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Hello All,

My 39 Packard is in the shop now getting the axles put back on. But it was a while ago that I tore down the car and the shop had a question I can't answer. So I thought I would bring it here, my Packard is like the 120 body style but my car was not that higher class model. The shop was wondering why the front leaf spring brackets have two different size holes for the leaf spring to be bolted into (I have two pictures to show on this, that I can add a little later)? The hole that is on the under belly side of the car is the smaller hole (maybe the size of one of those fat pencils). While the hole that would be seen from the side of the car you could probably put a golf ball threw it. Why the different size holes and what stops the leaf spring bolt from flopping around in the two hole. A pic or car drawing here would help a lot.

Thanks

That is very curious, you got me wondering so I went through my frame shots when I was doing my 37. There must have been some changes since my 37, as it has a definite front bracket perch as shown in this shot, it is a riveted unit with a single hole for the front bushing bolt. I think posting your photos will help guide members with a 39 to an answer for you much quicker.
Good luck,
Bob J.

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  Frame Paint 15.JPG (2,567.59 KB)

Thanks for the reply, I will get those pics up soon.

That spring bolt has a large head on one side that fits inside the large hole. It has a moderate sized body that fits to the spring bushing. That dia. is turned further down to the thread size that fits through the small hole in the frame and is then retained by a nut.

To go along with the description Ross provided there are some decent cross sectional views and theory behind changes made to the springs and shackles in the 38 fact book. Section 4 Chassis has that info and the description of the rear springs and shackles starts on page 19. According to the 39 fact book the new 38 design was carried over virtually unchanged. There were some improvements or changes made available to the spring and inserts for better noise and ride control in 39, some retrofittable to earlier years, and those are detailed in various service articles.

Thanks for your guys replies. Here are the pics, I have to show what I was trying to explain in my post. Took a while as things are busy around here with my wife in the hospital.

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  head on before bolt.jpg (162.54 KB)

That does not appear to me to be an original bracket as I doubt it would be bolted on. Looks like some backyard mechanic cut off the original and put that one in its place so you may have a little work ahead to get it back to the way it belongs! What it on the other side? They should be the same (mirror images) both sides.