1952 Ford Bags

[Mad Jack]

Hey Darren, it' s Jack again. After the panel truck is done, I have to get to work on my wife' s ' 52 Ford Customline. You do have a kit listed in the catalog for the rear of the car, but I didn' t see anything listed for the front. What should I use? Keep in mind, it' s for a girl who doesn' t care if it raises or lowers in less than a second. In fact, she probably won' t even use the bags. They' re there for me!!! However, she' s gotta drive it...

As far as the panel is concerned, I' m bead blasting and painting the front suspension stuff this weekend, as well as installing the front Wilwood brakes. Whenenver I get done pressing the bushings in, and reinstalling the A-arms, spindles, etc., I get to build the 9" third member, install it, install the axles, and Wilwood rear discs. Then I get to put on that pesky panhard bar. Whew!!! I should have it sitting on it' s bumpstops by the end of next week.

[darren@ridetech.com]

Sounds like you' ve been busy Jack. For the 52 Ford we actually use the 49-51 Merc. kit. It works great. For a compressor kit I would use the ARC4000, or if you want something really hands free go for the Intelliride.
You will have to send some pics of the panel truck when it is finished.

[Mad Jack]

For her car, I just might use the Intelliride. At least she won' t be confused about it. I still have to track down a front disc brake kit for it.

Yeah, I' ve been busy as hell on that panel truck. The only things really holding me up are the front end bushings from Energy Suspension. The front clip is from an unidentified Camaro, so I' ve had to buy kit after kit from Energy Suspension, because they' re " application based" , and won' t take measurements from my used bushings to tell me what kit to buy. I always thought the clip was from a ' 75-' 81 because it' s front steer, but some of the bushings fit, and some don' t. These are two separate kits (' 75-' 79 and ' 80-' 81), and now the only other option is to try the ' 70-' 74 and the ' 82-' 92 kits.

Other than that, everything seems to be coming along nicely. After I get it on the ground, and the front end sheetmetal stripped off for paint, I' ll send you all some pix. It won' t be super soon or anything, probably at the end of September. Then, of course, I' ll send some pics after it' s done.

[darren@ridetech.com]

I doubt the front end is 82-92 because that is a strut suspension.

[Mad Jack]

Yep, you' re right. As it turns out, the ' 70-' 72 kit fits. Sort of. Unfortunately, my press broke, and bent the control arm that was getting the new bushings. Now it' ll be a little while longer, because I' m going out of town next week. I did, however, manage to track down another control arm. I just won' t have the time to get to all of the stuff I' d planned to do before we leave.

And I won' t be using Energy Suspension' s stuff.

[Mad Jack]

Isn' t the front end of a ' 49-' 51 Merc a solid axle? I know that the Fords from the same generation are, so I kinda figured...

[darren@ridetech.com]

No. It' s IFS. They are a little differnt though. The 49-up Fords are the same.

[Mad Jack]

The ' 49-up Fords are the same as what? You' re saying that they' re the same as each other, solid axle, right?

[darren@ridetech.com]

49-up Ford Cars and Mercs are not solid axle. They have upper and lower control arms.