Hi guys. I bought a 63 Tbird 4 months ago to keep at our cabin in Wisconsin. It had been stored for most of the last 30 years so I put a lot of work into replacing/rebuilding fuel system components and rubber suspension parts. It's running pretty well now but the control arms still squeek and it leaves an ounce of engine oil under the tranny after every run.
I put some old school Cragar rims on it today. My plan was to lift the rear end 1 or 1.5 inches with air shocks but now that I look at it I'm thinking the front end looks high. What do you guys think? Air shocks on the rear would be a lot easier than cutting the springs so there's that...
x3. Drop the front. Search the forums, I believe there's info about cutting a coil off without fully removing the spring. Sounds dangerous, but the springs don't have to be compressed nearly as much as they do for removal.
IIRC, another member described how he compressed the springs until they were off the upper arm, then cut some off before removal. This makes it easier to remove the springs without fully compressing, then cutting the springs more precisely than could be done with them still partially installed. In this case however, I think the goal was to remove the springs for replacement.
Forgive my ignorance, but you're keeping the car in a remote area which probably has gravel/dirt roads, ruts, etc. and you want to LOWER it? Do you have a good supply of spare oil pans or access to a lift for repairs? Sorry, I have to ask as I live in an area where roads going to cabins usually aren't the best-maintained.
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
I'm leaning towards dropping the front to level the car but Alan has a good point. Thank you Alan. I've had a couple wheelchair vans that were lowered and scraped and dragged all the time. It wasn't pleasant. Do you guys hit bottom much? The roads are actually pretty good up there and we only drive the car where we want when we want. We've got a truck for rough roads.
ojobojo wrote:I'm leaning towards dropping the front to level the car but Alan has a good point. Thank you Alan. I've had a couple wheelchair vans that were lowered and scraped and dragged all the time. It wasn't pleasant. Do you guys hit bottom much? The roads are actually pretty good up there and we only drive the car where we want when we want. We've got a truck for rough roads.
The roads that I traveled with the 'Bird were all paved but Alan is right. If the roads are rough then you're going to have scraping issues. I dropped mine a couple of inches and never had an issue with scraping.
Good advice all. Thank you. We don't drive it any rough roads so I'm going to cut one coil off the spring. I will need to find a better spring compressor though, because When I used the rental from Autozone i was in fear for my life. Moog and/or Snapon both look expensive for a one-time use so I'll be looking to rent, beg, borrow or steal one of those.
I didn't mention in my first post that the old girl isn't level in the rear. She's an inch lower in the drivers side (not pictured). I chose a very wide tire for the rears and they rub the inside of the fender a wee bit while hard cornering to the right. Not an issue in daily driving, only hard cornering. So, I still either need to change tires or raise the driver's side rear a bit. By the way, the tires I put in the rear are as tall as I could get in a 14" BFG Radial TA 245 wide. I may still put the air shocks on as a cheap temporary fix to figuring out what's really going on back there--nothing shows up in visual inspection other than 50 year old springs.
Here's a picture showing the sag on the driver's side...
Am I correct that a sag like this is generally caused by worn springs? And, that the springs can't, or shouldn't be reconditioned? That it's better to buy new ones? If that is the case I'm going to have to save my pennies for a while since a set from Eaton appears to be around $500.
By the way....John, what does it mean to be a "Professional Pic Whore"?
Last edited by ojobojo on Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ojobojo wrote:Here's a picture showing the sag on the driver's side...
Am I correct that a sag like this is generally caused by worn springs? And, that the springs can't, or shouldn't be reconditioned? That it's better to buy new ones? If that is the case I'm going to have to save my pennies for a while since a set from Eaton appears to be around $500.
By the way....John, what does it mean to be a "Professional Pic Whore"?
You are correct! Usually when your car sags to one side it's either the front or rear spring that is sagging on that side. Rears are usually the culprit.
Spring can be rearched. No danger in doing that. My suggestion would be to find a truck spring company as rear leafs are becoming extinct due to the advent of independent suspension so they would be better equipped to do the job right. Unless you're going to be pushing the car hard around corners or the leafs are so far gone that they can't be rearched I wouldn't bother with the Eaton springs. The stock ones are more than adequate for a cruiser.
Professional Pic Whore means even if you don't want me posting pictures of my car or whatever other subject that will bore you to tears I will still post 'em up or, if someone is calling for pics of whatever I will post up ten times the pics that someone needs to see!!!
