Area 46

The frame looks much better with the Z! Nice work!

I'm wondering about putting the leaf spring mounts on the vertical there, I think the notch is a good idea, but just because the load is mostly in the vertical direction I would make sure it's very well gusseted and welded.

05snopro440 said:

The frame looks much better with the Z! Nice work!

I'm wondering about putting the leaf spring mounts on the vertical there, I think the notch is a good idea, but just because the load is mostly in the vertical direction I would make sure it's very well gusseted and welded.

Click to expand...

I thought about that too. I'll box that in entirely where the spring bracket goes and add some gusset plates for good measure. Plus the actual frame material will be another 1/2" thick. I'm just trying to keep the bed from being too long.

by mounting the front of spring lower than the back of the spring ( on the rear axle ) will this point the rear end pinion downward ? By the way this frame looks almost exactly like mine. the rear is exactly like mine.

Yankee Transplant said:

by mounting the front of spring lower than the back of the spring ( on the rear axle ) will this point the rear end pinion downward ? By the way this frame looks almost exactly like mine. the rear is exactly like mine.

Click to expand...

I have not determined the pinion angle yet as the spring pads are not welded to the axle tube. The ideal set up is to put the front lower than the back. Also the springs will taper along with the frame toward the front. this is supposed to help it track better. I have a diagram somewhere that I found that shows the best geometry. I'll see if i can find it again. Could you send me a link to your project so I can see what you have going on?

Mine is in the corner collecting dust right now,, I just cut my f-1 frame ahead of the front spring mount and dropped it 11 inches (I think) ,, its been a while ... then back up in front of the cab about 7 " which it already had a modern chevy sub-frame welded into it .. I done this to get an idea of how low I wanted it and have a roller to move it around . The bottom of the frame is 5&1/2 off the ground and thats as low as I want it .. I plan on getting 2x4 tubing and making my own frame withe the staight axle on it . opps didnt mean to right a book..[/ATTACH]

Mock up roll out today!



I made these leaf spring plates out of a 6" section of 6"x 3"-1/4" rectangular tubing. I bought it already cut to 6" which saved me some work. The shock mount tab may or may not be oriented this way. I'll determine that later.




I think I'll move these front brackets down about 1.5"



The next step will be to set the cab on it. I think I'll add an caster or 2 to the middle to support the weight. Then I can focus on the front suspension and the steering shaft.



But first I'm going to focus on the 53 in the back ground. I think it's getting jealous!
Thanks for looking!

It's been a little over a year since I updated. I have been busy with other projects. I still have the 53 but I sold the 59 GMC 4x4 so that frees up some time to get back on this one. I picked up another cab which is a 40 GMC and this is where the grille comes from. I'll put of pictures of the 40 later. This weekend I finally got around to mocking up the one of the cabs on the wood frame. I learned a few things from doing this so I wood suggest going though the effort of doing something similar....get it? (wood)



One thing I don't like is the long 50" leaf springs. I'm wanting to find something shorter to keep the bed under 4'. I'll need to look around.



Here it is with the front sheet metal take #1. I found out the 46 or so hood will need some modifications to fit the 40 grille shell. I think I can handle it. It sets a little high here.



I lowered the grille in this shot about 2" from the 1st shot. It still needs to be a bit lower in the front but I'm heading in the right direction. I also mover the axle back from my original frame design. There is some more tweaking to do but I'm closer than I was to butchering up some steel.

Thanks for looking! ............later

Looks great. you can test build it as many times as you like in wood. You will be suprized at how many times things will change before you are done. espesialy little adjustments for room for small items as you go along. Radiator plumbing and steering parts got real close on mine.

Good to see you back at it TW. I had completely lost track of it. Like to see some pix of the '53 too.

So after purchasing some 2" x 4" x 3/16 steel and having some time off over the holidays I fashioned together the better part of the chassis for this project. The most challenging part was sectioning down the front frame rails from 4" to 2". Not only did it take quite a while with the cut off wheels but the material warped out of shape. I used my press to straighten it out some before re- welding it.



I still have some fish plates to install and the front cross member will need to wait until I can do another mock up. I just tacked a piece in place in the front to hold things together.





The last chassis I built the was a question as to whether or not the drive shaft would hit the cross member. Don't think I'll have much problem with this unit.



Hope to have this on wheels before the last snow flies here in the land of awes as in awe crap mostly. Thanks for looking.

Ok, Earthman you asked for it.

Thanks bud

I got the shocks and leaf springs rigged up this weekend. It's about time to start working on the front.





It's an optical illusion



Thanks for looking!

I got the rear axle set in place. I'm probably going to cut those upper control arm lugs off sooner or later. The axle has a 2 series 2.56 gear but I have a 3 series carrier and a 3.42 for it. I'm holding out for a posi or spider gears to fix the one I have. but I can run an open carrier if I have to.


While I was screwing around I fashioned these nifty front spring clamps.





I picked up this dual peddle assembly but it is a rear mount type. I don't think I want the master cylinders in the cab. If it was the front mount type I could recess the firewall so that they were on the outside with a cover. I'll see if I an trade for or sell these and buy the right configuration peddles.




I pretty sure this was my best idea to date. I have been staying up nights trying to visualize exactly how I was going to fabricate the bat wings and front suspension components. The axle assembly is awfully cumbersome and hard to deal with. It will flop over one way then the other while trying to get an idea of what I want to do or take a measurement. Tonight with my Grand daughters help I welded these plates to one of the saw horses, then I clamped the axle to it at the approximate ride height. Slid it in place and viola I can proceed with my engineering from here.





And last this is where I plan to mount my 4 bar ends.



Thanks for looking.

Looking good. Nice work

Looks good [cl
Aren't grand daughters great [cl

I had the same problem as you when I cut the front of my chassis from 4 inches down to 3 using a cut off wheel. I switch to a saws all. Took a little longer to cut but didn't have to straighten the after I was done.

Looks like your doing a great job so far.

I got the radius rod attach holes drilled. I drilled them out to 11/16" then pushed some some 2" pieces 1/2" black pipe into them and welded them up. After grinding them flush I reamed them with a 1/2" reamer.



Here are the rods ends I picked up from Speedway. These are 7 degree. I still need to get some DOM tubing for the radius rods.



Here is my helper Emily



Started working on the bat wing/coil over mount. This will take some time and I am waiting on a new blade for my band saw which will help this project out.







All for now Thanks for looking.

I'm finding that DOM tubing is harder to get and going to cost more than anticipated, plus the cost of buying a Left hand 5/8-18 tap. So I have come up with a new plan. PVC plastic pipe is the way of the future! I don't even need a tap just screw it in!



Well actually this is a great way to mock up my bat wings. I have already determined that my bottom plates need to be 3/4 wider by doing this.




And I have come up with a different tactic for the radius rods. I'm going to use 1.125" chrome molly and weld in bungs. I ordered all the parts today and should have them Wednesday. I figure this will save me at least 100 bucks over the unobtainium...... errr I mean DOM tubing. Plus I understand it's difficult to get the tap straight when threading.



Still waiting on band saw blades so it's slow going but I think I have the lower shock mounts done and 1 of the 4 bat wings plates roughed out. I made the shock mounts and bottom plates out of 1/4" steel and the bat wings will be 3/16" as they will be double shear. I'm also incorporating 5 degrees of castor into the bat wings to help keep the radius rods the same length.

Thanks for looking!

coming right along,
the radius rods go right along with the mocked-up frame [cl