Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Hmmm. Now Owen has me wondering. The parts cataloug lists load links ONLY with rings. There is no listing for load links with NO rings. I'm not sure where i got the idea of links with NO rings. I have four load links in my possession but all have rings.

Victor, are u sure there are no rings on your load links. On second thot, measure them. Then compare to what Owen posted for lenghts. Maybe they were modified by someone as Owen had pointed out earlier.

Either way, u need to know what u have before we can determine the lenght u need.

Owen wrote:

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That's the same rule of thumb that I've followed for decades with my V8s. it's very convenient - provided you have skirts on your car.

Too many people try to follow the line of the side trim, but that actually runs downhil (front-to-rear). The beltline is a bit too small, too high, or too isolated for me to use as reference.

I only ever posted the incremental difference in the length of links versus the resulting change in riding height, but that was quite some time ago - perhaps not even on this site.

Meanwhile, I just checked the catalog and only found links listed with 1-4 grooves, too. For some reason, I thought there was a no-groove link, but I may be mistaken.

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My 55 Pat front links had no grooves. I do not know what the original length was since these were the ones which I had modified to be infinitely adjustable.
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Craig
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Hopefully Victor will bare with us here while i open up another can of worms on the height topic.

My 56 Exec has the same problem that Victors car has. Sets a bit low in the front with 235-75's. So i need to do something about it especialy for rural driving. Owen mentioned in a previous post about 56T-1 involving the 9* long torsion bars to correct the problem.

After looking at the parts cataloug i found long (front) torsion bars listed for 55, 56 and 56 "HEAVY DUTY". THe heavy duty is listed for 56 jr and 56 Sr. NO heavy duty listed for 55's.

BUT 56T-1 indicates " 9* Long Torsion BARS " as it's title. 56T-1 ALSO indicates a different part number from those listed above.

There's alot more to this but i'll wait to see if there is enuf interest to delve into it any more. Besides, i don't like to create any one post ata time much longer than this one is right now.

I just reread the 56-T1 STB. I have never checked the part numbers on my long bars, but suspect they are normal production. Al down in Ga or Al bought a 55 Pat that sat very high in my estimation and he may be so kind as to check his part numbers when he reads this, unless he is too busy at the renaissance fair. You may need a pressure blaster to clean the end of the bar and read the number. I have only heard of no rings on 55 cars. All the 56 T/L cars I ever checked had at least one ring. Many of the 56s I looked at had four rings. I have wondered whether you could mount a long bar one hex off thereby adding 16+ degrees lift. Maybe Packard engineers computed that 9 degrees was the maximum that could still be mounted. I wonder if any 56 Caribbeans had less than four rings.
I wonder a lot of things late at night - most not fit to be published here.

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Yes, this can be done. My friend Paul in Las Vegas with the 56 Exec (see my website), did this. Didn't work too well, as I recall. He also tried flipping the main bars side to side. This worked better, but he was warned off by myself and others on the old site by "reverse stress" breaking one of the main bars inadvertently with bad consequences.
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Does anyone have a stash of multi-ring front struts to provide to T-L owners? And if so, what length would one order?
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IMO, the only solution is to do what I did, to wit: Make the front bars infinitely adjustable.
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Craig
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I wonder if any 56 Caribbeans had less than four rings.

Randy, my 56 Carib had 2-groove pins when I bought it, presumably as sold and I changed to 3-groove to bring the body up to the suggested (specified?) 10" riding height. This measurement was made with the 8:00x15 bias tires.

Thanks Dave, that settles that question. I thought with the extra frame weight they might have all been four rings. My 400 has four rings. I wonder (there I go again) how they judged that at the factory as they installed the T-bars with just the frame to work with??

Packard should have done what Chrysler did with their torsion bars, make a built in adjuster: