Gassers...Successful Suspension Designs, Theories, or Pics...Lets Discuss!!

I am running old school traction master bars on my dodge. the company is still in bis in LA. I also clamped the springs in front of the axle and added an adjustable pinion snubber.

 

on my chevy two it is a basic dropped axle on twin leaves all speedway stuff. drives great , absolutely smooth and 0 bumpsteer, has been 117 mph and is getting a new 670 hp mtr next week and should run 130 + just as smooth here is a pic of the suspension on it . I did a pontiac tempest 62 model and had to put a 455 in it . it fit well and as ai remember it sat 1 1/2 inches to the right in it ... but fit well ...

 

I'm building a 60 chev biscayne with genuine susp. Balljoint spacers . I'm useing 70 monte carlo springs and i spaced the lower control arm down 4 inches to corect the geometry. I also used 63 impala spindles and drums to get away from ball type wheel bearings and the bolt right in. As for rear ladder bar suspension and 9.5 ford with 40 spl. Axles that is if anybody gives a ****!

 

I also want to know how to get in touch with creig's welding.

 

i have an econoline axle for my 55 fairlane, will it need to be narrowed?

 

Dragrcr50 what did those leaf springs come out of or did city spring make them

 

No. I used to race with a guy that had that setup and it looked and fit nice with the axle un-cut. There's a thread on 55-56 Fords that has a current pic of it. It's black with flames and a tilt front end. You can see for yourself, it looks great.

 

I saw the 425 Nailhead comment.

I understand as well that a 425 can be hard to find and when you do the blocks aren't always useable.

Why not a modestly built 455?
With a decent set of gears and not too big a slick/radial slick you ought to be able to get into the low 12's and maybe 11's fairly easy.
My whiz wheel shows high 11's and 111 mph for a 3800# car with 400 HP.

400 HP is pretty easy to achieve in the BBBs and it can be done with a 9.0/1 compression ratio.

Not too bad for a streetable car running 87 octane.

I'd check in with the Chris Alston Ch***isWorks site and take note of what they have to say.
They sell a nice rear sway bar and that should help a lot in straightaway accelleration and probably help in the curves.

My 32 - granted a much lighter car - has a sway bar in back only and I think that's the main reason the car handles so well on mountain curves.
Transverse spring in front and coilovers in back, panhards both ends.

 

put a Big block chevy in the trunk and three more HAMBr's in the car and you might get to 3800#
A 455 would make that car hell on wheels. I don't imagine it would be that much cheaper to build than a Nailhead, but could rev higher.
Incidentally Ron, I have a 2x4 and a 6x2 for the Nailhead if you are going that route.

 

well city spring is no more and fleet pride dont make any , anyway they are just factory 3 leaf with one gone and coil overs. the fronts or speedway mtrs

 

on craigslist okc right now there is a 83 hust olds with a 455 with alum heads comp cam edelbrock intake demon carb forged p\istons lots of bling 400 turbo with a 3500 stall and a 373 rear gear good lookin car for 2500 dollars would make a good donor

 

Granted, a guess on weight, but most cars that are thought to weigh in @ 3400# end up at least 200 pounds heavier and more often than not, 400# heavier than shipping weight info notes once you get the car on a scale.

If the Skylark weighed in at 3400#, the whiz wheel shows low-mid 12's @ 105 mph with only 300 HP.

Anyone ought to be able to get 300 HP out of a 455.

Since the original post commented about his sweetie wanting a 'real g***er' it shouldn't be too hard to set up a car that could run some fun numbers.

If it walks like a duck....

 

Hey, you got any picks of that? If I ever get my **** sorted out and get my 48 A-40 back thats how I want to do it.
Doc.

 

i'm very interested in all this G***er suspension talk. i'd relay like to see some more pics of different setup. i went though my G***er Wars book last night and another drag car book and you realy don't see too many pics under the hood or under the car. i'd like to see pics of both, especially on ACTUAL cars that raced in Gas Cl*** in the early to mid 60s.

great thread, thanks for starting it.

 

If you can find the Don Montgomery (Rockerhead, here on the HAMB) book, Supercharged Gas Coupes, it has a few photo's of suspension stuff.

You might check on the G***er Madness Website too. Byron has posted a few pictures of the Shores and Hess Anglia on the E-Mail group and he probably has posted them there too.
The Anglia ran quarter elliptic springs on the rear and a torsion bar front suspension.

 

Some images of front suspensions that I've gleaned from the web. Some of these are from the HAMB, some are from Ebay, some I took.

This would be a bad idea, let alone really heavy. Also note the flex-pipe exhaust. This is pretty rough.


This one is courtesy, mrrich here on the HAMB, it's the mockup of a narrowed econoline in an AWB '64 Fairlane. Notice the steering arm has yet to be tranferred to the p***enger side.


Aside from being kinda goofy looking, and the horrible steering setup, this one isn't too bad. It has too much caster and thus it wouldn't turn corners well, and it would also have hellacious bumpsteer thanks to the short horribly angled arm.


