VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 39 suspension on 37

At Iola I saw a 37 Master Deluxe that had a '39 a-arm coil spring front suspension. Seller said it was bolt-in replacement for the knee action unit. Removed knee action member, bolted up a-arm/coil member, installed '39 steering box and center steer set up. Anybody ever hear of this; looked like a clean install.

Yes, I have a friend who performed the same swap, and it is pretty straightforward, but a little more complicated than the description above. You need to take out the knee action crossmember and replace with the 39 - 48 unit, and you need to change the entire steering column. Because 39-up steering wheels use a spline shaft instead of a "key" type on 37-38s, you would need to find a way to change the shaft in order to retain a 37 steering wheel. There is also a track width change, the a arm setup is actually narrower than knee action (ends up looking about like a Master track width, which I think looks better than the "dog track" look that the knee action has). I had a really good response recently on questions about knee action suspension, and I am definitely going to keep my knee action, but better to hear of someone using the 39-48 setup than the dreaded Mustang II!

37Richard,
Could you explain why the steering column has to be changed? Is it because of alignment of the steering box shaft and the pitman arm?
Tanks,
-Bob

If memory serves, the 37 column puts the box into a sort of center link position, while 39 - 48 has the pitman arm towards the drivers side.

THE 39 GEAR BOX MOUNTS FATHER FORWARD ON THE FRAME
ALSO THE PITMAN ARM ON THE 37 IS OUTSIDE THE FRAME WHILE THE 39 IS INSIDE THE TRAME