Shock absorbers for 57 Fairlane

[JimNolan]

Guys,
  Been working on my car all day. Cut 1/2" off the wheel lip so I'd have more room to get tires off and on. Didn't help. Sooooo. I decided to take the shocks off to see if that would help. Well I'd say it helped. Without the shocks I can put a 27" tire straight onto the hub without touching the fender. I couldn't believe it, it dropped the tire below the fender. All this time I've been whining about not being able to change tires without a problem. But, I still don't want to disconnect the shocks to change tires so I started researching shocks. The 57 Ford takes a Monroe Matic 31069 shock. It has 10.750" compressed length and 17.250" extended length. I put the car on it's wheels with a full tank of gas and found out I had 5.5" of travel still left in the shock before it bottomed out.
 Then I started researching different shocks and found that the 55 Ford took the 31125 Monroe Matic Shock. It has a 12.25" compressed length and the extended length is 20.750". To do the math for you that's 1.5" less compressed length and 3.5" more extended length. That means I can drop the tire down 3.5 more inches to change tires. For my application I can't see where I'll be lowering the car another 4.0" for the shock to bottom out. And, I don't think I'll hit a bump that'll drive the wheel up another 4.0". That's a long way. Napa will have the shocks here tomorrow and that's what I'm putting on the car. Jim PS. I'll just be more carefull crossing rail road tracks.

[suede57ford]

Good tip on the shocks.

If you place the jack pad under the front leaf spring mount, raise and change one side at a time it really works better.

You can also keep a long pry bar and flip the shackel down once you have that side jacked up will help as well.

I normally never have to loosen the shocks, and I currently have 295/45/20 which are 30" tall back tires.   I do occasionally have to let some air out to get them in.  You have to push the tire underneath the brake rotor and then push the top of the tire into the fenderwell.

When I had 255/60/17 BFG's that are 29" tall I only jacked it up in the right place and put a little pry on the shackel and I could get them out easy.

[JimNolan]

  suede57ford,
  I got the new shocks today and installed them. When I put the shocks on I didn't even have to raise the axle housing to meet the new shock. It's extended length was at the very spot the axle rests without shocks. I also took it across a set of railroad tracks at a good speed, it didn't bottom out. I think I'm going to be happy with this. Time will tell.
  I do a lot of my work in the hanger and at times I like to have the car on jackstands and both wheels off the ground at the same time. These shocks have made it possible to get the tires off easily.  The way you explained how you changed tires is the way I've been doing it in the past. At least now I can be more receptive at installing larger tires. The bigger section width of larger tires was killing me getting it between the brake drum and fender. Jim  PS I'm going to be truthfull here and let everyone know that I didn't realize it was the shocks that was keeping the tire from coming down. I just alway assumed that was as far as it came down.

[Jeff Norwell]

Jim,Pat..newbie question here..would an adjustable air shock help in any manner?

[JimNolan]

Jeff,
   Air shocks and adjustable helper spring shocks are designed to either lift a car or enable it to carry more load. Both of those things affect the ride of a car and/or change the ride height of the car.
   The way I figure it, I've helped the one thing that has aggrivated me ever since I've owned that car. And that is being able to run a bigger tire in the fenderwell. Not that it won't handle a bigger tire in the fender well, being able to put it on without some sort of gimmick or special proceedure has always been a neccesity.
  It's not uncommon for a person to lower these cars two inches. I've not once heard of someone saying, " you tear out the top shock mount by decreasing the collasped length of the shock when you lower your car two inches". In my case I'm lowering the car 1 1/2" as far as the shock is concerned.
  But, if my car bottoms the shock out (which would hurt the top shock mount) I'll be on this website letting everyone know what a dummy I was. The last thing I want is to influence anyone to do something that might hurt their car.
  Remember, that I'm using drum brakes and 14/15 inch wheels with 70/75 series sidewalls on the tire. Jim
   
   

[Ford Blue blood]

Jim given the angle the shock is mounted on it will take more then 4" of wheel travel before the shock bottoms out.  Great solution to a very aggravating problem these cars were born with.  I do believe I will copy the numbers downs for the "file".  Thanks for the research!

[Alex L.]

That thing about tearing the shock mounts out due to a 2 inch lowering is BS. I put 2 inch lowering blocks on my car and the shock mount remains in exactly the same place. The block simply moves the axle up in relation to the spring and plate that the shock mounts on.

[JPotter57]

I will also be getting a pair of these for my Custom, as that time is drawing near.  Thanks for putting in the research time on this, Jim!  Good stuff.

[JimNolan]

Alex,
  I didn't mean to spout BS. I just didn't think that's the way people lowered their cars now. I thought they de-arched the springs or replaced the springs with ones designed for that purpose. I googled lowering blocks to reduce ride height. You're right, if you use lowering blocks to reduce ride height that would keep the shock mounts in the same place. Jim

[Alex L.]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a jerk.

I went with blocks and removing a leaf, that way if i really didn't like it i could remove the blocks.

Anyway, just sharing my experience with that.

[RICH MUISE]

I will also be getting a pair of these for my Custom, as that time is drawing near.  Thanks for putting in the research time on this, Jim!  Good stuff.

Me too...keep us posted on how you like them after you've had them on a bit longer...thanks for the info Rich

[Zapato]

Ton of little differences between the fairlanes, customs and the wagon platforms, are all the rear shocks same number or length?

Zap-

[JimNolan]

I looked up the 57 Custom and they are the same as the 57 Fairlane.
I was on a road yesterday that had a lot of small dips in it, no problem. I'm running slapper bars right now and I don't know if I can even bottom out if I wanted to. But, 4" is a long way to drive the wheel into the fender. And, if you hit a bump that sent the wheel that far up you'd have more than a shock mount to repair. I meant to check my bump stop to see what that distance is. Jim PS  A lot of people have the back of their cars raised also, so that would make these shocks more attractive.
 

[JimNolan]

Guys,
   When I was promoting the longer shocks for ease of tire removal and installation in the wheel well of a 57 Ford, I didn't want to mention a drawback (if it is one ) to using the longer shock.
   When I raise one side of the car to change tires I put my scissor jack at the rear door line under the frame. With the other side of the car on the ground that provided me a little more clearance on the side being jacked up. Well, I tried that today at the hanger with my floor jack. The longer shocks enable the 27" wheel to clear the wheel well plus another 3/4". I guess you've figured out what the down side of this is by now. The down side is that the distance from the floor to the frame is 14 1/2". Whatever you use to jack up the car will have to raise it 14 1/2" to just get the tire off the ground. I myself don't see this as a problem that isn't easier to overcome than not being able to get the tire out of the fender well. I'll try my scissor jack to see how high it goes. If it don't go high enough I'll carry a block of wood with me. I ain't going back to wrestling tires out of the fender well. Jim