VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Factory Ride Height for 1948 Stylemaster Coupe

I am hoping that someone who owns a stock '48 Chevy coupe might be willing to measure the ride height from the ground to the center of the rear fender lip and provide that info for me along with the tire size on the car and whether the car has the 7-leaf or 8-leaf rear springs.

My car was originally a business coupe and has 8-leaf rear springs. I converted it to a standard 5-passenger coupe and want to install the correct 7-leaf springs. It appears to be sitting about 3" too high in the rear (there is about 3+" from the top center of the rear tire to the fender lip). Without factory ride-height specs I'm reluctant to buy new springs since I have no idea where the car might sit with the new springs or if they will bring the car down to what would appear "normal" height. My previous '48 Chevy Stylemaster coupe sat lower.

I cannot find ride-height specs anywhere as measured to the center of the rear fender lip. I have specs to the roof line and over the hood ornament, but not to the fender lip. So measuring an actual car seems like the way to go.

Even Eaton Spring doesn't have the specs. So I'm hoping someone with a stock '48 coupe won't mind getting their knees a little dirty and will be kind enough to take the measurement and let me know.

I will really appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks.

I measured my 48 coupe today. Looks like it has 8 leaf springs. The bottom one is only about 6" long.
Tires P205/75R15 radials. Tire dia 27"
Height of rear wheel opening 27 1/2"
Height of front wheel opening 27 1/4"
Height from to bottom of rocker cover in middle of door 10 7/8"
Rear fender opening is only about an inch higher than the top of the tire.

Hi Keith,

Thank you so much. I appreciate your taking the time and effort to provide the info that apparently isn't available anywhere else. This will help me a lot.

Since my car has the 8-leaf springs also (my bottom one is about 10" long), that doesn't seem to be the reason it is sitting higher than normal.

I've owned my '48 since 1961 and the spring covers were still on it when I bought it so they hadn't been altered. I have no idea why, but my car sits about 2+" higher than yours and my previous '48. Your information confirms my suspicions.

I think the solution is to take the car as it sits to a spring manufacturer here and have them build new springs to put the car exactly where it should be. I'm afraid that ordering online might turn out to be an expensive experiment.

Thanks again!

2 or 3 inch lowering blocks may bring it down to the correct height.
Take a look at this. Looks like all of the coupes had 7 leaves.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/4831.htm

I have a 38 Business Roadster. It was meant to carry heavy samples for commercial salesman. It sat too high and rode hard. I took it to a spring works and he pushed his foot on the bumper and said "It's OK, leave it for the day". I came back and he had removed the irrelevant leaves and now it sits right and rides well. Lowering blocks will lower it but it won't change the ride.