Could somebody with a 60-63 Chero take a pic, or draw a sketch, or look at my sketch of what I have and see if they can figure out where I'm going wrong? Right now the shackles are swinging forward, which doesn't seem right, but it won't go together any other way.

I've called 4 different manufacturers of springs, and all say the rear springs are 20/28, for a total length of the longest leaf of 50" following the arch, which is the same size as the one unbroken spring I had.

The the body eye-to-eye is 49", so with a total spring length of 50" there is no way the shackle is gonna swing to the back like it seems it oughta..

Maybe the rear suspension works the way I have it and I just don't understand how (which is ok), or I have the rear frame eye wrong, or I'm missing some sorta spacer or other part, or... But I don't know what's right cuz I don't have anything to compare it to.

I've got the rest of the drivetrain finished, but can't get off the jackstands

Here's a sketch of the way it is now.

Regards,
Charlie
'63 with a lot o' work left

 

no no no! you got no spring travel there!

either you have the wrong springs, or someone has moved something.
there may be a differance in wagon/ranchero springs, and regular sedan springs.

 

Yes, there is no spring travel that way, which why I suspect the other spring broke when they loaded a 144 engine on the broken spring side.

That's why I called the actual spring manufacturers to see what their specs said, so my conclusion is that there is a part missing, shackle mounting, or some other problem. Obviously I can't move the front eye, so something is wrong at the rear eye. The shackle length is 3 1/2", for what it's worth.

Charlie

 

The springs on my 63 ranchero are longer than the ones on my sons 62 falcon 2dr. The old school hotrodders used to use the longer ranchero springs in the falcons to jack the rear end up. I'll take some pics if you still need em. Just tell me what you need pics of.

 

I moved the rear frame eyes forward 2" to make the springs fit. Thanks for the reply.

Charlie

 

If you do ever get the chance to measure the springs, let me know the length. When I moved the rear frame eye I bolted it in place, so when I get rich and famous I can order the correct length springs and move the frame hanger back...

Charlie

 

I'll bet you have 1964 and later springs, which are different than 1960/63 springs. The shackles are also different. The parts catalog doesn't list the length. If the length was given, I would have told you when you first posted the question. The 64/65 Falcon springs are the same as 1965/66 Mustang in several applications, and all have a Ford engineering number stamped on them. That engineering number, can be translated.

The 1964/65 Falcon station wagon and Ranchero's have 4 leaf springs, the sedans have three as original.

1966/70 rear springs are also different from the 1960/63's and 64/65's.

 

For what's worth, 2 of the manufacturers told me 60Ranchero's had 1/8" more arch than 62-63. That's why I was hoping somebody could actually measure the springs they have. But moving the rear eye forward at least gets it operational.

 

I take back what I said earlier. I just measured and both my 63 ranchero and my sons 62 2dr have what appears to be the same spring. They are 50.5" from eye to eye with the car on the ground. Each spring pack consists of 5 leaves. Front eye to center of axle is 22.5". Hope this helps you out.

 

Thanks much. My eye-to-eye distance is the same, but my front spring length is 2.5 in. shorter, which explains why I had to move the rear eye forward 2".

Maybe someday I get the longer springs and move the eye backward to its rightful location.

But thanks very much for the info. I do appreciate it.

Charlie

 

Shoot. now I suppose my driveshaft is too long with my shorter front-of-the-spring distance.

 

Yep that will put the axle forward in the wheelwell and make changing tires a pain also

 

Hell, I don't know what I'm doing.
I went out and measured again and my front spring eye-to-axle IS 22.5", and the frame eye-to-eye IS 50". To me, that means the rear spring axle-to-eye which was quoted as 28" is wrong. But at this point what do I know...

Charlie

 

Sounds to me like it's right.