Building Trailing arm suspension for the Chev thread

So I have finished the suspension finally on the 54 just intime for the SYR Nats! Its been a good few weeks since last post but these pics show what we ended up with. Everything came out working as well as we planned and looks as good as we could do under a finished car thats going to actually be drivin. For the guys that dont have to deal with rust (rear rotor pic)this is what happens in 5 months in a unheated garage with the drastic change in temps we had last winter!

 

This shows what we did with the front suspension. The spring perches got cut off the lower control arms and we made new mounts plates for the Slam Specialties 7" XS bags, Made new upper plates to fill in the original upper spring pocket from the C.E. top hats. Then we made upper and lower shock brackets for the externals and welded on stops so the upper ball joints dont bind on themselves in full extension!

We finished the stainless 2.5 exhaust up around and over the rear end and out the back tight to the frame..all made from bends provided by a buddy who owns a custm stainless welding biz here doing alot of sanitary stainless piping..Thanx man!

 

Looking good. I went a little different route on my 53. If it didn't work out as planned I was going to go this way with it. Great job and quality work!

 

This is my set up. Frame is now z'd boxed and pads welded on the rear axles. This is in the mocked up stage. Used the orignal GM arms and made everything else. I talked to some guys in Dallas at the Invasion and they built heavy arms thinking they needed them for strength at the drags. Ripped several housings apart. One guy was still using the heavy arms but the bracing and gussets to keep it together were unreal. So I decide to use the originals. The ride on the truck is unreal. Comes out of the hole straight everytime. Handling is very good with no sway bars. I think yours will be ok as they don't seem to be too rigid.

 

Your set up looks good man and def a good idea to use a stock set up...In my case I have use of my buddys fab shop where we can make anything and his knowledge...he has been told before ch***is and suspension systems he has designed an made from scratch might not work and still continues to proof them all wrong! As Hnstray mentioned above about the physics coming into play, I would not argue with that but this set up works very well as we checked for binding or stress points, and with only 3-6 inches of travel its working fine! The tappered arms do help with any twist and the fact that the trailing arms slide into a pocket at the perches helps with any strain/stress at the joint. We took all the measurments off of his c-10 when building this so its almost identical to the stocker! Whats your frame from I cant quite tell?? any pics of the notch to thro on here to compare?

 

This is the trunk finished out after the C notch and the unfinished floor area was cut out behind finish panel. It was actually a cleaner set up with the new flat panels to mount the battery, amp an sub. Then finally my trunk is back to normal!!

 

Finally back on the ground after 8 weeks!!! Off to SYRACUSE NATS on Thur!!!

 

Very nice work, all with a finished car no less. Did you use a waterjet for cutting the brackets? Don't forget to let us know how it rides.

 

Thanx Gearheadwelder, No I actually cut most of it with the uprite band saw.....So far about an hour in the car back n fourth to interior guy for a front carpet and shift boot change and it really rides well...What a difference from last year!! Your in Conn..u hittin Syr...(meet n greet sat at 11am ol school roundup)?

 

Your Avatar doesn't do this car justice - it's perfect! Thank you for the very informative thread, and sharing this beauty with us.

 

as someone who's been there and done that, in the real world, tube works just fine. mocked up without springs, you'll find more free travel than any of us really need, as i did. it doesn't take much force to twist a 4' long piece of 1 1/2 x 3 tube. an axle tube 5' long, 3" diameter and 1/4" wall or thicker, used as the lever, is going to twist that tube with ease. the most important thing IMHO is to use u bolts and axle pads as the arm to axle mounting, nothing else unless you're gonna get all carried away and make bushings or something. at the leading end, if you are starting from scratch i'd consider johnny joints or similar joints from the rock crawling world. and on the topic of rock crawling, if the old ford truck radius arm suspension can be made to flex well(and they can), then you are REALLY doing something wrong if you have problems with truck trailing arms with ANY triangulation.

personally i think it's just as easy to build from scratch as it is to find and modify the stock truck stuff. they fit fine in a truck, not so well in something like a 49-54 chev.

one more bit of actual experience, i know it's difficult, but i suggest every effort be made to put the bag on top on the arm as opposed to cantilevered off the side. mount the bag on the side and you'll see just how easy it is to twist that tube, as i did.

 

48 Ford F-1. If it works, doesn't break and you like the ride...what else is there? I think the car and the work are bootyful!!

 

Very well said Ray, thanx I agree...That was my thought also with the bag mount but my friend said it would be fine like this and give us more room to work...(as I said a few times in here he is one of the best welders and fab guys u will find, 30yrs welding/building evrything evryway you can) so I do trust his opinion and craftmanship but i will def keep and I on those crutial area for stress and glad u mentioned it!BTW your car in the avitr look awesome bro!

 

Does anyone know where the instant center should be set on truck arms at ride height? I realize there isn't much room for adjustment at the front when building the mounting points in but I haven't found it yet.

 

No there is not alot of room for movement of the mounting brackets on the crossmember...what are you trying to do exactly?

 

http://www.racetec.cc/shope/

Here is a nice selection of suspension tables and charts for you.

 

ElPolacko, I enjoy making people think, but that is just downright sadistic!

 

Billy Shoppe is one amazing dude. I read a ton of his stuff over at www.eng-tips.com in the automotive engineering section. Not only does he know how to do the math, he has done the math and is about as friendly a guy you could meet there.

Too bad his taste in website colors sear your retinas.

 

Wow! That covers every possible situation, seems like he has alot of experience and info there...Thanks for the link as its a great spot on this thread!

 

Very helpful, thank you!

 

No problem, Billy has been around:

http://www.allpar.com/racing/ramchargers.html

And he's a HAMB'r

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=43091

 

ELpolacko...Im out in the Phoenix Valley alot...I know ive seen that truck in your avitar over the years somewhere....your link shows it as your shop truck, very cool! Great links by the way! I should have my 54 out there for th GG show in Nov.

 

If you get the chance, stop on by. We always have an openhouse party on the Saturday of the November Good Guys event. Last year we had BBQ pork shoulder and home made coleslaw and potato salad with all the Jaritos Mexican sodas you could stomach!

Our plan is to do the same or better this year.

 

Sounds good bro..will do for sure! Thanx

 

very nice work and car.... props to your guy for doing the exhaust and to your fab ch***is guy.

to let everyone know. i have ridden in this car and it rides really smooth. good job!

 

smart build, to bad i missed GG

 

thats a really useful link, thanks!

 

Thanks Dante! The ch***is guy is my longtime good buddy Dave Faulkner...He and I were under that thing for a month redesigning all that without Fukin up the finished car above The exhuast was a favor from my buddy who does sanitary stainless piping for beer,dairy and drink companys...favors dont always work out...Dave and I finished it all! See you in a week for Jeffs Fun Run brotha!

Octobeak...Thanx,Glad you found this helpful man.

 

Hey Chevy54, I have read this thread 5 times now, and still have a few questions

1. did you have to cut the floor pan any to clear the new arms?
2. how high does the axle have to go up above the stock frame to set the rear bumper on the ground?
3. Now that you have put some miles on this set up, how do you like it?
4. Any drive shaft binding with the arch of travel you have now?
5. would you like to come to Sunny florida and do mine? just kidding, well kinda

Thanks for the thread, great idea
MrC.

 

btt, i know its a old thread but thought some new guys might find it helpful.