[mopar 36]

HI; am new in here. Have a 36 dodge with a mustang11 clip under the front end. Am doing some rework of the body and other problem areas. The problem is the front end is too low (looks good , but is not practical for the street) (drag headers every time i pull in the garage). There are slotted bolt holes on the spring cap where the upper arm attaches. These bolts are all the way in towards the engine. will moving these bolts outward raise the front end and what kind of problems will this create? The second problem is that i cannot find a name on this clip so i do not know who's product i am dealing with. Have looked the front end over pretty good and everything is in good shape ( is a clean job and all the welds are in great shape) . Has anyone got some ideas?

[poncho62]

The easiest thing to do is to put taller tires on it. The slotted holes are probably for ajusting the alignment. You might end up installing new springs.

[ShamrockCustoms]

you probably have 2" drop spindles on that bad boy, changing to stock height sprindles will fix you up and not even have to re-do your alignment.......

[mopar 36]

Thanks--shamrock customs and poncho 62---for your input. I would like to stay with the same tire size that i have . So i will be checking the spindles tomorrow to see if they are stock or dropped. The car drives very well and i don't want to change any of the geometry if i dont have to-----just want to stop hitting bottom on every speed bump i come to. If all else fails i may have to work on the headers. thanks again

[poncho62]

I have a similar problem with my pickup. it rubs the front bumper on the bottom of the driveway, if I'm not carefull..... I put a Nova clip under the pickup. It has stock spindles, so i think I am going to get new springs, as I feel that mine have sagged a bit. After all, they are 27 years old (1976)

[mopar 36]

Poncho 62---you got a good lookin truck there. Mine sits in the garage ---gutted and the paint stripped off----hope to be on the road again in the spring if the money holds out.

[poncho62]

Thats what I did last winter.

[Bluejackets67]

If your Dodge frame is like the Plymouth, it's hard to get one not to sit too low. The Plymouth's have a high "kick-up" in the front rails.
The Mustang II are designed for the lower arms to be level, at ride height. You can cheat and have the ball joint down 1" from level, but I personally wouldn't go any more than that. Do you know where the lower arms were, before you tore it down?

[mopar 36]

bluejackets: Have not torn down suspention yet. Have taken off everything else. Engine is only thing sitting on the front end, but lower arms seem to be sitting level. sorry didn't answer sooner---computer started acting up.

[Bluejackets67]

Since you haven't torn down yet, jack the front up until the lower arms are level with the ground. This is the "ideal" setting.
You can cheat and run the ball-joint end up or down 1" max.
This will at least give you an idea on how the car should set and help you decide if you need to modify anything.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

yeah........ what he said......... Also like mentioned earlier, you may want to verify if you have dropped spindles or dropped spindles.........

[akm]

what about just installing some shorty headers?

[mopar 36]

Thanks for the help guys. I checked it out and i don't have dropped spindles (guess that would have been too easy ). I am still working on the problem while i do a little rewiring. I will try dropping the front end off the jack stands to check the lower arms for sitting level. Have a 440 cuda motor in this thing with a B&M hydro ,so i am pretty restricted for room between the engine and frame. Its begining to look like i may have to make some major changes to stop draging problem. Thanks again guys, if you get any ideas let me know.

[ShamrockCustoms]

no drop spindles, eh? well, you can check to see if the springs are lowered also. if not, also have the spring rate checked. these springs may not be the right rate for your weight......


good luck!!!

[jpd37]

I have a 37 Ply and installed a Fatman IFS on it last year. After I had the motor back in we took measurements and found the frame horns to be 2" too high. So we cut the springs to lower the setup by 1". That brought the lower A arms to about 4 degrees above level. We figured the sheet metal would bring the A arms level. At first that is exactly what happened. Then spring sag set in and it stopped almost 3/4" lower than desired. Your springs may also have been cut. We added spring shims to return the car to the ride height we wanted and the handling and ride do not seem to be affected. The fix cost me $6. If that is not your preference, then I think the springs are your next best bet. You may have undersized springs for that size motor. If you do replace the springs, don't be too quick to cut them. Let them settle in first. Load the fromt end over the winter and roll the chassis occasionally to make the set take completely. Then decide if a trim is right. Good Luck!