Easiest/cheapest lowering

Alright, I just picked up my first vintage van, (1964 Travelwagon) and I was hoping to learn the most common way to lower both the front and rear of the van? "Without going $ crazy."

That depends on how low you want to go. Some de-arch their springs, others remove a spring or two and still others flip the axles. Remember the lower you go the less air coming up inside the dog house which can cause overheating. Personally if I had a travel wagon I would want to keep it at stock height

vanishingbreed wrote:. . . Remember the lower you go the less air coming up inside the dog house which can cause overheating. . .

I'm a little curious! The air below the belly pan doesn't make it up there anyway, does it?

Welcome to the site!!!

some does but then I never use a belly pan.

Thanks! Happy to be here, and happy to have a very cool van. I don,t want to slam it or anything. I was thinking a couple of inches front and rear.

de-arch the springs then or remove a spring. That is what a lot of people do.

I suspected as much, but I wanted to ask people who know. As soon as I can I'll post pics. How about flipping the rear axle? good or bad?

It's seems like the lack of travel is the killer when flipping axles.Really should notch the rails. Short shackles and one leaf out is what I plan on doing after I get all the other things working in my Travelwagon. Also there is having your front axle dropped.The place says 2.5 drop and 1 inch narrow.

Hmm, good stuff. I will have to find somebody who drops front axles!

Flipping the rear axle will give you more than a 2" drop.

Talk to southernman pretty sure his was dropped and he changed it back because the ride was so bad

Thanks G-Man...I will take that into consideration.
I don't want a van that doesn't ride.

I have never known anyone that lowered their Econo that didn't revert back because of the ride. People try different ways all of the time but always seem to revert back. The only way I would do it is with a good air ride suspension and they are expensive.

Here is a place that can drop your front axle.
http://www.roadsters.com/axles/

Funny I spoke to Dave at Roadsters for a while, and he said they won't do an Econoline axle, that was 3 months ago. I ended up using Sid's in Oklahoma. Quality was excellent and turn-around time was good.

George

SDEconoTruck wrote:Funny I spoke to Dave at Roadsters for a while, and he said they won't do an Econoline axle, that was 3 months ago. I ended up using Sid's in Oklahoma. Quality was excellent and turn-around time was good.

George

Do you have a link for Sids

Hi Mike,

He goes by "Nostalgia Sid's" and his website is:
http://www.droppedaxles.com/
Go to the Fords page and scroll down to the bottom.

He offers a 2 inch drop which pulls the wheels
inboard 3/4" on each side. There is a potential
interference issue if the wheels are pulled inboard
any more than that. Still,at 3/4" the Driver's Side
bump stop must be altered a bit.

I was thinking of posting a thread about how I
lowered my front end which is now almost too low
for my tastes but is starting to look really good, ha ha.


It was kind of a fluke as this all happened after
a member here sold me an axle because mine was bent,
it's been fun!
George

As mentioned, my van came with a drop axle, installed for the previous owner. My guess is the reason he parted with it was because the front end was such a nightmare. Ride was terrible, but that was the least of it. It was downright dangerous to drive, and the cob job on the steering knuckle would blow your mind.

I'm sure it can be done, but this wasn't the way. I ended up finding a stock axle and bringing it back to factory height. I admit, I loved the way it looked when it was dropped, and I would like to bring it back down a couple inches, but going the cheap route is bound to be something you regret. I'll probably get the front springs de-arched when the time comes, but many other things need to be done first.