39 rake
 

Hi gents

I have reverse eye on 39. 225 on rear and 205 tires front. I would like to raise the rear another few inches. I have tube shocks on now. Are there adjustable shocks I can put on rear?

Re: 39 rake
 

Your rear have a reversed eye spring? If so return it back to non reversed eye.

Re: 39 rake
 

No stock springs in rear

Re: 39 rake
 

Buggy spring or parallel ? You say springs.l don't think replacing the shocks will do much.Air shocks maybe but your ride will be compromised.Most guys want to go the other way.How about a couple pics.

Re: 39 rake
 

Spacers , either using a few old springs or a plate , shocks will / may need to be relocated if lift exceeds travel of shock. Best way is a new rear spring with more arch .

Re: 39 rake
 

If you raise the rear to obtain a "rake" rear end gear oil will drain down the inside of your torque tube and destroy your torque center bearing. Of course, this assumes you are still using a torque tube with a stock rear. With a radical rake you will also need 2 jacks to change the tires. One to first raise the frame and another to raise the axle. Can you post a few photos of what you're dealing with??

Re: 39 rake
 

I changed my torque tube to a 40 that had the center bearing. My 39 P/U did not have a center bearing, reason for the change also with the upgraded gears. That is a great consideration also when servicing a vehicle.

Re: 39 rake
 

If he's just changing springs , the body is raised not the axle , so no draining should occur . Unless I'm off base the only way draining could happen is with huge rear tires an short , real short on the front .
Caster will however change .

Re: 39 rake
 

Raising the rear will also change the caster alignment in the front end. The caster is what makes the car go straight down the road and not wander all over the place. There are no front-end alignment adjustments on an early Ford except for toe-in. Everything else is built into the parts which is neat because it cannot go out of adjustment unless you bend the axle, wishbone, spindle or tie-rod.

Any alignment changes other then toe-in requires bending the axle. You would need to bend the ends back to regain your caster. Not to many shops can do that. It takes special vintage hydraulic axle bending tools to bend an I-beam axle on the vehicle. They bend them cold. There use to be two old time shops here that could do it that but they have been out of business for years. The tools don't exist anymore. I've seen photos of them but I've never seen one in person. You could bend the axle in a hydraulic press if you could figure out a way to hold the axle while you twisted the ends?

I had a '65 Mustang Fastback with air shocks when I was a kid. If you let the air out of the shocks and lowered the rear the car drove straight. If you pumped them up and gave the car a lot of rake it wandered all over the place, especially when braking. Back then I didn't understand why it made such a difference but it was because I was changing the caster setting.

Re: 39 rake
 

Thank gents

I’m not lookin for anything radical. Just 2-3 inches. My rear spring is original and I think like me tired. I though those adjustable shocks would be a simpler fix than replacing rear spring.

Re: 39 rake
 

If you already have tube shocks on the rear you could replace them with air shocks.

Re: 39 rake
 

Clearance might be an issue, they will be larger in diameter.

Re: 39 rake
 

Would a spring with more leafs raise your body height?
1939 springs came in various leaf counts. Plus, you could always have a spring made.
Or, perhaps all you need is to have a siffer non-reversed main leaf spring made.
Reversed eye stock springs usually lower a car 1 inch.

Raising the body 3 in. might make the rear wheel/fender spacing look goofy.
Any chance of posting a side view of your car to see the profile

Re: 39 rake
 

I wouldn't call 3" not radical.

Re: 39 rake
 

Go to a larger rear tire...........................
Paul in CT

Re: 39 rake
 

I'm kinda of a dummy but I like a 39/40 coupe with some rubber rake. How does one prevent the rear differential grease from ruining the center bearing? My first Hot Rod was a 39 deluxe coupe with a nail head and original trans and rear with big and little's. I drove the car 25-30 k before selling it and never gave gear oil drainage a thought. That was in the early 70's

Re: 39 rake
 

His post said 225 on rear. That’s what I have on my 39. Doubt a larger tire would fit.

Re: 39 rake
 

Doubt big littles would affect diff grease issue. As just mentioned u can’t go any larger than 225 in rear without hitting fender.

Re: 39 rake
 

These folks make a torque tube seal that solves the problem.
Bruce’s Rod Shop
6721 Klein Cemetery Rd.
Spring, TX. 77379
Phone: 281 376-5932 or 1(866) 400-3411
It looks like this:

Re: 39 rake
 

Raising the rear would not (on it's own) create the oil flow from axle to trans problem.

Putting bigger diameter tires on the back would, as would fitting smaller tires on the front, or lowering the front.

But raising the rear suspension would actually help the oil flow situation, not make it worse.

When considering these things, you need to think about what would raise the rear of the torque tube, like bigger rear tires, or lower the front of the torque tube, like lowering the front. Raising the rear would actually raise the front of the torque tube by about 40% of the raising at the rear so would help. Bear in mind, only the body and frame are higher, the rear of the torque tube is at the same height as before as you have not fitted bigger rear tires.

Mart.