Just another thought on the choices available. I just went through this whole "frame choice" issue on my 37 Ford. There's about a dozen mfg's of frames for the 35 to 40 Ford (they use the same chassis). When you combine the frame mfg's AND INCLUDE all the different options - your choices are almost endless - and there's no end to the various combinations you can come up with. Just for giggles - here's the mfgs I spoke and emailed multiple times:
Pete and Jakes
TCI
Superior Glass Works
The Roadster Shop
Art Morrison
Progressive
Kugel
Roy Brizio
My point of all this -- is that in the end - after asking a zillion questions I applied the responses to what I was looking for. I was certain when I started out - that I wanted a triangulated 4 bar rear... I ended up with inboard mounted leaf springs. The reason - I want to just road trip this build... it has a HUGE trunk... the coil overs are great up front where the weight doesn't change - but in the back - the coil overs have a limited amount of travel... I want to be able to load up a toolbox - suitcases - wife (in front with me) - a full load of fuel - AND still have a good stance and nice ride. I HATE air bags - too many parts and pieces - they leak down - been there done that.... the leaf springs offered what I needed - over what I really wanted (in my mind). Mounting them inboard lowered the rear two more inches - C notching the frame rails made clearance - mounting them inboard made more tire width available - a speedway engineering sway bar was clean and tucked up out of the way... and I have clearance for exhaust and gas tank... The leaf spring rear would have been the very last thing I'd have ever considered ---- UNTIL I DISCUSSED all the pluses and minuses of every system. Since I'm not auto-crossing this car - a panhard bar etc really isn't important. I wanted a nice stable ride - spelled consistent - empty or loaded to the max... so I listened and settled on what would work for the application. I really didn't care about 'bragging rights' -- i.e., having the biggest, baddest, newest, most expensive, available.
Okay - I'm done... Whew!
Just trying to give you some food for thought....
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