Ride height of 71 Ford Country

Discussion in 'General Automotive Tech' started by Senri, Aug 26, 2021.

  1. Senri

    Senri Well-Known Member

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    Hi guys, I recently acquired a 1971 Ford Country Sedan. The car is lowered but it was not done really properly; they just cut a piece of the springs. On a nice road this is fine, but when it gets bumpy, it does hit the bumpstops frequently.
    I have not decided yet what to do, but I would first like to know how much it was actually lowered. Does anyone have such a car at standard height and is able to measure the body height?
    Thanks!
     
  2. KevinVarnes

    KevinVarnes Well-Known Member

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    It might be tough to get an accurate number on a 50 year old car. I don't know about Ford, but GM factory service manuals used to have ride height measurements taken at certain points on the car. If you have a factory service manual I would start there first.
     
  3. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    I concur. GM had it in their Fisher body manuals for each year, but Ford, by '71, had separate manuals for mechanical, electrical and body.
     
  4. OldFox

    OldFox Curmudgeon

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    There were manuals published by wheel alignment manufacturers which included ride height in their specs. Try an alignment shop that's been in business for a long time.
     
  5. Senri

    Senri Well-Known Member

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    I do have the shop manual and strangly enough it does give frame dimensions on the Ford, Mercury and Meteor, but no ride height. On the Montego and Torino it does give underbody dimensions including ride height.
     
  6. elB

    elB Well-Known Member

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    Usually when I find something like this, it's because the previous year (or two or three) had that info in it and it hadn't changed, so the tech writers didn't bother to include it in that particular year. This was especially prevalent on body styles that had been around for a number of years - I'll bet the 1969 or 1970 model year books have the info in it. If it was a later '70s model when radial tires were introduced (1973-1975 era) the info probably will be there as well.
     
  7. Senri

    Senri Well-Known Member

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    That is a valuable tip, elB! I will extend my search to earlier models or catalogues.
     
  8. Senri

    Senri Well-Known Member

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    Just to update you, thanks to Rattrap who was so kind tot measure the body height of his beautiful 71, I figured mine is lowered somewhere between 2.5 and 3.0 inch. Together with some wornout shocks, it does explain the crappy ride.
     

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