I hope someone can help me. I am clipping a 1963 Ford Unibody truck. I have the frame out from under the truck, it is blasted and ready to go. I was going to set the clip tonight but I found after several measurments from different points across the frame that it seems to be off by about 1/16th of an inch. Will that make an issue or can I set the clip and just adjust the rear end as I am 4-linking it and will have alot of adustment. My plan is to set the clip in the frame square to the frame and then set the rear up and make sure it is square to the clip. Do I need to take it to a body shop and have them put it on a frame table? The frame looks great and does not show any damage anywhere from accidents or whatever. I am new to this so this might be common for all I know. Drew
That's way under tolerance. That is actually very good for that era. 1/8th was probably spec, but 1/4 probably p***ed routinely. Your 4-link should have a great deal more adjustment than that to square the axle up and you'll never see a road surface so flat you would be able to tell.
That's probably a "little off" for the space shuttle. But for a '63 Ford pickup, sounds like you got a real nice one. Usually they would have destroyed those as to not let them get out and give people false expectations. The "too good" inspector must have been grabbing a donut when that one came along.
Yeah, I'm with everyone else on this one, I ran my sprint car for the last half of this last season with the front end over a quarter inch and down a quarter inch. I didn't think that was that bad, I could still get it to block out pretty close. now a 1/16" of an inch I would say that is damn near perfect. I'm willing to bet that after you put the suspension on the truck the rubber bushings in the suspension will be out twice that much.
Thanks so much, I am sorta of a perfectionist, I was freaking out!! Should have seen me hanging a new door and frame at the house the other weekend. My wife had to leave and take the kid because I was trying to teach a sailor new cuss words! Thanks again.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
Haha! That's nothin' you should have seen the look on my dad's face when I had dial indicators mounted on his jointer!!! he asked me WTF I was doing and I told him I need to take .027" off a piece of poplar, he just shook his head and laughed! that what happens when you give a machinist a wood working project though?!?
I'd say about 95% of the cars you see at shows and in magazines are probably off by more than a 16th.
The last gubment project I worked on (USAF helmet test dummy head) had a 3 mm tolerance, so that 1/16" is right about there. You can probably warp that frame out of square more than that by putting one corner of it in the sun and the rest in the shade, seriously! What you want to do is stretch a couple of strings diagonally across the frame from points you know should be level and check that the strings barely touch where they cross. this will check for twist. Do this completely in the shade because of the sun-heat warp I mentioned.
I've always tried to get all measurements exact and probably waste alot of time doing it. My buddy has always said, "This isn't rocket science!". I guess he's right. Actually 1/16" is nothing to worry about. IMO
"Standard" tolerance on the stuff I work on (aircraft) is +/- .030" per engineering drawings. Plus an ***embly tolerance of +/- .030", that'll put you at around 1/16th. Who the hell uses metric?!? We are still designing new parts for a 50 year old aircraft with good ol' inches.
I'm cool with 1/8" to a 1/4" on that. Is whatever you're bolting up to the frame all perfect parts? Of course not. Everything you have has a tolerance and it all adds up, sometimes the right way, and sometimes the wrong way. Bob
I know I started this thread a long time ago but the project cooled off a bit as we finished my Buell Chopper project which we rode down to the Roundup. Hopefully everyone got to see it: We are back on the truck and have pulled the body off the frame again and started working on smoothing and welding up the frame. We are going to box everything and also remake the step in the rear as it is kinda ruff. The whole project is a 1963 Ford Unibody F-100. It has a Dodge Dakota front clip in the front stepped up 4" or so and the rear is a Disk braked Ford Explorer with 3:73 gears and Limited Slip. The rear is a triangulated 4 link with 3 bellow bags and the front is all tubular control arms with bags. Wheels are steel dodge truck with 4" whitewalls. The plan is to have it drivable for the Roundup 2011. Here are a few pics, the newer ones are towards the bottom : http://illambitioncustoms.com/galleries-index/1963-ford-shop-truck I will update as we upload new pics.
An acquaintance who builds race cars told me two things when I asked similar questions. First was to make sure the rear axle is square with the frame. Second was that 1/16th was probably better tolerance than an old truck going 100 mph need. He started at the back instead of the front as you've suggested. In my case I'm building with leaf springs and won't have any adjustment so that approach is right for me. I don't know how much the adjustable 4-link changes that.
An acquaintance who builds race cars told me two things when I asked similar questions. First was to make sure the rear axle is square with the frame. Second was that 1/16th was probably better tolerance than an old truck going 100 mph needs. He started at the back instead of the front as you've suggested. In my case I'm building with leaf springs and won't have any adjustment so that approach is right for me. I don't know how much the adjustable 4-link changes that.
Thanks for all the help but I started a new thread for the build as we have welded everything in and are moving along. Hopefully after all the welding the frame is only 1/16" out or so.
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