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I recently received an email from a good friend regarding 1958 Front Shock Absorbers and installing the heavy duty sway bar on the front. This particular 1958 Squarebird is also going through a front end disk brake conversion and in doing so, they found that the caliper hits the shock absorber. In other instances, the shock absorber hits the sway bar! It was thought that this '58 has four shock absorbers on it, one on each A arm, and one inside each coil spring! On this particular '58 it was just confirmed that it only has the 2 shock absorbers on the A arms, and none inside the coil springs! The mechanic will remove the outer shocks and "relocate" them to inside the coil springs. The question came up as to whether or not, if a '58 Squarebird has 4 front shocks, and the A arm shock is hitting the sway bar if the outer one could be taken off to end this problem. The consensus is that yes, you just need the inner two inside the coil spring. However, it was also noted that if you have the OEM AC unit on the car, you might want to upgrade those 2 inner shocks to heavy duty ones or adjustable air shocks.
Fuz Johnson ~ tmjsong1aolcom is one of the co-authors of the Official Factory Specifications for the Squarebirds. As was our Founder and Webmaster, Alexander Sosiak, when he was alive. Fuz has a number of '58 Squarebirds in his collection and here is what he had to say after looking through them.
"I went thru the 58's I have. Found 3 with 4 shocks on the front. 1 was a convert. One was a HT and the third was a HT that was a Canadian export. I did not pull the data plate info as only the Canadian export was easy to obtain. Will do some further investigation tomorrow. I also have 3 58's that are bodies only so have no way to know whether they were 2 or 4 shocks,
The air ride on the 58 was scrapped so they can never be in preparation for air ride. The change to shocks in the springs was never a production in and of itself. The standard install on all 58's was the external shocks.The shocks inside the coils as production were not standard option till 59's. The parts book ending in April 59 only shows the external shocks for 58 and the ones in the springs do (not) appear till 59. They carry a B9S part number and are shown as a new part number. I have not had time to go thru the service bulletins for 58/59 but will in the next couple days.
Unfortunately what I found only brings up more questions and the subject will need lots of research to determine what is fact. Side bar- we may never know exactly what went on as a lot of 58 info has died with many of the birds. Thanx, Fuz Johnson ~ tmjsong1aolcom."
Here is a picture in the 1958-1960 VTCI Official Factory Specifications (OFS) showing yellow shocks (wrong color, they should have been black) inside the coil springs. Note that it says that they were "relocated" to within the springs... Apparently, the decision to move the shocks from the A arms to inside the coil springs might have been made by late May 1958. Because this picture states that this is an unrestored late-May '58 hardtop. However, since those are yellow shocks, some previous owner must have replaced the OEM shocks and then might have moved them to inside the coil springs... We may never know..
1958ShockInsideTheCoil.jpg
Therein lies the story regarding 2 or 4 front shock '58's! There have been stories for years that the 1958 Squarebird at some point in the production run left the factory with 4 shock absorbers. Some thought just the ones with AC on them, others thought all them, AC or not, left with 4 shocks. It has been reported that no '58 Tbird ever left the factory with 4 front shocks, but that seems not to be true. Because there are reports of OEM '58 Tbirds that DO have 4 front shocks in place. John ~ jopizz has told me that the last '58 Squarebird (of a number he owned and restored) he bought had 4 shocks on it, and they all looked to be OEM. Others have reported the same of '58 Squarebirds that they know are OEM, because they are the original owner of it. Here is what Alexander said back in 2006 about this.
"They (Ford) nixed the AIR-RIDE for the 1958 Thunderbird at the 11th hour. The car came from the factory with the shocks outside the springs because of the design for the air suspension. Too bad materials were not good enough in that era to make the air ride reliable." In another post he had said that AIR-RIDE was nixed because they had found problems with it in the Big Fords before they started the late 1958 Production run, and cancelled AIR-RIDE on Squarebirds. Not only that he also said this."The Squarebirds were originally slated to have disc brakes. The ultimate bean counter, Robert McNamera, nixed them and forced the designers to use the standard Ford brakes even though the Squarebird was heavier. That's why they stop so poorly. Rack and pinion steering, disc brakes and an aluminum engine were all slated for the 1958 Thunderbird. Imagine what a car that would have been."
Here is 1958 Squarebird Production information. Production was late because Wixom was re-tooling from the 2 seater Babybird to the 4 seater Squarebird, and for other reasons. Normally production starts in August or September, but for 1958, it was not until December, and even then there were no Convertibles being made until later in production.
