MTFCA Forum

What is the best way to determine the condition/effectiveness of the front spring on my 27 T Touring? Can I take a measurement of the overall length or height of the arch to determine if it is badly sagged. What are the proper measurements if this method is effective?

I have a '27 roadster, which should be the same as the touring on the front. It measures 6 3/4" from the center of the screw in the radiator apron located just below the starting crank to the bottom of the axle beam. This car has a battery and starter, but no bumpers. This measurement will vary from car to car, but should be within 1/2 inch or so.

That spring was introduced in mid 1925. It is an 8 leaf as opposed to the earlier 7 leaf, and sits one inch lower.

You may use this as base line, just purchased a new Front Spring , 8 leaf for my '26-'27 touring from T-Springs. High quality and made to Ford specs. Here are the measures of this new spring.


New T-Spring mfg. 8 Leaf Front 26-27: Overall Height of assembled spring stack lying on flat surface to upper surface of Top Leaf: 6 ¼”. Same measure to Bottom of Main leaf: 4 1/8” Main leaf 33” long , Center of eye to eye of Main leaf 31 ¾”

The measurement I provided above was taken from a complete car sitting on its wheels. Being a roadster, it does have a 7 leaf front spring, rather than an 8 leaf, but I believe the measurement would be similar regardless. If you are measuring a used spring that is off the car, the measurements will be very close to those provided by Mr. Treace for a new spring, regardless of the old spring's condition, provided it is complete and has no broken leaves. It is 13 3/4" from the front outer corners of my running boards to the ground.

Thanks for the info. I am trying to determine the condition of the spring currently on the car so tomorrow I will measure from screw in apron to bottom of axle as suggested by Pat and see what it looks like. I agree that the measurement for a spring that has been removed from the car may be very close to a new spring regardless of condition. Will post results.

It's not clear to me whether my 27 roadster should have a 7 leaf or 8 leaf front spring. I can only count 7 leaves, counting the main leaf. The car's ride height and stance appear typical of 26-27 Ts.

Put a 7 leaf side by side with an 8 leaf, and you will see the difference.

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 14, 2022 3:02 pm

It's not clear to me whether my 27 roadster should have a 7 leaf or 8 leaf front spring. I can only count 7 leaves, counting the main leaf. The car's ride height and stance appear typical of 26-27 Ts.

The Improved Car, '26-'27 has lowered stance, including lowered spindles. All body styles came with the new lower 8-leaf spring.


From the Encyclopedia:
1926-1927
FRONT: New 8-leaf spring used on all cars.
REAR: 8-leaf spring for all cars except the Sedans that used a 9-leaf, both the same as used in 1925. The 6-leaf was discontinued.

These springs are resting on the ground - no load on them. I just added as a reference for lowering. You should be able to count the springs that you can see and then there may be 1 other in the cross member tunnel.
The only way you can really tell what you have is to remove them. Unless you have a real issue with ride comfort I'd pass on further investigation. If your just curious, let it be and move on. If you brought this to a dealer and said I think my front spring may be worn, I'm sure he would have replaced them based on your analysis.
This link has measurements of each individual spring https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=774

Pat remember your car is a Montana 500 car a leaf was removed front & rear to lower car.

OK. That makes sense. I'm going to leave it as-is. It has plenty of axle clearance and ground clearance, and plenty of roll stiffness when cornering. I'd think adding any leaves would only make it ride harder.

Thanks for the input on measurements. I have measured the spring on the car and the measurement from center of screw below crank cover to bottom axle is 6 3/4" as recommended. Center to center of eyes on the main leaf is 32" so it appears that everything is within spec. What lead me down this road was the difficulty getting at the oilers on the bottom end of the shackles. Maybe that's just the nature of the beast. I'll try to attach a couple of pics to see if they look ok to you guys.

That oiler can be problematic at best - I use a small bar to lever over the spring to oil.

I have the oiler on my spring placed so it will open fairly easy from the side. I can usually flick it open with the end of my oil can.

Regarding my measurement of 6 3/4" from the apron screw to the bottom of the axle, I've been informed that my car has a 7 leaf front spring rather than the stock 8 leaf spring. The rear spring on my car also has had 1 leaf removed. Thus it has a lower than stock ride height, front and rear. It works great under all conditions, so that dimension is at least enough, but a new stock spring would give a higher ride height. From the front outer corner of my running boards to the ground is close to 14". The oilers on the front spring eyes are a little difficult to access, but it's do-able. To sum up, if you have an 8 leaf front spring, the 6 3/4" measurement indicates that your spring is a bit flatter than stock, but not to the point of being an issue. I would not alter or replace it unless I was prepared to replace both the front and rear springs and related hardware. Most likely, both springs on your car are in about the same condition, and should be good for a long time to come unless you carry very heavy loads over rough ground or do a lot of off-roading. There are a some advantages to the lower ride height, such as better handling, a slightly longer wheelbase, and a reduced U joint operating angle. The lower spring arch will also increase caster slightly, which can improve tracking stability. Keeping springs and all chassis hardware well-lubricated can make a big difference in ride comfort and road handling.

Thanks guys for all the input. Looks like I will stay with what I have. I plan to put a few new oilers in to replace some missing/damaged ones, so I will try to position the ones in the shackles for easiest access.