| This forum is for all years of the Ford Galaxie and all other Full-size Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury cars. This is a place to share information, skills, pictures, and stories for the purpose of building friendships and furthering the enjoyment and restoration of these cars |
Offline
Complete engine SOHC and tranny, no fluids, 693lbs
Offline
Even new stock springs with a coil taken off them may get you what you want. On the '49-59 the hot ticket is the Moog Aerostar springs. Moog CC850.
Line up a few springs, compare the dimensions and rates. Very important, the ends have to be the same as the stock springs.
Offline
So how would I figure out a good spring that
Will make the front end handle a little better then ,just stock springs?
If a line a few types up what am I looking for?
For example the 92-02 police Vic shares the same ends as my 64 galaxie
Thread StarterOffline
spring rates are something that people mess up on all the time IMHO. The reason is due to one fact or concept, "the stiffer the spring the better the handling." While there is truth in this statement, there are far better ways to get good handling. If you were building a track car where the road conditions were smooth than yes stiffer (to a point) is better. In the real world however things are different. Roads are full of imperfections and going with two stiff of a spring will make for a teeth jarring harsh ride.
So what do you do, well there are no shorting of charts and spring rate calculators online and yes they will get you in the ball park based on weight but again for a street driven car there are better options.
The first thing I would recommend is a stiffer sway bar. The one that came on these cars is practically worthless. Upgrading to 1" sway bar will tie the LCAs together better then the OEM unit and allow a softer spring to handle better and still give you a comfortable ride.
how is the ride of your car currently, and how is the ride height?
In the case of my car I started with a 1" sway bar, I then took out the OEM 352 and automatic transmission. I replaced them with a 302 (aluminum heads and intake), aluminum bodied 5-speed and corresponding aluminum bellhousing. The weight difference was probably 4-500 pounds in reduction. Once I got the car going again the 50 year old OEM springs, even though tired and worn out, were way to stiff so I had to go with softer springs. I also went with stiffer shocks to help balance out the springs. Now my car handles well AND has a smooth ride. If I was racing it rather than driving it on the street I would have done things differently. So I guess for the best results you need to take a good look at where things are currently, then decided how you want to use the car THEN figure out the best spring rate to accomplish your goals.
Offline
Daze
Thanks
Never got to see or drive the factory springs
The car was a project from the start, so I pulled the 289 and c4 and replaced it with a dohc 4.6 and a 5 spd
So the weights should be almost the same
I just like the handling of my 2000 police crown Vic
And would like something like that.
Where did you go about getting a bigger sway bar for the front?
Thread StarterOffline
69crewcab wrote:
Daze
I just like the handling of my 2000 police crown Vic
And would like something like that.
Where did you go about getting a bigger sway bar for the front?
A crown Vic handles the way it does because of the entire suspension as a unit not just because of the springs. Given the weight that your front end will have (very similar to mine) I don't think you will find a good springs off the shelf. Trust me I looked all the springs available for our cars are set up for the big block and my tired OEM big block springs were way to stiff so much so that my front end sat 4" taller than it should have. yes you could have something custom made but that will be quite $$. With everything you have done so far I would highly recommend the coil overs like I did. As to the sway bar I ordered it from PST
Offline
Inquire with Eaton about custom springs for your set up. From what I've read in past custom lowering springs from Eaton were not terribly expensive, around twice the cost of MOOG replacements. They can probably give you good advice on what weights to use and spring rates to consider. Check Addco for sway bars, front and rear, and they will be available from all the big parts guys, like Summit and Jegs.
Last edited by 70XL (January 27, 2016 1:58 pm)
Offline
Check Addco for sway bars, front and rear, and they will be available from all the big parts guys, like Summit and Jegs.
Summit doesn't have a listing for a sway bar on a 64 Galaxie but Jegs does. Jegs wants about $40 more than PST
Offline
Hey Dan
Do you have pictures or a build post on how you did your rack n pinion install?
Thanks
Justin
Offline
Hey Dan
Do you have pictures or a build post on how you did your rack n pinion install?
Dan and I both have threads on the R&P install. We both have the same basic setup utilizing the GM J-car rack but we built our mounts and set things up a little differently.
Dan's
Mine
