Lowering a Coe

[yoshi]

I really like these late 40's or early 50's Coe trucks but only if they are lowered. Can you Coe guys tell me would it take much to lower one without any mods to the chassis? Thanks

[_Ogre]

the coe cab was used on the big truck with heavy duty suspension and budd style dual wheels
some of those rear spring packs could be 10'' tall, so without suspension mods... it would drive like a truck
all the tf chassis from 3100 to 6400 are the same 34'' width so lighter suspension could be installed
then you get into the wheel well openings of having 16'' wheels in a 22'' wheel opening

while i've never done it, all of the lowered coe trucks i've seen have upgraded suspension components
most often on a newer 1 ton truck chassis

[yoshi]

So you'd really need to re chassis it? Not sure what would be suitable here in the UK, maybe ford transit or Mazda pickup

[Marv D]

Trying to get some decent pictures,, My son just bought a 58 2ton LCF (apparently that stands for lower cab forward??)
He always has some off the wall project (like athe nut doesn't fall too far from the tree right)
'
I'll get some 'before pict's up here soon, but the plan is he found a 96 1ton duelly chassis, to set the cab on, and is grafting a stroked 6.0 into this with a NV4500

[mr48chev]

I'd have to dig through old print photos but at least two of the COE trucks around here that were very low had the engines under the beds. One had what looked like a wood packing crate sitting on the bed that was the engine cover and it had a tilt bed that raised up to expose the engine. It was a Ford that belonged to Gene Jorden and was one of the first COE hot rods around.

On a Chevy if you put the engine behind the cab you could remove the riser that lifts the cab up above the engine along with creating a flatter floor and drop the cab down the height of the riser to effectively drop the whole cab and nose several inches.

[yoshi]

If possible I'd like to do it without moving the engine or modifying the chassis

[47 Fasttoys]

Keep in mind the COE is about 6" wider then the 3100-3800. While a Mazda or Transit might work for the smaller truck you would have some very inset wheels and may have inner fender clearance issues. Putting one on a late model chassis allows you to lower it with off the shelf parts. In my case (2003, 1500 chassis) I can put the front bumper on the ground using air bags in place of the front springs, which I plan on doing this winter by the way. Using the factory suspension you have a massive I beam axle and the valve cover is already 6" into the floor. Doing just a suspension drop would still leave you about 5" from the bottom of the running boards to the ground these things started out with a ton of body to ground clearance. In the shots below you can get an idea of how high they are to start with and how low you can go with late model stuff.
Rob

[yoshi]

Something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/191597583645

[yoshi]

This any good?