update on Rich's build

[RICH MUISE]

We'll get to check it out first hand before too long, but in the meantime, just had my own shakedown test....front tire blowout at 70 mph! Car reacted amazingly well, kept straight as an arrow til I got it off the road. No spare, no jack, nobody I knew had their cell phones on. Called a tow truck, was there in 20 minutes, towed me 15 miles or so home, and only charged me 50 bucks! 4 people stopped to see if they could help, luckily the first one had internet on their phone so I could call a tow company. The last one to stop was the Highway Patrol, who initially drove by since I wasn't trying to flag them down. LOL...they told me they came back so they could check out my car!
Anyway, I hope I haven't lost a wheel along with the tire. The outside rim doesn't look bad, but I don't know about the inside rim. I suspect my front end alighnment was out more than I thought, causing the tire to overheat. The other front tire looks oddly worn as well. Shoulda been paying more attention.

[57 imposter]

I have noticed with mine that if I drive it once a month, it takes a while to adjust to the handling, but if I drive it every day, it handles just fine. I suspect you are finding the same thing. these cars just don't drive like a 2015 no mater what we do to them. mine was much more noticeable before I got the caster up close to where it should be so if you haven't aligned the front end yet you will probably be in for a pleasant surprise once you do.

[billd5string]

Wow - a blowout at 70, I'm glad there wasn't significant damage. Even if the wheel is toast, it sounds to me like somebody is looking out for you. Were they old tires? Or are thinking it's just related to the alignment being really off?

[Ecode70D]

Rich
    I'm happy  that you were able to keep it under control and get it off to the side of the road.  Jay   

[RICH MUISE]

The tires had less than 1000 miles on them. I need to look at the other front tire a little closer, but I'm pretty sure it's got some strange wear on it also, so my guess is although it didn't feel like the alignment was off, it was enough to cause a problem. I was feeling a little under the weather today, so went out for a ride just to get some time in on the road and enjoy the 70 degree weather. Maybe tommorrow I'll feel more like getting under there and looking around, change the tire to a spare, etc.

Yeah, Doug...exactly how I've been feeling about the handling. The more I drove it the more it felt ok...just getting use to it. I was trying to save some $ and hadn't got the car realigned since the new springs were put in, because I knew it was coming apart again before too long. I guess the silver lining was how well the car responded to the blowout made me feel alot better about the safety factor.

Thanks Jay...it all happened so fast I just sat there for 30 seconds absorbing it all in as to what just happened. I was on the loop around Amarillo that is the bypass trucking route, so I was just thankful I wasn't next to a big rig or have one on my tail. With that thought in mind, I have noticed the truckers don't crawl up on me in the '57 like they do in my DD driver.

[canadian_ranchero]

i have seen when the camber is really out[tilt in or out at top],tires lasting less than 1000 miles

[Lucky'57]

Got mine aligned last fall to the required specs after the Aerostar spring install from stock and 2" blocks in the back. Took a bunch of shimming (+9/16"), only just enough thread left to bury the nuts. You can see the amount of original shims that were in there.

I ended up putting a one inch spacer above the springs this winter as it was just riding too low and bottoming out (3/8" above the bump stops). I also pulled the 2" lowering blocks and replacing with 1" instead to get the rake a little better looking, then getting another alignment as soon as it warms up.

Glad to hear you made out OK, good driving, a blowout at that speed would of had me going into cardiac arrest. LOL

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich was the pot hole you hit with the same tire or the opposite side?  If it was the same side there's your issue.  How many miles do you have on the car/tires?

I have some serious doubts that alignment caused the failure.  It would have to be so far out to cause a tire failure that you would have had handling issues. 

Back in the day....while doing autocross I ran 2 1/2 degrees of negative camber on my Mustang and still got a semi service life out of the tires.  I drove the car from Brunswick, GA to many locations up and down the coast while still using street tires.  After getting serious about the racing thing it was track tires and a trailer and I still ran the same alignment specs.

[RICH MUISE]

Definetly an alignment problem. Both tires worn down to canvas/steel on inside. The other one wasn't far from giving out...I'm real surprised it held up when the first on blew. The good news is I don't think my wheel was damaged other than a few scrapes on the outer rim. This was a serious case of having my head buried in sand. Need two tires, a coil spring change, and an alignment before the car is driven again.
KYBlueOval and I have been pm'g back and forth about Eaton Springs and John came up with some interesting data I think needs to be posted on the open forum, so later I'll do that. For starters, the info he got on my spring numbers indicates they did in fact send me the correct springs, so my ride height problem  seems to be entirely a drivetrain weight issue.

[hiball3985]

I'm really sorry to hear you ran into a testing problem, thankfully it was only a tire or two loss.
It will be interesting to see what you post about the springs. Something in my mind isn't calculating correctly, if the the OEM type springs you had in had that high of a ride height and the Areo springs with a spacer set it so much lower something isn't right! There are no other variables, engine weight is the same and spindle heights is the same!

