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A True Bolt-In Lowered Suspension Assembly For Tri-Fives - Get On DownFrom the January, 2012 issue of Rod & Custom By Kev Elliott
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There’s never been a better time to tackle a custom project, as today’s aftermarket can supply pretty much anything you need, especially if you don’t stray into oddball vehicle territory. The venerable Tri-Five Chevy is a case in point, where much like a ’32 Ford, brand-new steel bodyshells and new chassis are available. Here’s our subject, a stock... Here’s our subject, a stock four-door ’55 wagon on skinny whites ’n’ five-spokes. The drum brakes, sloppy suspension, and vague steering weren’t exactly up to par for today’s freeway traffic. With its vast line of suspension, brakes, and steering parts for both Chevy and Ford (cars and trucks), Classic Performance Parts (CPP) should be a familiar name to most readers. When it came to lowering Paul Gauvry’s ’55 Chevy wagon, CPP really was a one-stop shop, and supplied not only the suspension parts, but a complete brake system and the necessary steering parts to upgrade the longroof to a comfortable cruiser with the stance to match. We’ll deal with the braking and steering assemblies in future issues and concentrate on the lowered suspension here. Not only is the entire system a bolt-in deal, but each separate assembly, such as the upper or lower control arms, come with installation instructions, making the fitting process painless and simple. The instructions are also available from the company’s website (www.classicperform.com). In fact, the hardest part of the install is probably removing the rusted old components from your project! A word of caution though: Treat compressed coil springs with the respect they deserve, as they can be lethal if removed or installed incorrectly. If you thought lowering your car the correct way—not heating the springs until the car drops to the desired height—was complicated, think again. With little more than a decent set of hand tools, floor jack, and jackstands, this suspension drop should easily be completed in a weekend.  CPP’s Tri-Five tubular upper...  CPP’s Tri-Five tubular upper and lower control arms. The uppers are fabricated to provide 5 degrees of caster, and both pairs are supplied with the cross-shafts already assembled and fitted. Fitting instructions are also provided, as well as available from CPP’s website as PDF files.  We’ll be dealing with the...  We’ll be dealing with the brake system next month, but the 2-inch drop spindles came from CPP fully assembled with rotors, calipers, and hoses. These are CPP’s newer drop spindles, which don’t feature integral caliper brackets, though the earlier modular versions do. The newer style allows fitment of big brake kits and doesn’t limit the size of rotor that can be used. Ours feature optional cross-drilled rotors.  With the car supported on...  With the car supported on jackstands, or in our case, on a rack, the first order of business in disassembling the frontend is to remove the steering tie rods. Ideally, a ball joint splitter should be used, but as our entire front suspension and steering will be discarded, a pickle fork was used to break the taper.  The pickle fork was again...  The pickle fork was again used to free the upper ball joint taper, though note that the nut (arrow) is still on the threads by a few turns to prevent the drum, lower arm, and spring from coming away once the taper is freed.  An air wrench was used to...  An air wrench was used to remove the lower shock absorber mounting bolts, and the shock removed once the top mount was disconnected.  With a floor jack under the...  With a floor jack under the lower control arm, the nut was removed from the upper ball joint and the jack gently lowered to free the spring. Normally, coil spring clamps should be employed for this operation, but our tech center manager has performed this procedure hundreds of times. Just remember, compressed coil springs are storing an awful lot of energy, and can kill or seriously maim if not removed or installed correctly!  It’s surprising just how long...  It’s surprising just how long the coil spring is once fully extended. It can now be removed safely.  The stock lower control arms...  The stock lower control arms were removed next by undoing the bolts holding the cross-shaft in place on the crossmember.  As we’re not using the arms...  As we’re not using the arms or drum brakes again, they were removed as an assembly. Yeah, they’re heavy!  Taking the cross-shaft mounting...  Taking the cross-shaft mounting bolts out of the upper arms enabled them to be removed.  The new CPP tubular upper...  The new CPP tubular upper arms bolt right in place. We ensured the ball joint was on the lower side, with the longer tube toward the front of car, as per CPP’s instructions.  The new tubular lower arms...  The new tubular lower arms were installed next, again ensuring the longer tube with the sway bar mount tab faced the front. All installation hardware is supplied with the new arms.  CPP’s 1 1/2-inch dropped coil...  CPP’s 1 1/2-inch dropped coil springs were used to lower the front of the wagon.  With the spindle/disc/caliper...  With the spindle/disc/caliper assembly installed on the lower control arm, the floor jack was used once again to raise the arm and install the spring, ensuring it was seated correctly.  With the spring compressed,...  With the spring compressed, the upper ball joint nut was installed, the jack removed, and both upper and lower ball joint nuts tightened. The process was then repeated on the driver side of the wagon.  Note the old and new coil...  Note the old and new coil springs each have the same number of coils, but the new pair are 1 1/2 inches shorter.  The complete frontend installation,...  The complete frontend installation, minus the steering components and sway bar.  Here’s the combination of...  Here’s the combination of CPP components required at the rear—new lowered leaf springs, shackles, lower spring plates with shock mounts, new Bilstein shocks, and a 1-inch lowering block kit and U-bolts. CPP also offers a spring relocation kit, which mounts the springs inboard of the stock location, to enable wider wheels to be fitted, though this option does require some welding to the chassis.  Upon removing the original...  Upon removing the original U-bolts and raising the axle housing, we discovered the passenger side saddle mount had come away from the housing.  With the saddle mount media...  With the saddle mount media blasted, and the housing cleaned up, it was welded back in place.  The front leaf spring mounting...  The front leaf spring mounting bolts were removed, allowing the springs to drop out of the brackets.  The shackle plates came off...  The shackle plates came off next, enabling the springs to be removed completely.  Before the new springs were...  Before the new springs were installed, the old shackles were removed and replaced with new versions, with a little grease to help the bushings slide into place.  Reversing the removal procedure,...  Reversing the removal procedure, the new springs were installed on the shackles first, then new front mounting bolts installed.  With the new shackle plates...  With the new shackle plates installed and the bolts tightened, the spring installation was complete.  The 1-inch lowering blocks...  The 1-inch lowering blocks were installed next, which feature pins to align the axle housing, then new longer U-bolts were installed.  The U-bolts are supplied oversized,...  The U-bolts are supplied oversized, as they can be used with thicker lowering blocks, so they were cut to length after the new spring plates were in place, and the nuts fitted and tightened.  Finally, new Bilstein shocks...  Finally, new Bilstein shocks were fitted to the lower spring plates.  The new shock’s upper mounts...  The new shock’s upper mounts use the stock locations in the wagon’s floorpan.  Jumping ahead a little, as...  Jumping ahead a little, as the brakes and suspension have been installed here (we’ll show you how next month), the newly lowered wagon is ready to head to the alignment shop. Note the positive camber on the front wheels, which will be fixed during alignment. We think you’ll agree, a definite improvement over the stock ride height.
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