I am doing a frame up on my overdrive 1957 T-Bird (E-model) which will be street driven. I want to improve handling and am trying to find a source for front coil springs with a higher spring rate than the stock 290 #'s per inch. ( I have front & rear heavy duty anti-sway bars) I have found 1956 Ford springs with 420 lbs/inch but that might be too harsh?? David C.

I haven't modified the springs on my 'Bird (yet:hehe ) but I have on my F-100 and others...

It has been my experience that aspect ratio on the tires/wheels makes a bigger difference with the "harsh" feel than the actual springs. If you are doing aa frame-off on an E-Bird, I imagine you are planning on keeping a fairly stock appearance, with 70 or 75 series 14 or 15" tires.

Given that assumption, I would not expect the heavier springs you note above to be too bad, although certainly a noticable difference. With the higher spring rate, though, you will likely need to remove a partial or full coil (given that the static heights are the same) to maintain the "stock" ride height.

I would go for it. I was shocked how well my '56 handled with the rag (bias ply) tires that it currently has. I can certainly understand why people liked to race these cars...

Done rambling now...others may have a different view, this has been my experience.

BIGREDTODD

Todd in Central California...about half way between Fresno and Sacramento

1956 Thunderbird - 1960 F-100 - 1961 Starliner - 1961 Imperial

Dave

I replaced the front springs on my 55 Tbird heavier springs. I do not recall the lbs/inch rating but I believe they are 450 lbs/inch. I did not cut them and with the 215/70 15 inch radials the front fender wheel arch is just under 27 inch off the ground. The springs are made of .618 inch wire. I have front and rear sway bars and KYB gas shocks. The ride is not harsh or choppy.

The 57 Ford shop manual list the 57 Tbird springs as free height of 14.99inch.

I put 620 lb front springs in a 66 Shelby GT350 that had factory springs ( 480 lbs?) and that was an acceptable ride also. If your cars front end was as worn as mine was before the rebuild, that alone will make a whole world of difference. Pete

David, I put heavier 56 ford springs on my 56 tbird and THEY DID NOT WORK, my front end was sooooo stiff that the bird wouldn't lean enough in front to bite in a curve and made it more dangerous to drive on these curvy roads here in Asheville. Put the original springs back on the front with a one inch aluminium spacer in the top where they can't be seen and just by adding a rear sway bar the bird drives beautiful. I tried a heavier station wagon front sway bar and found that to be abit too much, put the original back on and figured out ford worked out most of the details more than I realized. So what I found for me to be the biggest benefit on handling was the simple addition of the rear sway bar and heavy duty gas shocks. The only reason I put the spacers on top of my front springs was to lift the bird slightly in front because of my 16 inch wheels over my disk brakes and still have enough give for a good ride.

-Gary Burnette-

Gary, Pete & Todd- Thanks for the info! I was able to find a vendor who made a T-Bird spring with 360 lbs. per inch, which is about 25 % stiffer than stock. Hopefully this will be a good compromise. David C.

Please post back with impressions/results... I too am considering stiffer springs.  I'm considering a source that can custom make a progressive rate spring that could also be shorter for a 1-2" lower stance in the front.

Cheers... Brian

PS: Is a 7/8" sway bar sufficient or would 1-1/8" be a better choice?

Cylinder Index = 84

Current Experiment = `57 Tbird, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Noob: Are you referring to the front or rear?..

Paul

Regarding the sway bar, I'm inquiring about either the front and rear, thou typically I've understood the front should be stiffer than the rear bar so as to prevent oversteer.

Cheers... Brian

Cylinder Index = 84

Current Experiment = `57 Tbird, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Read my post above on my experience with the front heavier station wagon sway bar versus the original sway bar on my 56 tbird with a rear sway bar being used. Using the rear sway bar was all that was needed with the original front bar supplied by Ford. When I installed the wagon front bar everything was just too stiff with no lean in a curve which caused the front end to lose it's grip because the tires just couldn't get enough bit for traction. You get to experience alot of that here in the mountains of Asheville, N.C. This is only my experience, it may be different with others on the forum.

-Gary Burnette-

Where did you get front/rear sway bar?



Thanks