TOTAL PRODUCTION 37,892
63A - Hardtop 35,758 ($3,630)
76A - Convertible 2,134* ($3,914) 1958 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop in Raven Black
1958 Thunderbird Hardtop shown in Raven Black
INTRODUCTION DATE February 13, 1958
Production Started December 20, 1957
Production Ended September 16, 1958
*Production of the 1958 Convertible models was delayed due to various reasons, and the Convertible wasn't officially introduced to the public until June, 1958. This, in part, accounts for the very low production numbers of the 1958 Convertibles.
Despite its late introduction date, and the fact that 1958 was not a good year for automobile manufacturers, the Thunderbird was one of only 2 automobiles to show a production and sales increase for the year. Although the introduction of a four seat Thunderbird was widely panned by many, the fact remains that this was a prudent decision by Ford, and the beginning of a new era: the personal luxury car.
I learned something else regarding Tbird production and that is that they did NOT build our Tbirds by the serial number consecutively, as I thought they had. Number 100001, then 100002, 3, etc... They scrambled the serial number run and built the cars on body style, I gather. At Wixom, Tbirds were built on the Lincoln production line, so you would have a mixture of Lincolns and Tbirds of various body styles coming down the line at ya! Something else that I learned today was that the original factory window stickers with all the details of the car on it, were not put on 1958 Tbirds or Fords until 1959. So said Lance Herrington of Tbirds Southwest. He said that the government came out in 1959 and mandated that to be done. So starting in 1959 the car companies starting pasting them on the passenger side window. I have mine for my 2017 Mustang in my glove box!
I know that we have a good number of 1958 Squarebird owners on this Forum. I would like to know how many of you own one that has all 4 front shocks on it, one on each A arm and 1 inside each coil spring or just 2 shocks and where are they installed. If so, do you know that is an OEM setup from the factory? If you do, please post some pix of your front end setup! I would also like to know if you have found your Rot/Build Sheet what it shows on the form under the SH Shock block. Is there a code number in it, and if so, what number? In 1959, and 1960 Rot/Build sheets, that block is blank because by then Ford was only putting front shocks inside the coil springs. "Fuz" Johnson is one who would like to know, because he has an interest in this, being one of the co-writers of the VTCI OFS for Squarebirds.. Others, like myself, also. Here is a sample of a 1960 Squarebird Rot/Build Sheet. You can see that block is blank. I do not have a copy of one for a 1958 Squarebird. If you found yours, I would love to have one for the record, and you can post it here for all to see or send it to me. Also, if you have ever had a problem with something hitting your sway bar, especially the heavy duty one you may have installed, I would like to know about that also... And post pix!
1960ROT_Sheet.jpg
Fuz Johnson ~ tmjsong1aolcom is one of the co-authors of the Official Factory Specifications for the Squarebirds. As was our Founder and Webmaster, Alexander Sosiak, when he was alive. Fuz has a number of '58 Squarebirds in his collection and here is what he had to say after looking through them.
"I went thru the 58's I have. Found 3 with 4 shocks on the front. 1 was a convert. One was a HT and the third was a HT that was a Canadian export. I did not pull the data plate info as only the Canadian export was easy to obtain. Will do some further investigation tomorrow. I also have 3 58's that are bodies only so have no way to know whether they were 2 or 4 shocks,
The air ride on the 58 was scrapped so they can never be in preparation for air ride. The change to shocks in the springs was never a production in and of itself. The standard install on all 58's was the external shocks.The shocks inside the coils as production were not standard option till 59's. The parts book ending in April 59 only shows the external shocks for 58 and the ones in the springs do (not) appear till 59. They carry a B9S part number and are shown as a new part number. I have not had time to go thru the service bulletins for 58/59 but will in the next couple days.
Unfortunately what I found only brings up more questions and the subject will need lots of research to determine what is fact. Side bar- we may never know exactly what went on as a lot of 58 info has died with many of the birds. Thanx, Fuz Johnson ~ tmjsong1aolcom."
Here is a picture in the 1958-1960 VTCI Official Factory Specifications (OFS) showing yellow shocks (wrong color, they should have been black) inside the coil springs. Note that it says that they were "relocated" to within the springs... Apparently, the decision to move the shocks from the A arms to inside the coil springs might have been made by late May 1958. Because this picture states that this is an unrestored late-May '58 hardtop. However, since those are yellow shocks, some previous owner must have replaced the OEM shocks and then might have moved them to inside the coil springs... We may never know..
