underslung chevrolet (new project)

ahh the tube axle is not for me. i like old things esp up front and in your face. i have been looking on some other sites with lifting trucks and they are doing similar things that work well with 38 inch tires and dont have many problems. i think putting a small bar on the bottom of the axle kinda like a 4 link would help the whole thing. lol by the time i get done i ll have bars and shit all over.

 

haha im not trying to lower it im trying to lift it back up

 

personal abuse????no clue what that is dick......brrrrrppp.......inhale.....cough......

 

prepping to do the 3/4 frame. wish me luck

 

Any updates?

 

scotty lost you number gonna need it again! I have been thinging things over and beed staring at my 32 chevy chassis and come to the conclusion that is came from a coupe 32chevy and maybe shorter than what i need no biggy i'll just shorten the running boards.
I took a guess of where the body should sit. I removed the wood on the floor and started making a floor substructure. Can you take a rough measurement of the length of the chassis and a measure of how long the rear apron that covers the gas tank is.

 

hey fellas sorry for the lack of updates. between customers cars and other projects the 32 has been put on the back burner again. but i did get almost the whole frame finished. heres the progress.

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trans cross member is in! <center>
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i started working on the rear clip as well. hand making all the brackets and parts takes alot of time... the bag brackets are only for mock up. the final product will have some hand made ones. <center>
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Nice.

 

Well, I was not expecting the bags I have to be honest but it is your ride. The frame is looking quite stout and should hold up against all the nay sayers. Your still planning on keeping the body pretty much stock right? That rear half of the frame definitely screams mini truck due to it's complexity and and sheer madness!!!! Anyways nice work so far.

 

Havent be able to stop by much but glad to see another chevy man. Keep us posted...

 

looks great - I'd be a little worried about the front scrub line

Gary

 

the car is 7 inches off the ground and the rim is 5 away. regardless the chances of getting 2 flat tires at once is highly unlikely. also scrub line really means nothing to me if a bag blows or a valves falls the rear is dropping. but chances are that will never happen.

its like the chicken and the egg. you cant determine what will happen. if the leaf spring breaks the car will drop. if the drum brakes fail i ll rear end a semi. its nice to be safe and take all the precautions but if people are that scared then a hot rod is not for them. Volvo takes all of that to streets when manufactoring NEW cars. i just consider it and build my hot rod the way i like it.

 

ha i did start off with minis, i suppose its a way of thinking these days. the body will be stock and the frame is set up to lower the body 2 inches. so the floor will not have to be raised sacraficing head room. technically its "channeled" 2 inches. i also pushed the cab back about a foot and the front rails are flush with the side of the body similar to the 32 fords rails. I try to spend more time thinking and planning than actual doing. theres nothing worse than cutting things back off...

 

In the pics it looks like the front of the frame is lower than the rims - must be the angle that the pics were taken

How much room will there be between the axle and the cross member with the body and engine weight on the frame? And wont that push the frame lower to the ground reducing the scrub even more?

Im just trying to learn and the best way I know is to ask questions

Gary

 

You may try to get more angle on the top rear links.

 

I'd rather run a 3 link,with a panhard bar,
than the square tubing bridge over the center section.

Imagine the leverage on the welds.

 

the weight will drop the frame about one inch. so im still going to be fine. i drive my bagged truck at 3 inches off the ground around town all day. no problems what so ever. the frame will never hit the axle. right now its about 1/2 with out the load. guys that are z ing frames 7-8 inches on rat rods have alot more to worry about than i do.

 

when all is said and done the instant center will be some where around 5-8 inches of the front axle at ride height with the lower bars parallel to the ground. ride height will be about 7-8 inches. and about 18 inches of total lift.

 

hey ian. i have tossed the idea around for awhile. im was in favor of the triangulated 4 link since there are a lot of space limitation above and behind the axle. i still need some where to keep a battery, air compressors, valves, tank, and a gas tank. i really dont want that stuff in the cab. the pan hard bar would have to be behind the axle taking up some valuable space. i would prefer a 3 link my self but i just have this vision of losing some room for the air tank and having to keep it in the cab. the link bars have about 30 degrees of triangulation and the bar thats on the axle would be heavily gusseted with some 1/4 plate.

also with the extreme travel of the air bags the pan hard will push the axle side to side through its travel. with the car all the way down the body hits the pavement and the side to side tolerances that i feel comfortable with are about 2 inches. the triang set up wouldnt have an effect.

 

Very nice work to bad your hours away, if not i'd have you fixing my mistakes. Clean welds!!! Demand more pictures!

 

I am enjoying this thread SK... keep it coming. Looks like you know what you want and are working to make it happen. Forget the naysayers... these are the same folks who said Orville and Wilbur were crazy. Get that underslung 'in the air'!

 

some updates on the frame. ..
rear bag on the bar brackets are done
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rear sub frame
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starting to look like a car now.
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more updates on the way... frame is getting close!

 

Damn that is nice..

 

tonights update. some gussets to the needy areas.
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