Re: 1937 115C Suspension tear down

Posted by tsherry On 2023/3/26 16:17:23

I'm currently in the middle of rebuilding the suspension on the '40 110 sedan.

Some differences in the disassembly process (and experience with the '37 a couple years ago) are making this tear down much easier.

First off, the front clip's off, and the engine's out. So vastly easier access to everything.

The rear torque arm bushing is not the 'baseball' sandwiched between a removable plate and the frame, but a more common shaft with two bushings; much easier to remove.

Disassembling the entire front end is quite easy with a jack under the lower control arm, putting some 'lift' on it to free up the upper shock mount.

My process for the RF (should've done the left this way too) was:

1) Vehicle on jackstands with tires under the frame, jackstands under the frame at the firewall. Cherry picker engine stand with a chain around the center of the front cross member. You will lift the front of the car with this later.
2) Remove the drum and backing plate, disconnect the outer tie rod.
2) Remove the nut from the upper shock, but leave the pin in place.
4) Remove the bolts retaining the lower, inner shaft and bushings.
5) remove the torque arm bolt/bushing (mine required cutting the nut off on the RH side, LH side came right off with encouragement from the impact wrench.
6)with pressure still on the jack (upward), drive / slide out the upper shock bolt.
7) lower the jack under the control arm to it's resting position, taking some off the tension off of the coil spring.
8) Raise the frame with the cherry picker, taking all of the tension off of the coil spring, slide the suspension assembly out from under the vehicle.
9) gently set the frame back down on the jackstands, checking alignment of them before you release it completely (the car will likely shift when you lift it.)
10) remove the parts to a location where you can wire-brush them with a drill before disassembly, painting, and reassembly. (at this point, the '40 suspension rebuild--king pins, etc. looks very similar to the '37 as described in the PDF).
11) Service/rebuild/replace the shocks.
12) Clean the frame and paint.
13) Reassemble.