Back of body sitting crooked

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Rosenfelder
Posts: 77
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:47 am
First Name: John
Last Name: Rosenfelder
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1927 Model T touring
Location: Southern New Hampshire
MTFCA Number: 49923

Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Rosenfelder » Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:44 pm

I finally got the driveshaft and differential fixed (I think). When I lowered the body on to the rear spring, It was very hard to see if the spring center bolt went into the hole in the frame cross member. Now one side of the body ('27 touring) sits a couple inches higher than the other. Question: How do you get the body centered on the spring? Thanks, J.R.


Allan
Posts: 5205
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First Name: Allan
Last Name: Bennett
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1912 van, 1917 shooting brake, 1929 roadster buckboard, 1924 tourer, 1925 barn find buckboard, 1925 D &F wide body roadster, 1927LHD Tudor sedan.
Location: Gawler, Australia

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Allan » Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:48 pm

John, you have the problem half solved already, realising what the cause is. If you can't see the centre bolt in the frame hole, can you feel it? Once that is correct, it is a matter of tightening the U bolts correctly. Take them up a bit at a time and check the body height as you go. The camber in the road will often make the passenger side appear lower, when in fact it may not be.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.


Dallas Landers
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 26 Rpu, 23 TT, 24 coupe,
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Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Dallas Landers » Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:31 am

The 27 Tudor Im working on leened 1 1/2 inches. They left the plates for U bolts out when the gooseneck tire carrier was installed which ment the rear spring was loose in the frame. I installed the plates and carrier and problem solved.


Alan Long
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1910 Canadian Touring Car and 1926 Australian built Utility
Location: Western Australia

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Alan Long » Sat Jul 18, 2020 7:49 am

I have just been through this exact issue with a Model T. The Owner fitted another rear spring to rectify the LHS of the body
being lower than the RHS by 1 1/2” .after the work, no change occurred.
I would suggest that you park the vehicle on level ground, wheels pointed straight ahead and all tyres inflated to the same pressure.Then give the body a rock from side to side.
Then measure the height of the chassis from the ground at the same point on both sides. If this is vastly different then your issue is as mentioned previously being the Spring or U Bolt tightening procedure.
If the Chassis is sitting level (like just rectified) you then need to check the body height from the ground.
Also, if your trying to fix a different height of the rear mudguards it maybe the body or the arms supporting the guards.
Should be rectified easily once you know where the issue is!
Alan


Tmooreheadf
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 24 Touring, 25 Coupe,
Location: Louisville, KY
MTFCA Number: 22348
MTFCI Number: 18916

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Tmooreheadf » Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:00 am

I had the same issue recently after rebuilding and lubing the rear springs. The issue wound up being the sides of the springs were tight in the crossmember, causing it to cock and never seating all the way un. A little grinding on the sides of the springs allowed the spring to slide into the crossmember easily. A little paint. Problem solved.


Alan Long
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First Name: Alan
Last Name: Long
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1910 Canadian Touring Car and 1926 Australian built Utility
Location: Western Australia

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Alan Long » Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:22 am

Tom, yep I agree! Some Chassis have the Rivet heads protruding making spring installation a challenge!
Alan

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Topic author
Rosenfelder
Posts: 77
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:47 am
First Name: John
Last Name: Rosenfelder
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1927 Model T touring
Location: Southern New Hampshire
MTFCA Number: 49923

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Rosenfelder » Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:14 am

My car has a spare tire carrier. Before I took it apart for the drive line rebuild, the body was level. It didn't have plates on the cross-member to spring u-clips. Can I loosen the retaining nuts and jump on the running board to shift the body on to the spring center bolt? Do cars with the spare tire carrier also have the retainer plates? Thanks, J.R.


Norman Kling
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Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Norman Kling » Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:55 am

Answer to J.R. Yes. A couple things which might not have been mentioned above. There should be a leather or rubber pad between the top of the spring and the frame. And the head of the bolt protrudes through that pad and into a notch in the center of the frame cross member. Then you tighten up the u bolts on each side a bit at a time until tight. If the body sits high on one side, loosen the opposite side just a bit and try to tighten the high side until it is even. Measure on a level surface from the floor to the frame, rather than to the body. It is also possible that sometime in the past someone could have put a higher block or shimmed up the body to frame attachment So also check out the distance from the top of the frame to the bottom rail of the body.

This applies to an open car. When you install the top, be sure to measure the distance between the top of the back body to the top bow. Even though it might not be the same distance from the floor. If the top bow conforms to the body, it will tilt with the body and will look straight as the car is driven, however, if it is measured from the floor, no matter how the body might be tilted the top will always look crooked.

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Topic author
Rosenfelder
Posts: 77
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:47 am
First Name: John
Last Name: Rosenfelder
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1927 Model T touring
Location: Southern New Hampshire
MTFCA Number: 49923

Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Rosenfelder » Sat Jul 18, 2020 9:49 pm

Thanks all. I followed these suggestions, and got the thing level and tight.


Dallas Landers
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Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by Dallas Landers » Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:05 pm

Good news John. Thank you for the update. Its nice to have a follow up report.


D Stroud
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Re: Back of body sitting crooked

Post by D Stroud » Sun Jul 19, 2020 5:23 am

If springs don't seat in the crossmember correctly, I wouldn't grind the springs to fit. That's just asking for a broken spring later on down the road. Find out what the issue is with the croomember, and fix that! JMHO Dave
1925 mostly original coupe.

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