This one is courtesy of Solid, here on the HAMB. Not sure what axle it is, but the steering setup is interesting. It's a good setup, other than the lift blocks. Ask the 4x4 guys, they'll tell you that's a no-no. But then again, no front brakes is a no-no as well. Oh well.


This is Hayden Proffit's AWB '65 Comet. He went 10's on this. I wouldn't go more than a 1/4 mile with that steering setup. Again, wicked bumpsteer. Not entirely sure the point of the rollers under the springs, unless the frontend rise adversely affected handling.


This was a Hot Rod feature car, and I'm pretty sure the owner is on the HAMB. It's a nice, well thought out setup. The article said it rides very well.


Another HAMBer and another nice setup.


A HAMBer yet again, with a nice narrowed econoline axle under a '64 Fairlane. Notice the steering setup, very nice.

 

I'm sure most have seen the thread on my conversion. Here's a couple shots:

 

So.....let me get this right...Heather wants a g***er, or Ron doesn't want to redo the front unless he can make it a g***er?
Although thats a mighty nice car to start chopping up...

 

hey shakey, I got my axle from tinny's hot rods this week, was very nice and great guy to deal with thanks. sam

 

Why ask a 4x4 guy about a g***er suspension? Why not ask a drag racer that runs them, as many of them do....

cc

 

Can someone tell me what these spindles are from?

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg165/Mercury_Kid/G***er stuff/nf6a1.jpg

I believe mine are the same.

Thanks,



******Knuckles

 

Mercury Kid,

Thanks so much for the pics. I know many people will appreciate them as I did.

I have thought about the use of lift blocks on g***ers as not such a great idea but I have a heavy background in 4x4s. Knowing that they are a huge no no on 4x4s I'm thinking that there is a significant amount of leverage exerted on the front axle on a 4x4 because of larger tires where a drag cars tires are generally small and it would be a different ball game all together.

So can anyone elaborate on this a bit more?



******Knuckles


BTW...ShakeyPuddin55, Your car is the ****!!

 

So how are nailheads in general for racing especially the 425? Is it a lost cause? The 425 is what I would choose as my first choice. I haven't done my naihead homework as of yet but would like to keep the car mid 60's. I'm not opposed to other GM engines like Caddy, Pontiac or Olds.

I am aware that you can do anything with the right amount of money but I would think that alot of us here are thinking along the same wavelength.

So lets hear more about this.



******Knuckles

 

This is the frame I built for my Henry J. It's a stock Henry J frame, not stubbed. 38 willys front axle with the original willys springs ( I replaced a leaf with a new heavier one so they weren't so relaxed). The shocks on the front are off an 84 caddy, they will be replaced with lakewood 90/10s. It's a 68 mustang 4 turn steering box with a modified 37 chevy pitman arm. I'm running the 64-67 volvo front disc brake setup.

The rear is a 78 a lincoln versailes 9 in. ford (not vintage, oh well). I went with the Versailles/Grenada rear because they are already narrow( same as ranchero) and they are a big bearing disc brake rear. IT has 31 spline axles and a nodular 3.89 posi. ( the third member in the pic is not a nodular, it is a 3.50 posi). This car stops great, I've only gone about 110-115 mph in it but even at those speeds I have no trouble with the axle or instability.

 

There are more 4x4 trucks with solid axles in the world than there are g***ers, and the 4x4 guys know a thing or two about getting some air under the bumpers. They also have a real good system of sorting out what works and what doesn't.

The blocks are just a bad idea. Some people do it and get away with it, but wouldn't it be just as easy to go to a local spring shop and have them arch up the springs that extra couple inches?

 

Blocks have been used for years on heavy trucks, some come from the factory that way. I had one with a 20,000 lb front axle (like the concrete trucks with the huge front tires) that came that way. No problem when done right. 4X4 offroaders are the worst case scenario - relatively light springs and axles by comparison, and severe situations. Blocks do several things on a 4wd axle, they require longer Ubolts which tend to stretch and loosen up, they increase the side leverage and try to twist out from between the axle perch and spring when there is a side load applied, they increase the lever (moment) that the axle has to twist the spring with when the axle tries to wind up under load. That last bit is why they are bad on drag car rear ends.

Look at the front of a willys g***er with the stock axle and spring blocks. The axle is dropped, not straight like a 4wd axle. The brakes are small, and so are the tires. The drop of the axle puts the spindle centerline above the perch, so when the blocks are installed, the centerline is actually closer to the spring, reducing the lever not increasing it. The tires and brakes being small, means much less load than on he 4wd, including cornering forces. That's why it's not a problem. It's best to make the blocks fit the pring centerbolt and the axle closely, and make sure all the hardware is up to the task, like the U bolts, etc.


The more arch there is in a spring, the stiffer it tends to be. Enough arch and it hardly flexes at all. Those springs you see on some cars that look like half circles may as well be solid.

 

Hope it works!!!

 

Very nice work!

 

look like 49-54 chevy

 

I hope your right and I'm right!!

Thank you. Thank you.


******Knuckles