I have a 1955.2 chevy truck and I am going to do it in a g***er style with this stance. The top picture it appears that they did away with the stock axle and used a straight axle. I want to use the stock axle and was thinking that I could re-arch the springs and use 2 or 3" blocks to raise it up to the proper height. My friend says that is not a problem but that the steering arm will have to be cut and re-welded and moved to the top to keep the angle right. I am guessing I will get some added bump stear too but I have heard summit has some anti bump stear kit that works nicely. What I am looking for is any advice on doing this so that I get it right the first time. Thanks.
You have the right idea about your build. I use that exact front end on my 57 bel air. Worked out real well I think. I just had new springs made to get it higher than using spacer blocks.
Try a truckin magazine, think its CPP that offers a rack & pinion that bolts directly to the I beam axle and eliminates all bump steer. The only problem is you have to run a slip joint on the steering shaft from the column....not a big problem but you have to make sure it can't slide out...that would be a "big problem".
cool thanks. I will pick up a truckin mag. I normally get cl***ic truck but have not seen anything like that in there.
rack and pinion will sure look "correct" on an g***er pickup! how hard would it be to move the steering arm to the top? seems that would be the way to go. Also the straight axle looks better, like it was made to be raised up, than a drop axle with tall blocks on it.
yeah I would have to look at the rack part...if it was hidden and out of site I would not be against it. Just like I am not against using a disc brake kit up front since it will stop me a lot faster/safer then the drums. Hell they weigh less so it fits the g***er theme. It seems that it is not too hard to move the arm to the top and cut it up and put it back together. A friend has done it on the suspension that he put on his nova. His suspension seems to be almost the same as mine just a little lighter duty.
There was an article in Cl***ic Truck a few years ago with an install of that R&P. Check out CPP's website.
i want to do the same thing to a 1955 ford f100 but tryn to find a way to use the stock straight axle and get the height without lift blocks but tryn to use the stock steering setup never seen one done
I would seriously consider the strait axle,it will raise you up without the blocks i have seen bad things happen happen with blocks on the front end of vehicles.
I agree w/no blocks up front. Harkens back to my 4x4 days - it's a big no no. Too much torque on things during hard braking and turning. The blocks act like a longer lever arm - just like a cheater bar - which puts more stress on the springs and bolts which they were not originally designed for. I'd either get a true straight axle or re-arch the springs. I do like the look and have considered it for my '57. Jury is still out. And fenderwell headers are a must!
...why not go to a cross-steering setup, which if done correctly will eliminate virtually all bump steer.
No blocks! In fact, it's illegal in some states to have blocks on the front axle, and just a general bad idea all around...
Yeah the blue one is bad looking. That straight axle is not all that much and it will bring you that much higher in the air. Hell a factory axle has what a 3 inch drop in them. Notice the blue truck also has disc brakes on it. both the axle and the brakes will be lighter than the stock front axle. The only thing is some straight tube axles have been known to bend when the cars come down from being in the air.................lol............. bit I think I would due the straight tube axle ....imho.
I'm not a huge fan of the spacer blocks between the axle and spring...trucks look good with the nose high at***ude though!
Blocks in the front are just a bit to much chance for me.. Now what if ya take the front flatbar brackets that mount the front of the spring to the frame and extend them? stock ones are a little under 4" long. Maybe make em 6" or even 9" ?! instead of 1/4" flatbar.. maybe use 3/8" or even 1/2" ? I am in the process of building a g***er 57 chev truck myself and have pondered this but never seen it done. Any input?
Extending the shackles and or the shackle mounts isnt a very good ida either. the best way to do it would be the straight axle. the second would be more arch in the springs(the ride would suffer BIGTIME). If you were going to do it on the cheap, the safest but ugly way would be to build really beefy shackle mounts that extend below the frame. But this would only be a good idea for a strip car as they dont take fast corners. The extended shackle mounts and extended shackles will fold ooner or later when turning a corner. To fix the steering you should use a "high steer" setup like the 4x4 front ends. make a steering arm seperate from the tie rod steering arms and have it extend as high as possible to get the drag link as horizontal as possible.
Most of the heavy trucks on the road come from the factory with spacer blocks between the springs and the axle. They're usually only an inch or two high but they do have them. I don't see any problem with using spacers as a fine tuning device. Of course to raise the front end several inches you'll have to use one, or a combination of the other methods that have already been mentioned. You're right to be concerned about bumpsteer. As others have said, you want to end up with the drag link fairly close to level and in most cases it might be even more accurate to say you should aim for level when the suspension is compressed a bit. Most large trucks are set up so that the drag link runs slightly downhill to the axle. The drag link will then go to level on a bump. If you're thinking that the drag link will push and pull on the steering arm as it goes up and down you're right, but keep in mind that the axle itself will also move ahead or back a little on bumps because only one end of the spring is fixed. For example if the front of the springs are fixed and the shackles are at the rear the axle will move back a tiny bit as the springs flatten out on a bump. The steering and axle setup I just described is the most popular but it only works if the steering box is at the same end as the fixed eye of the spring. If your steering box is at the shackled end you'll want the drag link level at no load and then going uphill to the axle on a bad bump. But having said all that, if you're even fairly close it'll steer just fine.
The info on this post sofar has cleared the straight axle cloud I've had, Thank you! I hear it all the time.. why go through the trouble? just put a S-10 front end on... bah
A straight front axle puts the spring pad just below the centerline of the spindles. A stock axle with say a 3" drop puts the spring pad 3" lower that this. Put 3" spacers on it and you got the same relationship between the spindle and spring pad as a straight axle. I dont see how this will put any more torque on the springs while braking that the straight axle will. Solid aluminum blocks would be better than some home made square or rectangular tubing that would eventually compress from the weight and road shock. Straight axle does look cooler however.
Score another left hand steering arm, cut the tie rod portion of it off, and mount it to the top side of your spindle. You then can use your stock drag link and steering.
The reason why blocks get a bad reputation up front is because of them being used to raise 4x4, straight axle trucks. Blocks are ok in the back because there is force forward and back, and up and down, but not much diagonally or horizontally. Up front, the wheels steer and pull. So have constant force forward, upward, and as you turn your wheels, alot of force diagonally and horizontally. On a two wheel drive g***er, theres not going to be that much force at all diagonally or horizontally on them blocks.
Blocks pose a very small threat when used up front on a two wheel drive truck/car. In fact if you look back on the way it was done many many many cars used blocks because speedway straight axles werent a click away. Blocks and rearched springs are the way to go with a cross steer setup. rack and pinion looks like a 70s abortion on a hot rod but thats just my 2 cents. On my 54 f100 i am running 1.5 blocks at the moment (going up to 3 inches and rearched springs) cause of the steering issue which i havent got around to addressing yet. I also plan on putting shackles on mine to drop some of the weight of the bulky cast iron stock units. this trucks got 1.5 inch lift blocks and stock 37 plymouth springs steering appears to be modified factory item
Here is an old chevy pu that was on ebay a couple years back. I can dig up the info on it if you want and more pics as well.
Looking at the picture I see they did a shackle setup on the rear of the spring for the front axle. instead of the pocket... wouldnt that creait more front and back "sway motion"?
I want to do the g***er look on my 55 chevy pickup.. any lessons learned regarding the front axle / leaf spring ***embly?
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