After a year of driving somewhere around 11K miles in the 56 the front springs which were always a bit light, settled about 1 1/2″ lower than when I 1st installed them last year.  From the start, even before things settled lower, we would occasionally drag the front cross member on cattle guards, bridge transitions etc. of late occasionally was coming at a faster rate… so time to make some changes!

As near as I could calculate the front springs have settled around 1 to 1- 1 1/2″.  The springs I installed last year were MOOG-5276 coils which with Bettie’s weight and front end loading would give an installed ride height of 11.43″ which was pretty much what I measured after I installed them

MOOG-5276

Using my Excel spread sheet that I built to calculate springs parameters, I found that if I were to change to a MOOG-CS584 that I would have an installed height of 12.41″ or about 1″ higher. The CS584 springs also have a much higher spring rate which will also help dampen the dive and rebound effects under braking or when you hit a pot hole etc…

MOOG-CS584

After installing the new springs today I measured the height from the cross member index hole to the floor and got a height of 6″.  With the original springs when they were installed this measurement was 5 1/8″.  I checked it just before I removed the springs and it had settled to 3 5/8″ – the cross member was 1 3/8″ lower than when I installed the original springs. The new springs have raised the cross member 2 3/8″.  Assuming that they will settle about the same as the original springs Bettie should end up with her cross member at 4 5/8″ which will get me back to about where I was when I had just installed the original 5276 springs, except that they will have settled, and have a higher spring rate to help keep things under control!

Anyway, we should have a more enjoyable ride on our trip without having to sweat the pot holes, which on the west coast are many and deep! I will check it again when we get back from our tour, and decide where to go next. Hopefully it will all be just wonderful!

I would like to thank Art Bans, who made the mistake of dropping by to say hello yesterday afternoon and got wrapped up in the spring swap. It was nice to have an extra set of hands for a job like this!

Heavier Front Coil Springs

While getting the old springs out of the control arms is a rather straight forward proposition, putting them back in, especially if they are 457 #/in spring rates that need to be compressed around 6-7″ to fit them back in is always a chore.  Every time I have done this in the  past with this front end, I have ended up having to completely detach the lower control arm, balance it on my two tall jack stands, with the coil spring perched on top of the control arm, while trying to jack them up, while trying to fit the 5/8″ all thread rod through the upper control arm… you get the idea, long frustrating process.

So this time I tried using an internal spring compressor which I had bought after the last time I did this. It didn’t work any better than any of the other ones that I have ever tried… so back to taking the lower control arm off.  But this time I have the transmission jack that I had borrowed sometime ago to pull the tranny from the ’39 so that it could be re-sealed. IT was perfect for the job! Set the control arm on the jack deck, set the spring on the control arm, taped the upper rubber spring cushion to the top of the spring, lined things up and pumped the foot pedal to get the spring in properly in place, then few more pumps to do the initial compression of the spring so that I could easily align the running thread which I use to compress the spring with – using an impact wrench of course!  Easy Peasey!

I guess I will have to buy a transmission jack, seems like I am using it all the time these days, not for its intended purpose, but for everything else. Handy tool! Thanks for the lend Rick!