Hello all,
Been a while. Moving right along with my 1945 ford p/u.
Working on the frame suspension now.
Found a sweet 1979 front stub off of a 79 camaro,11" rotors.
Found a sweet rear end off of a 1980 TA, 10 bolt, 11" rotors.
This will give me all disc brakes now. Cool ! Have to get a portioning valve !

THE QUESTION THAT I HAVE FOR ALL YOU EXPERTS OUT THERE ???

Why can't I reuse the old rear leaf springs on the 45 p/u and just take out 4-6 leafs or what ever springs to get a decent ride,weld some new perches on the 80 TA rear end to narrow it to fit, and use some adjustable shocks. HOW many leafs would be feasible with the original leaf springs?. The original rear leafs springs sets have 10 leafs on them now. I am not going to haul anything in this truck. Would be sweet being able to keep what I have on there and not have to relocate spring mounts for longer springs !

Or would it be better to use the leaf springs that came on the 80 TA rear end? They are much longer and have to relocate the spring mounts on the frame.

Srry this is so long ,but was trying to explain the best I could on this subject.
Thanks all,
Biglee

PS. If you prefer e-mail me at; 45fordpickup@mchsi.com

 

Why couldn't you use the stock leafs? They can be used, with a few leaves removed. Might work with about half of them pulled...especially if the truck isn't going to have any heavy loads carried or towed by it. Other option you could do is buy replacement leaf springs for a '45 and pull the leaves from the new ones, that way you end up with new springs. Leaf springs crack over many years of use (as you may know) so the originals may not be able to stand up to having 6 leaves removed w/o cracking. Welding the new spring perches on would be easy, just make sure the pinion angle is correct before welding.

 

Thanks Gary,
What is the best way to figure out the pinion angle?
Motor and tranny are not in the truck yet,and probably won't be for a month or two.
Also,my 45 ford p/u had 10 leafs in it. Is this normal to have that many for a 1/2 ton trk?
Thanks,
Lee

 

Biglee,
I have a 1946 p/u I have a 9" ford under it you can use the older springs as long as they are not cracked I took out 5 leafs and rides perty good. These springs are short so they won't ride as well as you 80 TA springs but remenber the movement in your rear suspension does not have as much as the TA does with out knoching out the frame. Also your spring perch on the 46 is 2" wide if you buy spring perches newer ones are 2 1/2" wide I cut and narrowed mine. also rear shocks need to be short I used ones for a 68 4x2 chevy p/u front because of the short strock. I hope this helps you.

 

Thanks Flames,
This is definetly going to help me.Hopfuly only have to swap springs one time.
What did you use for the bottom and top support for the shocks ?
Thanks,
Lee

 

I played with the springs on my '52 and pulled 4 of them out for a little while and then I emussed myself afterwards with my new tranpoline.

Just kidding. The ride was lowered about 1.5 inches, 1 of them from sagging, and the bed did seem a bit bouncy (with me jumping up and down in it) compared to the way the truck was before, but the bounce was simular to a few modern cars that I know of.

I didn't drive it enough to get a good feel of if the ride would be sacrificed, but I can tell you that the truck never started bouncing like it did when I tried the same thing on the front.


If your looking into lowering it, you may gain a few inches by relocating the spring brackets higher on the frame. With the stock springs lowered like this there will be less travel with the axel than there would be with half the leafs removed, thus keeping an empty bed will still give you a good chance of not bottoming out when the unexspected happens.

You might try measuring the height unloaded compared to fully loaded and then raise the brackets that distance so that the ride would be almost like the truck was intended to.

Or you could try them both by taking out the leafs first , then driving around with some clay in between the axel and the frame to find out just how much travel you actually need, and then raising the brackets.


Oh ya, 10 springs sound about right, even for a 1/2 ton. Most trucks are built with a a certain safety margine just in case some one doesn't add up the weight that they put into the back.


Now that was a long post. Hope some of this may help. Good luck with it!

 

Biglee,

In view of all the other changes you are making, I'd go with the T/A springs and mounts. You will get a better ride and the shock mounting should be easier. I'm planning on using the rear springs from an 87 5th Avenue on my 48 F-3. The original springs have 13 leaves on each side. If you decide to keep the original spring set up, five leaves on each side should be about right if you do not plan to carry loads...

 

Biglee

The rear shock mounts top is 1/2" bolt thru frame rail then I made a tapered spacer to move shock a 1/4" from frame and welded on. The bottom is two peices of 1/4" plate cut and shaped to fit rear end housing and welded. I don't know if Gary ansered your question on pinion angle but I might help take your rear end and set it on jack stands and level it with a protractor that has a magnet on it side to side and end to end. Now put protractor on pinion and level it to 0 degrees then set your perches where they need to be on housing put protractor on perch set them at 0 degrees will work and weld down if you need a little + or - degrees you can set it know or buy tapered degree shims but 0 works. Oh and don't forget to make traction bars because these springs will twist under good torque. I hope this helps.

Thanks Larry

 

Biglee: You have the same setup as I do on my 47. I used the stock springs. If memory serves right, there are 4 or 5 leafs used. As for shocks, we took the mounts off the axle that was in it when I bought it, a mid 50s GM and welded them to the same spots on the newer axle. Amazingly, the tubes were the same diameter. Then I measured from the top mount to the bottom, and looked for a shock with a little longer stroke, and would sit in the middle of the stroke at normal loads.

 

Hello All,
Thanks for all the help. This should really help me out.
I have the rear end mounted and getting ready to get the frame turned around and getting ready to install a 1979 camaro front stub. This ought to be fun. Lots of measuring.
Any hints are welcome.
Thanks,
Lee

 

hey there big lee i got a 46 pickup and clipped it with a caprice and also used the rear end out of the caprice . i also used rear leafs off a chevy 1/2 ton. i think if i did it again i would fit the springs under frame rails so you would not have to deal with running board brackets and such also if you wanted to tub and put wider tires on at a later date it would not be a problem.if you use the newer springe they will have rubber bushings and this means no more greasing and less viberation.i hope this helps you

 

Hi all got my box finished on my truck came out good floor is red oak and bolt less stainless strips check out under flames its a 1946

 

Posies super slides under mine. unfortunatly i need to c the frame...the axle housing does not have enough clearance & hits the frame on big bumps

9 inch out of a 69 ranchero

 

Fitzwell,

I assume you installed the 9 inch on top of the springs. How much rear end travel do you have with the Posies springs before it hits the frame? I have installed the rear in my 48 F-1 above the springs also but used another type of spring. I don't have the bed on yet and I have about 5-6 inches of travel right now. I am concerned that when the weight of the bed is added that 5 inches is going to shrink to about 2-3 inches and I will also have clearance problems. Are the Posies springs relatively soft? How many leaves?

Vern

 

Vern, will count leaves tonight...you are correct, housing is on top of the springs & there is about 2 inches of clearence. This will be fixed before the next trip to Louisiana.