Lowering front end

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: Lowering front end
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jon pederson on Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 05:05 pm:

I have seen some front ends with the spring perches upside down with one long bolt for the bottom shackle. Seems like a lot of weight, I assume a Grade 8 about 5" or so is used? Anyone have any experience with this set up?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 10:58 am:

Chris Becker and Clayton Paddison has built a speedster with upside down perches in the front.
In this thread you can see several pictures of their solution: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/183714.html?1321105189

Just make sure you've got good perches so it doesn't end up like this one :-(
broken perch
(Picture originally posted by Wayne Sheldon)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Saylor on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 01:50 pm:

Oh dear. Was that car on the New England Brass & Gas tour last summer? when did that happen?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jon pederson on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 01:57 pm:

Yep, that pic is what I'm worried about.
I see from the link how he beefed up the bolts with sections of pipe, I may try that. I have a set of '32 bones that I cut the axle end up and expanded to 2 1/2" to fit the T axle, and plan to bolt or weld perches to the side (just my natural tendency to try to reinvent the wheel). Have to figure out the clearance since I have already split the T bones and put the on the frame rails with tie rods.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Magee on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 04:49 pm:

It always seemed to me that using upside down perches would really place excessive stress on the bolt since you are making a lever arm.

I like raising the front cross member or using a dropped axle. There are several ways to raise the cross member. I noticed that Lang's is now selling a bracket for this purpose if you do not want to make you own.

Given the age of our T parts, they do not need any added stress.

Good luck and be safe with any mods you do.

Tom

front lowering bracket


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By tim moore on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 08:22 pm:

I don't know what that thing is Tom but a little bondo will fix those welds right up!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth from NC on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 09:27 pm:

Dropped axles are so sexy! I am extremely pleased with mine - the guy I got it from drops them and then stretches them back so that your king pins are still same distance apart. Everything is rebuilt to spec and ready to go. I literally just unbolted the old one and bolted in the new one. The only "mod" I had to make was swapping and flipping my spindle arms so that the drag link would clear my oil pan.

http://www.droppedaxles.com Mr. Sid has some ready to go, so you can buy a whole new one outright or send yours in as a core. It was only $50 or so to keep mine so that's what I decided to do. Check my profile pic to see how good it looks.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Friday, June 13, 2014 - 10:03 pm:

Yeah, Safety should be paramount. I wouldn't use anything but a reversed eye spring main leaf, and/or a dropped axle with 26-27 spindles. any other homemade remedy might get you killed. If your going to do it; do it right. If you don't have the funds to do it right; then you probably don't have the funds for a funeral, either.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Saturday, June 14, 2014 - 02:18 am:

Car number 16 above is owned by a longtime best friend of mine. It has Laurel type brackets on the front axle which mount a shortened spring perch near the bottom of the front axle. This lowers the front end about two inches and moves the axle forward about one and a half inch. This setup was on the car when he bought it. He discovered (after the fact) that the spring perch had been welded years earlier, before he bought the car. Generally, welding spring perches is a bad idea.
He and his wife had a bit of a wild ride when it broke. He didn't know exactly what had broken until after he got the car safely stopped and parked on the shoulder of the road. I believe he was doing about 50 mph when it broke.
He replaced the spring perch with a good (non-welded) one shortened to fit the bracket.
It should be noted, that at least some of the genuine Laurel brackets do not use a shortened spring perch since they have their own cast (forged?) into the bracket itself. I believe these type are better and safer than the type that use the shortened perch. That being said, my boat-tail has a very similar setup with very similar brackets. I worry about it a lot less since number 16 gave its wild ride. He thought he had lost a wheel, for a moment. Then realized that although the car was leaning badly, it still steered okay (a bit tough). He and his wife have enjoyed several endurance runs and other meets since, with this car.
It is a good reminder, to build and restore as safely as is reasonable. It may be fun to reminisce about that wild ride? However, too many people have not been so fortunate when something near a hundred years old has broken.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John McGinnis in San Jose area, CA. on Saturday, June 14, 2014 - 09:18 am:

That pictured bracket is plenty ugly...there are better ways to drop the front end.


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