Straight Axle and Airbags?

Here's my newest project. It's a fairly solid 1960 F100 I bought from a guy who wanted to "rat rod" it, hence the stance. It looks pretty cool until you get a peek at the suspension mods. He lowered the rear by flipping the axle on top of the springs. This is a typical method, nothing new. The front, however, is where it gets scary. He removed all the leaves but the main one and reattached it with about a thousand washers for spacers and the remains of what looks like 1/2 of the original spring mounting plate. Check out that frame to spring clearance. Ouch. His plan was to put air-bags front and back. I've seen the mounted to the leaves out rear, but not on the front. Seems the steering geometry would be all out of whack.

Any of you guys ever see air-bags suspending a straight axle located with the leaves?

Anyway, it was a decent buy IMHO. It has the original 292 and 3 on the tree ******. New brakes all around, new master cylinder in the box, extra gauge cluster, extra starter and a pair of super solid doors with good gl*** in them. It has some issues, most notably the driver's bed side, but, all in all, not bad.

Check it out. If you have any opinions on how to lower it the right way, feel free to share. Short of clipping it, I'm open to anything.

 

I did away with the straight axle in mine. I used an early 80's chevy truck front clip. It was an easy swap. The frame width is the same on both trucks. I also used the 12 bolt from the same truck. They were both a good fit. Also kept same bolt pattern front and rear. Disc brakes also a plus on the front. Nice truck. Looks like its pretty solid.

 

Sure have see it on motorhomes all the time

 

xtralow - any more pics? Clipping it would make for a great ride/brakes/handling and so on but a bit beyond my scope. I want to keep it cheap and easy but not as cheap and easy as the guy I bought it from.

Fat Cat - As I said earlier, wouldn't this wreak havoc on the steering geometry? I'd like to hear from someone who has done this on a vehicle that was intended to ride low.

 

Nice truck. Though that front setup is the definition of sketchy!

I was thinking of an airbag setup for my '62 as well. I do know that lowriders sometimes use hydraulics over leaf springs. I've seen some info on this somewhere...

 

There is a drop axle made for that app. I'll find it and post a link

 

here ya go
http://www.cl***icperform.com/Store/1947_59_Trucks/4754DA.htm

 

a straight axle is the one instance where your alignment should'nt be effected by the hieght of the suspension. caster and camber are uneffected by the height at which the body sits over the suspension. it's not like an indepedent front suspension.
toe in and toe out will however be effected slightly but i doubt it would be any worse than with any other air bagged vehicle. i think you'll be just fine if you put bags on that thing. can't be much worse than it is now.
i've seen hot rods with 4 links (front and rear) and straight axles utilizing airbags WITHOUT the leaf spring.

 

He's right on in my opinion.

 

With proper spring perch hardware and helper air bags, C-notches should solve any clearance issues. I didn't see anything that was too hard to fix. The single leaf with air bags is a sound idea. Spring acts as locator and prevents excessive wrap of the axle from road forces. Some new air bag systems for leaf spring cars and trucks do the same thing.

 

Thanks for the link, Gahi. That was the dropped axle I was considering.

My only concern with the adjustability of the bags would be severe bump steer. If anyone from the morning crew could chime in on this, it'd be appreciated.

Costwise, I think new rearched springs with new bushings all around and a dropped axle up front would wind up being about as much as a universal air bag kit w/ compressor,tank, and controls.

You guys suppose the springs should be replaced even if I bag it? 46 years old and there's a hell of a lot of stress on them as it sits.

Any thoughts?

 

i would think that just one leaf up front would allow for axle wrap. If you want to drive it that low, the drop axle is the ticket. than add a couple more leafs back into the mix. Either that or you need to notch the frame. I would go for 2" - 3" travel and get a good bump stop. You may have to live with the bump steer, unless you 4link it.

Gary

 

Hey Dirty, I'm needing a DS door for my '59, you looking to part with that spare? These old trucks make nice rides, I drive mine everyday and get asked about it alot.

 

for comparison purposes. i could get you into a complete bag setup for about $1200 (NEW). thats a complete setup, you just build your bag mounts. it includes 4 bags, 100% duty compressor (12 volt), 8 electric valves, gauges, wires, connectors, lines, fittings and a 5 gallon tank, not to mention a complete instruction manual. everything you need for the actual air system.
compare that to the cost of your other option. keep in mind that this is a few hundred below retail. you might not be able to get the same price anywhere else unless you know somebody.

 

The guy needs to deliver the other two on Friday. Let me take a look at them and decide what I want to keep. The doors on it (at first glance) are decent. I haven't dug in yet so I don't know what I'm working with in terms of rust. I can only use two so I'd be up for getting rid of the spares.

 

Thats an ok price on a bag setup. but go with 4 valves if your only going to do front and back and dont waste the money on 8 valves.

 

Eight sounds more complicated. Why would you need 8? Leveling purposes?

 

Not quite the same but I did bags on my 32 Ford PU with straight axle and about 4 leaves in the spring. I used the double convoluted bags and some hardware from AirRide Tech. Worked great.

 

Great info...thanks!