am only in my 5th year. Money is tight, and I do all of the work myself. I can get a set of 350Lb shocks for $60., or get them from Dayton for $109. First though i am going to put on the old spindles and see what happens. Then when the new coils come I will pull them apart again, and put on the drop spindles without cutting the coils and see how that works..

Is there any chance that you don't have the correct lower ball joint???or lower arms???

There is a ton of info on these front ends at Heidt's and also shock/spring info at QA-1

The more I look at the 2 pictures in the begining I'm thinking like was mentioned earlier the ball joints don't look like there in the spindel all the way. Or maybe wrong ball joints.

The ball joints are new. I bought both the ball joints, and A arms as a set from Speedway Motors. I will go out and crank on them again to see if they will move any..