41' Underslung

[Trevor Henry]

My dad and I are currently working on our first rod. 1941 Dodge pickup. I bought it at a sweet junkyard for 600 bucks. Kinda pricey but I loved the way it looked. Unfortunately the yard wouldnt let me keep the straight 6 that it came with.

I'm hoping to set it up underslung. I think it's a cool look and it's a little unique.

I'm going to box the original frame and hopefully go from there. Any suggestions on how I should go about boxing the frame and setting it up underslung?

 

[Trevor Henry]

Forgot a picture ( :

Fresh from the junkyard.

 

[Bonehead]

Looks great. $600 bucks is really not too bad. Looks like it is all there, at least plenty to work with.

 

[Tripper]

Kool!

TH,
Kool... I love those old Dodge trucks & have one just like it! It'll make a great rod! Keep us up to date on u're progress. Father & son projects are the best!!!

BoB

 

[dodge41]

If it were me and I had it together I would make sure that the size of my bare wheels (w/o the tires mounted) was tall enough to keep the frame off the ground. That is if you ever encountered a worse case scenario and blew a tire completely off the rim, the frame would still be off the ground with the bare rim contacting the pavement.
I want to do my project with an under slung frame as well. I'm not sure if it would work but it would appear to me if you flipped everything upside down, you would need to mount the leaf springs in reverse so that they are still being compressed with the vehicles weight upon them instead of being stretched. This would seem even more important if the springs are arched w/o a load on them like most springs are.

 

[Trevor Henry]

Yeah, I've taken the leaf springs apart but still need to put them back together upside down. Also, I think I'm going to need some sort of spacer to put on top of the axle so the frame is high enough off of the ground. It's hard for me to picture how everything will go together though haha.

Any suggestions on how I should box the frame? Is it as simple as welding a side on the existing C frame?

P.S. Tripper, you got any photos of your dodge I can take a peek at ( :

 

[busman]

Gotta love the dodge trucks. My son and I just finished a 41. Love to see how you will progress with yours keep posting.

 

[Unkl Ian]

You will find lots of pics on here,HAMB,Killbillet,etc
by searching for "underslung".

Scrub line is a potential problem,larger diameter wheels would help there.

You may discover that flatter springs(less arch) are necessary,
might also be necessary to reposition the spring,and shackle, mounts.

I would worry about boxing the frame after you get everything else figured out.


Are you keeping the fenders ?

 

[Trevor Henry]

The only reason I'm even thinking about boxing is because of the extent of damage on the original frame. I'd rather that not happen again ( :



I'm not going to keep the fenders. For sure keeping the headlights though.

 

[Unkl Ian]

Not problem with boxing,after other frame mods are complete.

You might end up kerf bending the rails,moving spring mounts,
new steering box mount,or whatever is necessary.Might have
to relocate the cab mounts,if you flip the chassis,lots of possibilities.
Easier to do before it is boxed.

 

[Unkl Ian]

I would pull the body,and figure out how severe the damage is,before going too far.
Might be easier to cut some off,and replace with tubing.Then that section doesn't need to be boxed.

 

[Trevor Henry]

I've had the body off for awhile. Tearing it apart was too much fun haha.

The frame was in about 6 pieces that were all haphazardly welded/bolted back on.

I'm going to get it all back together and squared up. I'll go from there I guess.

I'll be sure to keep posting pictures.

 

[Unkl Ian]

Depending on the damage,it might make sense
to make a completely new frame from rectangle tube.

Then it is already boxed.

 

[Trevor Henry]

I've thought about that.


How much do you think it might cost?