T bucket frame

I'm new here but a lifelong gearhead and want to build something a little wierd.I was going to build a t bucket and my question is has anybody ever fabbed a t bucket frame level from front to back,that is with no rear kickup? Good? Bad? photos? Bobby

 

My question is...why would you want to?? Thing could be 5 foot ground clearance

 

I thought Ihad seen photos of old T's with no visible kickup that didn't lookall that high up?Maybe I'm wrong.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103232

 

Ground clearance about 18".

 

He said no rear kickup

 

What about using a Model A crossmember?

 

Level as in ride height with no rake, or just straight frame rails. Nothing wrong with straight rails, there are hundreds of A and T cars and trucks one here with them.

 

That is him

 

I want some rake which I know I'll get with flat frame rails.Are there any photos out there of cars like I'm thinking of ?

 

Hmmm...maybe mount the springs, shocks and rear axle above the rails. Kind of a frame flip just in the back. But then you'd need to get the front low too with a dropped axle and/or suicide mount.

 

How about Norm Grabowski's Kookie T? It was built on a straight Model A frame with no kickup. But it had a severely dropped front end. This gave the frame and body quite a rake which he concealed to a certain extent by the way he fitted the windshield, headers and grille shell.

A lot of early hot rods were built this way but the Kookie T is an extreme example.

If you enlarge the picture you will really see the frame. Put your cursor on the picture, right click, and left click on open link in new tab. Go to the new tab, press Ctrl at the bottom left of your keyboard and roll the wheel on your mouse to enlarge.

 

A lot of T style cars were built that way years ago. It isn't that hard to put a kick in the chassis after you have put it together with straight rails and checked out to see if it will work either and there is no minimum on how much kick you put in it. I've seen plenty of them that only have the kick up the width of the rail with the back part overlapping the front part.

 

How much rear suspension travel should I allow for with the flat rails and maybe an A crossmember?What alse should I be aware of?

 

3 inches should be fine.

 

"What alse should I be aware of?"

There's a hole with no bottom.

You should be aware of everything you need to know to build a hot rod. What don't you know?

 

So you want it lowered yet no kickup...am I missing something here?

 

I've got a buddy that builds some of his frame rails with no kickup... mounts the rear axle above the frame.

 

I'm actually planning to do it. I will use a stock 37' ford front axle and mount my front spring off the wishbones which will make it pretty low. The axle will be in front of the radiator. In the rear I plan to mount the rearend above the framerails. I'll use either quarter eliptic springs or possibly leaf springs mounted to the outside of the rails. I'll probably have to c-notch the top of the rail but I won't know until I start mocking it up. I plan to use original ford stealies all around with with tall skinny tires. Some of the 50's and early 60's sports cars used similar rear setups. I'll be using TT frame rails which have the same side profile as Model A's but they are about 1" taller. I plan to set the width of the frame to align with the outside width of the body. The look should be pretty much that of having a rollpan. Sam

 

Have you looked at any of T's and A's here?

Where does he say he wants it lowered?

You can lower the car a few inches from stock, T or A and still run straight rails.

 

Yeah, I've looked alot for pictures similar to what I propose but with no luck so far.any help would be appreciated.

 

Here's a picture (from the HAMB) that shows what I tried to explain in post #19 above. You can see that the rear axle tubes will past just above the frame rails. There will still be plenty of ground clearance.

 

Here is an old timer that was built using an unboxed set of Model A frame rails with no kickup.



Here is what the bare frame looked like.

 

With no rear kickup, what would be the best way to hang the rear suspension?

 

I have owned my T Bucket for 25 years, but I did NOT build it. It has straight frame rails, NO Zee. and he used a straight front axle. I have to clim on the rear tire to get in & out. No doors. It sits Too high. Steep angle on engine & trans back to 9 inch. roadster headers end close to ground. I will be dropping front end. It has 4 coil springs. May bag rear end to be able to drop it. I recommend zee it enough to be able to step into & out of car.

 

I'm betting it's Z'd.

 

Here's one I'm building now.. Has a step in the rear... It will be hard to keep it low with no step up in the rear..

Here's how it sit's..

 

perhaps you're referring to an "underslung" suspension, using parallel leaf springs on each corner, mount them on top of the frame and you'll be real low. i've seen this done a few times, and back in the brass era a few factory cars were set up that way.