Hi, I've been lurking for sometime now & I need some help. First, let me say that I can't believe how many talented people there are on this forum! The knowledge here is unreal!! OK, so I'm building a '32 pick up. This is going on a '41 frame. I'm going with a stock Flathead, 3 spd. & a banjo rear with torque tube. Up front, I went with a 4" drop, spring behind and hairpins. I'm trying to keep it as low as possible and I'm running into a problem with the wishbones hitting the bottom of the frame. The question is, can these be cut & welded on a different angle or bent so I can mount them to the outside of the frame with heim joints or rod ends? Is this a bad idea? Is this a strong enough set up for what I'm running? I'm open to any info anyone can suggest. I tried to attach pictures but I couldn't. I will add them when I figure out how to. Thank you for your help, Joe
I'm doing the rear suspension on my Model A right now. Mounting the bones to the side of the frame with Heim joints will still cause some binding, putting some stress on them and making them prone to cracking. I think I have a solution to all of this though. I'm running an open drive trans and banjo. I will be tacking stuff together tonite and will post the pics on my build thread later.
I am attempting coil overs on my 41 Pickup with a torque tube. The owner of a local speed shop insists lowering the rear ride height will put undue stress on the joint at the rear of the transmission. Not sure I buy that but it is worth considering. Someone has done this I'm sure so is it a problem ????
Looks like a couple ways to approach this, depending on your frame width and the amount of drop needed. Look up a build thread by Nealinca, he built a drop in his '36 rear bones to clear the frame. Looks sort of like the drop in '42-'48 front bones; but more so. Another way that may work for you would be to: Unbolt the rear of the bones from the axle flange and torque tube. Figure out how far they have to be moved in to clear the frame. Fabricate a bracket (kinda of like the mount on a '32 axle) that will weld to the axle tube at that point, bolt the bones on and remount the front end. You really need to keep the bones mounted to the axle and torque tube.
The original poster seems to be asking about FRONT bones hitting, but some of the guys are answering about REAR bones? If fronts, yes you can split and move out. But you can mount the rear part on the insides of the rails, or have the tapered bungs installed backwards, to make the tie rod ball end, be on the inside, not the outside....if you can follow that. Or go with 42/48 dipped front bones.
Hey Frank, he said he used hairpins up front. I think he is talking about the radius rods. Jrvariel, on a closed drive car you do NOT, under any cir***stances, want to mount the front of those rods anywhere but to the torque tube. You can reshape them/relocate the rear mount further inward off the axle tube/etc... if it will solve your clearance issue. They keep the rear axle square to the torque tube and need to be there in some form or another.
Yes Yes. It's the rear wishbones. Sorry for not stating that more clearly. Thank you to all who are helping out. Is there a better style wishbone to accomplish this or should I just work with what I have? Thanks again everyone!
Do a search for Nealinca's post on his torque arm. He added a second arch in some 36 rods, which is probably what you want to do.
If it were me, and could find good priced ones, I would do like Rich B said...the 35/36 rear trailing arms with the dropped mounting plates. Lowsquire showed those dropped plates a couple of years ago. They just make the 2 mounting holes drop further under the axle tubes, where in a stock 35/36, the 2 holes are almost level with the axle shaft centerlines. I just remembered a thread from last night... I think the guy was from Jersey or maybe Maryland, and he is trying to get a 36/36 "rusted-in-half ch***is" cheap from a neighbor, and it still had those arms. Even if the oval tubing was too rusted, the forged part with the holes could be reused with donor tubes from front or rear bones? You could keep the later spring hangers, and cut off the 35/36 hangers and just use the hook part. I will try to find that thread...maybe they will be for sale.
VERY BAD IDEA!!! A 32 should only be on 32 rails. The 41 frame is way to big and won't flow with the body. Save yourself a headache and buy some deuce rails.
Put up pics of what you have fitted so far. We don't know if you can build creatively or not, nor do we know if you earn $5 an hour or $50... some can just go buy the right stuff and some can't
I know mine isn't a 32 but I'm putting a 30 model a on a 48 frame. Its shortened and narrowed with the front half of the model a frame. Its not the best pic but it I think it flows pretty good so far. I'm just trying to work with what I got.
I agree with Berky. The 41 frame is just not right for the '32 body combo. Actually youd be better off with a Model A frame if you don't want to drop the bucks for the Deuce rails and boxing plates. They are dirt cheap. The '41 frame is just too bulky. I know everybody says, " It's my car", but just try and sell it later! Do it right the first time and you'll feel better. I would sweep Z the rear rails clear the 'bones. I have this done under a sport coupe I'm building now and it works perfect. Check out my build thread at- http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7117318#post7117318 for a better idea of what I'm talking about. This car also has the front end your looking at. PM me if you need any dimensions or details. I have this setup fixtured on my table but it's easy to do. Good luck and post pics!
First of all, get rid of about half the leaves in that rear spring if you want the suspension to work AT ALL! If you're using the torque tube you probably ought to have it all bolted together in there for setup. No reason why you can't just make up some nice brackets on the axle tubes and move the existing radius rods inboard enough to clear your frame, then cut, weld and remount them to the torque tube farther back than they "are" now. I'm guessing you have narrowed the 41 frame a good bit so the body at least doesn't sit inside the rails.
I see you have some sort of wire wheel on the front. If they are Ford wires, and 40-up drums, you need an "adapter ring". When you bolt a 35 style wire to a 40 drum, the center big hole is away from the drum face, and if you overtighten the lugs to get that center to finally reach the drum, the wheel hub will be bent permanantly.
"First, let me say that I can't believe how many talented people there are on this forum! The knowledge here is unreal!!" Wow, thanks man (I recognized the description)
I got rid of five leaves later that day, I forgot to take pictures. I'm using the torque tube and what you said about moving in the wishbones with some brackets is what I'll probably do. I'm new at this and I kinda have to work with what I have to the best of my ability.Yes, I did narrow the frame so the '32 pick up body sits correctly. The body is channeled 4". I went by the '32 dimensions for the front cross member & the firewall. When I got the frame it was to wide to work with. Thanks for your input, it's greatly appreciated!! Joe
Got the adapters. This is where I got the information. Thank you for that info! It's the little stuff like that a newbie like me doesn't know & it'll ruin your day.
OK, so I'm starting to lay out the rear wishbones on the axle & I have a few questions. It looks like I have to bring them in from the back plate about 6" to clear the frame. Is there a rule of thumb for how far inward they can go towards the banjo before their not really doing anything? Can I heat & bend them or bend them with no heat or not bend them at all to tweak them a little? The reason I ask is the angle the rear mount is at on the wishbone ('41). If the angle wasn't so hard, I wouldn't have to bring them in toward the banjo so much. Last one for now. I would ***ume that the further up the torque tube they mount the better it will be.The tube was shorten to 57" before I got it. Again is there a rule for this measurement? Thank you.
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