i need to find out a few things about a 28 dodge fast four... 1: what is the wheel bolt pattern (hw are the old wooden wheels fitted to the hubs)...is it like a modern car with 5 or 6 studs?? 2: can you buy drop beams for these or is it all custom made to fit stuff? 3: whats the best way to fit retractable diagonal/lap belts to the b pillars? any help or info would be great..cheers
i would like get a 28 dodge a bit closer to the ground by about 2". have widers rims and tyres as 5" is not wide enough for my liking. and disc brakes up front would be a real bonus for slowing down for all our bends in the roads over here....
Hey Paul, Check this out: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395533&highlight=underslung+dodge&page=2 Thanks Greg
If it is an I-beam axle it there are guys on here that can drop it. 2" really isnt too much to lower a car so you could have the spring eyes reversed and de-arched instead and probably be fine. As for brake there is a way to put disks on those spindles (or atleast the later ones) but the drums shouldnt be too bad compaired to fords of that era because they were already hydralic
I sold a '28 Dodge Bros last year in project form. The wheels are hub mounted, no wheel lugs. It uses parallel leafs up front like a early Chevy - you should be able to adapt a dropped aftermarket I-beam without too much trouble. The frame is similar dimensions to a Model A, your most likely source for suspension upgrades.
The '28 I had and sold had mechanical brakes...it may have been a mixed bag of mechanical and hydraulics.
i think your best bet is to modify the spindles to fit some other brake drums and backing plates. or adapt some ford ect spindles to the axle. theres a guy on here that drops any axle for 200 and will set the axle to whatever angle you want to put on any other spindle, then all you will need to do is either machine the hole size on the axle or put bushings in the spindles or vice versa. that will give you better brakes and you can them bolt on wheels. as far as dropping it 2 inches, you can just do as mentioned before and take out leafs or de arch the leafs, or change the shackles maybe. oh and as for the belts.... i wouldnt bother, those cars arent made for them, if you get into an accident that bad strapped into that tin can; you will be mangled into the wreckage so badly that they will be putting your dead corpse in the casket piece by piece. on a lighter note. HAVE A NICE DAY! lol
******....fitting ifs would work out cheaper unless i can find a engineer willing to do a cashy... will look at milling down the dodge spindles to the same spec as a later model spindle that has a decent brake set up... and then try and hide the lot with a nice wheel and tyre combo..without the fries though... i would like to do a jag rear one day...but not right now..maybe just swap the dodge diff for a under sprung diff...that should get the back low straight away,but will be concerned with ch***is clearence...may need to swap the leaves in the back too... well see
Your '28 is pretty much the same as my '27. Your axle is already dropped about 5 1/2" you will have to replace it with an aftermarket to get any lower. Getting the front end low enough is a real problem you will have to change the spindles to Ford or Chevy and adapt whatever brakes you want I couldn't get my '27 low enough so I had to add some skirting to the fenders to close the gap I also made shorter shackles, used monoleaf springs with the dropped axle. By the way, the Dodge frame is nothing like a model A frame. It is substantially larger and heavier. I have a lot of construction photos if interested. PM me at bertzcarz@hotmail.com
Victory 6's had hydraulic brakes in '28, but don't know about the other models. Check with noboD here on the HAMB- he is a DB guru!!!
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