[RICH MUISE]

This is what John/KYBlueOval sent me after a few back and forth messages:
"Just spoke with Eaton. Here is what they tell me.
My  MC 1498 is 13.5 " tall
Your MC 1484 is 16.0 " tall
We knew that , they confirmed it.
The original Ford Spring for a 312 Motor was 14 3/8 " tall
Your spring is taller ( we know that! ) but Softer.
My spring is shorter than stock, but heavier in terms of rate by 70#'s.
I was told that the spring I have will give me a ride height within an 1/8 of an inch of the stock ride height, assuming the same 312 motor. I told them a 312 motor when I ordered them. Should have waited. I'll be using a 351 motor. 312's weight 625#'s , 351's weight 550#'s.
So I have a slightly stiffer spring supporting a slightly lighter ( 75 #'s ) motor.
I might need to cut just a little off of these springs.
The guy with the answers is Gary, ( I spoke to woman that answered the phone.......might be his wife ) and he is not in today. So, I'll try to get him next week. I'll let you know what he says. I feel better about this today than I did yesterday after speaking with Dave.
John
BTW.........Blow out at 70 . You are lucky. Go buy a lottery ticket."

Note John's springs are 2 1/2 inches shorter than mine, but mine are softer. I don't think the weight of my drivetrain was enough to overcome the additional length. I had been posting for a while I thought I had wrong springs sent by Eaton. That was my error because I had written down the length as 15 1/2 which actually was for another spring we were discussing.
If I remember correctly, when we had the Areostars w/ spacer sitting on the floor next to the Eaton MC1484 we were measuring more than a 3 1/2 difference in length. If the lighter weight of my drivetrain has an  even lighter affect on the front because of it's positioning, then it's not hard to see where the excess of 4 1/2 drop came from.
Because my Eaton springs are softer, I'm guessing they are a better candidate for cutting some length off it. Hopefully that softness will prevent the spring from being too stiff after shortening.
So...initally before the change to Aerostars, I was 3" higher than I wanted to be. I'm thinking cutting 2" off should get me pretty close to the 3" drop". Any opinions on that?

[canadian_ranchero]

be careful how much you cut off. on a other project i cut off a 1/2 coil from the spring and it lowered it a little over 1 inch

[RICH MUISE]

Cutting an 1 1/2 off mine to begin may be a safer way to start....or I may go for the two and have a set of 1/2" spacers ready (as well as the 1" and the thin isolators I already have).
Also, since I have to buy 2 tires, I'm going to jump up one size from the 205/70/15 to 215/70/15.. I'll have to change brands though, the Hankooks I have on it aren't made that size, but my tire store does have them in Generals. That will add .39 in total width and about 1/4 in height.
Also, I forgot to post last week...I was concerned with the really low stance that I was going to have interference with the tire/battery box which was recessed into the wheel well about 3". I had none, even with the blowout, and the tire flopping around, there were no rub marks on the box paint at all.

EDIT...when I say "cutting an  1 1/2 off mine", I was talking height/inches, not coils.

[pepfalcon]

rich, that's good to hear about the battery box, as i have mine recessed into the inner fender also .

[lalessi1]

This is what John/KYBlueOval sent me after a few back and forth messages:
"Just spoke with Eaton. Here is what they tell me.
My  MC 1498 is 13.5 " tall
Your MC 1484 is 16.0 " tall
We knew that , they confirmed it.
The original Ford Spring for a 312 Motor was 14 3/8 " tall
Your spring is taller ( we know that! ) but Softer.
My spring is shorter than stock, but heavier in terms of rate by 70#'s.
I was told that the spring I have will give me a ride height within an 1/8 of an inch of the stock ride height, assuming the same 312 motor. I told them a 312 motor when I ordered them. Should have waited. I'll be using a 351 motor. 312's weight 625#'s , 351's weight 550#'s.
So I have a slightly stiffer spring supporting a slightly lighter ( 75 #'s ) motor.
I might need to cut just a little off of these springs.
The guy with the answers is Gary, ( I spoke to woman that answered the phone.......might be his wife ) and he is not in today. So, I'll try to get him next week. I'll let you know what he says. I feel better about this today than I did yesterday after speaking with Dave.
John
BTW.........Blow out at 70 . You are lucky. Go buy a lottery ticket."

Note John's springs are 2 1/2 inches shorter than mine, but mine are softer. I don't think the weight of my drivetrain was enough to overcome the additional length. I had been posting for a while I thought I had wrong springs sent by Eaton. That was my error because I had written down the length as 15 1/2 which actually was for another spring we were discussing.
If I remember correctly, when we had the Areostars w/ spacer sitting on the floor next to the Eaton MC1484 we were measuring more than a 3 1/2 difference in length. If the lighter weight of my drivetrain has an  even lighter affect on the front because of it's positioning, then it's not hard to see where the excess of 4 1/2 drop came from.
Because my Eaton springs are softer, I'm guessing they are a better candidate for cutting some length off it. Hopefully that softness will prevent the spring from being too stiff after shortening.
So...initally before the change to Aerostars, I was 3" higher than I wanted to be. I'm thinking cutting 2" off should get me pretty close to the 3" drop". Any opinions on that?

Rich, if you give me the spring wire diameter, the free length, the coil spacing, diameter, and the number of effective coils of what you have, I will calculate what cutting coil(s) will do to the rate and the installed length. See this web site for clarification. I can use the springs I have for the above measurements, but it would be informative to see what you have.
http://www.bluecoilspring.com/rate.htm