1958ShockInsideTheCoil.jpg
Therein lies the story regarding 2 or 4 front shock '58's! There have been stories for years that the 1958 Squarebird at some point in the production run left the factory with 4 shock absorbers. Some thought just the ones with AC on them, others thought all them, AC or not, left with 4 shocks. It has been reported that no '58 Tbird ever left the factory with 4 front shocks, but that seems not to be true. Because there are reports of OEM '58 Tbirds that DO have 4 front shocks in place. John ~ jopizz has told me that the last '58 Squarebird (of a number he owned and restored) he bought had 4 shocks on it, and they all looked to be OEM. Others have reported the same of '58 Squarebirds that they know are OEM, because they are the original owner of it. Here is what Alexander said back in 2006 about this.
"They (Ford) nixed the AIR-RIDE for the 1958 Thunderbird at the 11th hour. The car came from the factory with the shocks outside the springs because of the design for the air suspension. Too bad materials were not good enough in that era to make the air ride reliable." In another post he had said that AIR-RIDE was nixed because they had found problems with it in the Big Fords before they started the late 1958 Production run, and cancelled AIR-RIDE on Squarebirds. Not only that he also said this."The Squarebirds were originally slated to have disc brakes. The ultimate bean counter, Robert McNamera, nixed them and forced the designers to use the standard Ford brakes even though the Squarebird was heavier. That's why they stop so poorly. Rack and pinion steering, disc brakes and an aluminum engine were all slated for the 1958 Thunderbird. Imagine what a car that would have been."
Here is 1958 Squarebird Production information. Production was late because Wixom was re-tooling from the 2 seater Babybird to the 4 seater Squarebird, and for other reasons. Normally production starts in August or September, but for 1958, it was not until December, and even then there were no Convertibles being made until later in production.
TOTAL PRODUCTION 37,892
63A - Hardtop 35,758 ($3,630)
76A - Convertible 2,134* ($3,914) 1958 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop in Raven Black
1958 Thunderbird Hardtop shown in Raven Black
INTRODUCTION DATE February 13, 1958
Production Started December 20, 1957
Production Ended September 16, 1958
*Production of the 1958 Convertible models was delayed due to various reasons, and the Convertible wasn't officially introduced to the public until June, 1958. This, in part, accounts for the very low production numbers of the 1958 Convertibles.
Despite its late introduction date, and the fact that 1958 was not a good year for automobile manufacturers, the Thunderbird was one of only 2 automobiles to show a production and sales increase for the year. Although the introduction of a four seat Thunderbird was widely panned by many, the fact remains that this was a prudent decision by Ford, and the beginning of a new era: the personal luxury car.
I learned something else regarding Tbird production and that is that they did NOT build our Tbirds by the serial number consecutively, as I thought they had. Number 100001, then 100002, 3, etc... They scrambled the serial number run and built the cars on body style, I gather. At Wixom, Tbirds were built on the Lincoln production line, so you would have a mixture of Lincolns and Tbirds of various body styles coming down the line at ya! Something else that I learned today was that the original factory window stickers with all the details of the car on it, were not put on 1958 Tbirds or Fords until 1959. So said Lance Herrington of Tbirds Southwest. He said that the government came out in 1959 and mandated that to be done. So starting in 1959 the car companies starting pasting them on the passenger side window. I have mine for my 2017 Mustang in my glove box!
I know that we have a good number of 1958 Squarebird owners on this Forum. I would like to know how many of you own one that has all 4 front shocks on it, one on each A arm and 1 inside each coil spring or just 2 shocks and where are they installed. If so, do you know that is an OEM setup from the factory? If you do, please post some pix of your front end setup! I would also like to know if you have found your Rot/Build Sheet what it shows on the form under the SH Shock block. Is there a code number in it, and if so, what number? In 1959, and 1960 Rot/Build sheets, that block is blank because by then Ford was only putting front shocks inside the coil springs. "Fuz" Johnson is one who would like to know, because he has an interest in this, being one of the co-writers of the VTCI OFS for Squarebirds.. Others, like myself, also. Here is a sample of a 1960 Squarebird Rot/Build Sheet. You can see that block is blank. I do not have a copy of one for a 1958 Squarebird. If you found yours, I would love to have one for the record, and you can post it here for all to see or send it to me. Also, if you have ever had a problem with something hitting your sway bar, especially the heavy duty one you may have installed, I would like to know about that also... And post pix!
1960ROT_Sheet.jpg
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