1955 Cutting Front Springs for Stance Adjustment | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models
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1955 Cutting Front Springs for Stance Adjustment

  • Thread starter Thread starter spgreg
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spgreg
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Thunderbird Year
1955
I feel like the front end of my T-bird is too high, giving it a stance that I just don't like. I'm considering maybe cutting a half inch to a three quarters inch off of the front coil springs. Anyone want to talk me out of it, provide an alternative or suggest advice? Thanks.

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I don't like taking the sawzall to original parts, so, is you stance as original and you just don't like it or has something changed to make the stance 'out of spec' ?
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maybe the back end is too low?
Here are the measurements most people use.
From Ford Thunderbird Forum judging manual

20. The ride heights of the early Thunderbird in the Specification manuals are misleading. The following measurements have been established. The front measurements are from the center of the head lamp to ground. The rear measurements are from the center of the tail lamp to ground
A tolerance of plus or minus one inch will be allowed
a. 1955 Models 1956 Models 1957 Models
b. Rear 26.5" Rear 26.5" Rear 27.5"
c. Front 28.5” Front 29" Front 29"

Ride height will not be checked unless the visual inspection appears excessively high or low.
 
maybe the back end is too low?
Here are the measurements most people use.
From Ford Thunderbird Forum judging manual

20. The ride heights of the early Thunderbird in the Specification manuals are misleading. The following measurements have been established. The front measurements are from the center of the head lamp to ground. The rear measurements are from the center of the tail lamp to ground
A tolerance of plus or minus one inch will be allowed
a. 1955 Models 1956 Models 1957 Models
b. Rear 26.5" Rear 26.5" Rear 27.5"
c. Front 28.5” Front 29" Front 29"

Ride height will not be checked unless the visual inspection appears excessively high or low.
Thanks for the information. I'm getting 29 on drivers side front and 29.5 passenger side. The rear is certainly off. 23 Drivers side and 23.5 passenger. That's sitting in the garage, so as close to a level surface as I'm gonna get. This saved me the effort of worrying about the front coil springs. Now to diagnose why the rear is so low.
 
After 70 or so years, the rear leaf springs tend to sag. They can be re-arched or you can get new springs. I have a spring shop in town, and use them to re-arch the springs on my old cars.
 
After 70 or so years, the rear leaf springs tend to sag. They can be re-arched or you can get new springs. I have a spring shop in town, and use them to re-arch the springs on my old cars.
I feel like the springs are the problem, they have very little arch to them. I assume this isn't the way they are supposed to look.springs.jpg
 
maybe the back end is too low?
Here are the measurements most people use.
From Ford Thunderbird Forum judging manual

20. The ride heights of the early Thunderbird in the Specification manuals are misleading. The following measurements have been established. The front measurements are from the center of the head lamp to ground. The rear measurements are from the center of the tail lamp to ground
A tolerance of plus or minus one inch will be allowed
a. 1955 Models 1956 Models 1957 Models
b. Rear 26.5" Rear 26.5" Rear 27.5"
c. Front 28.5” Front 29" Front 29"

Ride height will not be checked unless the visual inspection appears excessively high or low.
 
possably top and bottom of spring comes to a flat to ride in right position .I put a spring in one alittle out and it squeaked until I fixed it. In the old days we heated the spring . Torch. Ithink there are companies that can make the spring shorter or longer.
 
Hard to tell by eyeball - mine looks similar. BUT my car sits low if you believe the "correct" numbers I posted. Mine looks, rides and handles fine and many people purposely lower their car so I'm leaving it alone. From what I see in the judging numbers there should be about a 2.5" difference between the front and rear heights with the front the higher of the two. Keep in mind that raising or lowering one end and doing nothing at the other will make the opposite end go in the opposite direction because of the geometry change. How much? Good question.
Another thing I have seen people post is that they were low in the rear and bought new rear springs and after putting them on they were still almost as low. The vendors sell both "original spec" springs as well as Heavy Duty springs. Many go with the HD which presumably are more likely to actually raise the rear.

I also found the below info posted "on the internet" but I have never found the original source. It shows widely different heights then are used for the current judging specs. My car is pretty close to those numbers. That's another reason I don't worry too much about matching the judging specs.

Found on internet forums...

According to the Specifications manual, the 57 ride height is as follows.
First check tires for proper inflation. Second, put two people in the car , combined weight about 300 lbs.

Front is measured from the ground to the middle of the headlight - 28.07 inches
Rear is measured from the ground to the middle of the taillights - 23.30 inches.

The 55 shows 28.67 inches from floor to center of headlight and 22.76 inches from floor to center of tail light. This amounts to a difference of 5.91 inches lower in the rear.
 
The 55 shows 28.67 inches from floor to center of headlight and 22.76 inches from floor to center of tail light. This amounts to a difference of 5.91 inches lower in the rear.
That assumes the headlight and taillight are the same height from the bottom of the car. My headlights are mounted about 6 inches higher than the taillights from the bottom of the bumpers. Anyway, I found a spring shop that can add 3 inches to the bend for $50 per spring. I'll take them there in the next couple of weeks and see what happens. As far as raising the rear causing the front to lower, I'm guessing it won't lower the front more than a half inch to an inch which still keeps mine within spec.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and info.
 
Once height adjustments are finalized to satisfaction, don’t forget to realign the headlights. Combination of gradual rear spring sag, and switch to aluminum radiator resulted in blinding oncoming traffic on low beams.
 
Cutting the springs can affect ride quality and handling, so be cautious. An alternative could be installing lowering springs or adjustable coilovers, which give you more control over the stance without compromising safety or performance. Just something to consider before making any cuts!
 
Follow up to some earlier comments. There are judging specs which I posted earlier and there are also comments people have made about "original ford specs" and those differ from the judging specs. I have gone thru the 57 repair manual and the official 57 Ford Spec book and neither of them contain any info on "ride height" that I can find. They do have some info on spring rates and the height of the actual coil spring (loaded and unloaded) and the length of the rear leaf spring (loaded). Presumably if someone thought their car "sat low" (or high) the official way to check would be to measure the springs themselves to see if they were in spec.
The bottom line I see at this point is there is some height which would be what you would get with "original" springs in the car. That may be what the judging specs are based on. But if you like how your car sits, you like how it rides and handles, that's really all that matters unless you plan to enter it into technical judging events. By my eyeball, I think the technical judging heights make the car sit too high and needlessly so.

If anyone has more info on "official ford ride height" specs I would appreciate hearing from you just as a matter of curiosity.
 
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