Near death experience

[UncleDonnie]

I traded a muscle car for this, it drives good but rides like a lumber truck. I started looking into the suspension and bags will work with the ladder bars in the back in place of the coils.

The front is another story! There is hardly any movement and I weigh 280, it should move. It has what look to be Harley coil overs and a stock 30 something leaf in the front.

There is a rack & pinion bolted to the beam axle and the first thing I've done is put a slip joint in the shaft between the column and the rack.

The radius rods have been welded to the axle. It has a Panhard bar that looks pretty good. At the end of the radius rods the anchor is a tie rod end and this is what is taking all of the trust load.

I'm assuming the Harley shocks and welding the radius rods was to stop a death wobble. Should I be freaking out about all of this or is some OK? I'm gonna start with pulling the coil overs off the see if it helps the ride but doesn't cause a death wobble.

Don

 

[fuzz]

I doubt the harley shocks are making it ride ruff or helping to rid death wobble. Death wobble is best reduced by setting toe in correct and having enough negative caster. I would remove the front spring, clean all the rust off and put tephlon strips between the leaves, remove every other leaf to soften the ride. Don't know why the radius rods would be welded unless the perch pins were lose in the axle or the rods.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Coil and leaf spring seems redundant. Should a panhard bar be needed with a transverse leaf?

 

[UncleDonnie]

Here's a pic of the slip joint I fabbed.

 

[UncleDonnie]

I doubt the harley shocks are making it ride ruff or helping to rid death wobble. Death wobble is best reduced by setting toe in correct and having enough negative caster. I would remove the front spring, clean all the rust off and put tephlon strips between the leaves, remove every other leaf to soften the ride. Don't know why the radius rods would be welded unless the perch pins were lose in the axle or the rods.

That's exactly what I was thinking on the front leaf. Does it hurt anything to have the radius rods welded, like I said it drives good.

Don

 

[UncleDonnie]

Coil and leaf spring seems redundant. Should a panhard bar be needed with a transverse leaf?

This is my first encounter with a early Ford transverse leaf axle so I'm guessing the Panhard bar isn't hurting anything. I think the Harley shocks are going away.

Don

 

[fuzz]

Coil and leaf spring seems redundant. Should a panhard bar be needed with a transverse leaf?

Because of the long spring and the angle of the shackles used on the 41 -48 fords a panhard bar is valuable to reduce side movement.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Thanks Fuzz.

 

[BlueNorther]

I think Fuzz means correct toe-in and POSITIVE caster meaning the king pin should be laid back at roughly a 7 degree angle.

this puts the tire patch on the ground trailing the pivot point of the king pin projected to the ground.

 

[21willys]

The welds on the axle/bones are going to need cut. As the the suspension trys to work it needs to flex/pivot at that point. They way it is now one side can't move up or down without the other side moving with it.

 

[UncleDonnie]

I think Fuzz means correct toe-in and POSITIVE caster meaning the king pin should be laid back at roughly a 7 degree angle.

this puts the tire patch on the ground trailing the pivot point of the king pin projected to the ground.

This truck tracks real well so I'm thinking the toe and caster are pretty good. I appreciate all the input as my goal is to be able to drive this 200 miles to a run without stressing my 55 year old bad heart. 30 years ago it would have been a different story.

Don

 

[UncleDonnie]

The welds on the axle/bones are going to need cut. As the the suspension trys to work it needs to flex/pivot at that point. They way it is now one side can't move up or down without the other side moving with it.

This welding of the radius rods and wussy tie rod end anchors are my main concern. Never having any experience with these axles are the pins tight in the axle and the fork of the rod? How much clearance between the axle and the fork of the radius rod?

Don

 

[bob w]

The set up is very much like one I did in 1957. A small triangular brace on the tab where the wishbone is connected would be good insurance. I wouldn't worry about the weld. There's virtually no movement there. I drive it 200 miles and I'm 71, with a bad heart.

 

[UncleDonnie]

Update: I jacked the truck up and set the frame down on some jack stands, the axle never moved when I released the jack. The Harley shocks were frozen so I pulled the upper bolts. The result was the truck sets 2 1/2" lower and has about 6" of travel.

Monroe has a PDF of specs on all their shocks and I found a set of Sensa-Trac's that fit. Rides like a Caddy compared to before. Get the bags in the back and I'll be ready for some long runs.

Don