The truck is a 57 chev 3 window 1/2t shortbox Did a leaf flip front and rear, made pads for the front leafs so solve any "suicide frontend worries". About to cnotch the front. I have about 3 inchs between the oilpan and the axle. Cant cut the pan due to clearance between the crank and the bottom of the pan.. and cant afford to buy a drop axle... Heres my q. Anyone made a custom axle with a "u" notch to clear the oilpan? Im a cert'd welder and have no problem in welding etc.. i have a donor i beam i was thinking of taking the middle section from welding it to the bottom of my i beam, then cutting out the top section to create a "u" in the center of the axle.. Im thinking as long as I overlap the ends enough, and weld chalks to tie everthing in i'll be ok. Clearance issues as far as being to low are not an issue.. it would only be as low as the back bellhousing crossmember.. and i would do it with the axle in place to minimize distortion.. Any idea's on this are greatly appreciated!
if you think youre a good enough welder, i dont actually see any problem with that. the centre section of the axle is relatively unstressed compared to the section from the spring mount outwards.
Hope you cut that steel to fit the windshield 'cause glass doesn't bend and plastic is not legal. You could even use a u-bend of heavy wall tubing in the middle of your axle to solve the pan clearance problem, but your idea will work just fine.
What about an 50's F-100 (Whatever came after the F-1) axle for a six? I've looked at one, and its like dropped about an half inch in the center for no reason...other than the six.
Nope 3 inches is not enough.. i wanna give enough clearance incase i decide to buy bags for it sometime... and im nervous about it being so close to the pan... thought about raising the engine but then i would need to cut the floorboards and level the rearend with it.. and thats already tucked up pretty far.. Yes i did add to the width of the windshield.. and i do have a custom windshield that fits perfect. Note to others with major curve windshield openings.. go to a glass artisan! they can make glass bend how you want and make it legal.. i think im gonna go ahead and u notch mine.. did alot of measuring and such today.. got a good idea how to make it look good too... just gonna be time consuming.. thats good to know about the stress areas on that axle.. Thanks for the info guys!
so how does this artisan make it lagal im pretty sure it has to be laminated safty glass at least thats what i was tought jeff
haha.. its laminated between two layers and tempered... dated a glass lass for a while. kinda cool actually.. she proved it to me when she hit a piece of it with a hammer and nothing happened. It takes alot to break it.. and when it does it spiders just like safety glass. Legal? so when was a hotrod totaly legal? how about the dump exhaust on that 32 ford? is that legal? ever registered your car at a relatives house to avoid emissions? is that legal? That burnout you do in a parkinglot with a bunch of people in aw.. is that legal? The carshow you go to and u drink beer all day drink some water and KNOW your sober enough to drive home.. is that legal? give me a break.. did you loose your hotrodder blood? besides.. this isnt a daily driver.. it has no windshield wipers and i live in the rainy state.. so you can guess how much i'll be able to drive it.. And one more thing... so when did a hotrod become a legal issue? Every old hotrodder i know is breaking the law one way or another...
How did you do the leaf flip in front? Do you just take the leafs apart and put them back together upside down? Do you have any pictures of the pads you made solve the suicide frontend worries? What is the suicide frontend problem? Have you driven with the leafs flipped yet? If so how does it ride? Thanks Dave
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