Lowering my 57 Ford...help please.

[meteor]

So, as of right now my Ranchwagon has new 1" shortened springs and 2.5" dropped spindles in the front. I'm running 15" wheels with BFG widewhite radials P215/75R15's. The car is incomplete but the front end is in nosebleed territory and I can't understand why it is so high...it looks higher than stock right now and I can't imagine a few hundred pounds more in weight (hood, bumper, rad, etc.) is going to make much difference.

here's how it looks now...


I'd be happy with this...(this car runs same wheel/tire size as mine)...


How do I accomplish this? can it be done without air?




thanks for the help!

[57 Ford Kustom]

Matt
  go to www.jamcosuspension.com  they have 1-2-3' or stock with a chart on what engine , trans, air you have  . I used the 3' ones plus Granada spindles and 14' tires, Service was fast.nice people. My car is up on jack stands and I have a bunch of medical problems preventing me from going down there.


TOM

[meteor]

Thanks Tom. I'll look into that. I also found out today that there is an aerostar coil that matches the stock 57 coil perfectly but gives the car a 2" drop - and the ride quality is apparently way better than a cut spring...

Moog PN CC850
Fit 1990 and other year Ford Aerostar (3.0 or 4.0 engine)
They are $65 at O'Reilly and $52.79 plus shipping at Rockauto.com.

Dimensions:
Diameter: 4.07"
Wire Diameter: 0.735"
Free Height: 11.65"
Load Height: 10"

[abe_lugo]

Meteor,
Please remember to post images of your car once it's all done, and remember all the part numbers help everyone out here!
Abe

[FORDNUT]

Just my opinion, but I would not do another thing like changing springs or cutting until I had all the poweretrain in. The suspension is tight right now and will surely relax with the weight. Been there/ done that.

[JPotter57]

I also used chopped Lincoln Towncar(5.0 automatic, 1993) springs, I think 1.5 or 1.75 coils, plus the Granada spindles  This is what it looked like...

[rockymountaincustom]

I agree with ford nut. All the cars I have built start out like that and you think, what the heck is going on. Just finished a 64 comet that we lowered 2" in the front and 2" in the rear and even all assembled it sat like my superduty deisel. after a couple trips around the parking lot the springs will relax and it will show your lower suspension.

[meteor]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm not going to touch the suspension until the car is finished and has time to settle - I just got really anxious about it.

Abe, I have this car pretty well documented so there will be tons of info to share with those who are interested. I wil probably build a simple website that shows the build process.

[Frankenstein57]

Hey Matt, its hard to tell by the picture, but is the engine and trans in there? That usually squats the car right down.  Mark

[meteor]

Hi Mark, yep the engine and tranny is in the car - which was partly why I was surprised at the height...

[57 Ford Kustom]

Matt
  The thing that has not been brought up yet is the fact that you are using a 302 and trans to match whitch I believe will weigh less than what you took out. some where there must be weights for engine/trans combos.


TOM

[Frankenstein57]

Matt, I delivered my 57 project to my racer buddy on Thursday. We put it up on the lift and gave the project the once over. We got on the subject of front springs, The plan is to get our ride heights close to where we want the car to sit, then select a race type coil spring based on weight of the car. This gets us close, then we are going to run a spring adjuster up inside the spring pocket to tweak the ride height. These are popular in street stock class's that don't allow adjustments, its hidden. Can't wait to get started, I'm up north deer hunting this weekend.   hope this helps, Mark

[meteor]

Thanks Mark, I'll keep that in mind.

Here's something of interest, a thread on the HAMB about using ford aerostar 2WD springs - nice drop and apparently great ride quality.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260795

Details on the part:
Moog PN CC850
Fit 1990 and other year Ford Aerostar (3.0 or 4.0 engine)
They are $65 at O'Reilly and $52.79 plus shipping at Rockauto.com.

Dimensions:
Diameter: 4.07"
Wire Diameter: 0.735"
Free Height: 11.65"
Load Height: 10"