I am in need of fixing the rear suspension on my 49 that i just picked up.. I am not sure what the guy that owned it before me was thinking but it is all screwed up. I'll attach pics in a few minutes. There is a ford 9" rearend in the car, but the guy doesnt have trailing arms, 4 link- anything to prevent axle roll. All the guy did was half *** weld some brackets to the axle and attach the axle to the leaf springs in front of and behind the axle. Then to top it off he painted it yellow to showcase is fabrication skills. What I'm looking at doing is welding in leaf spring pads, using universal lower shock mounts from speedway and some lowering blocks. What I am not sure on is what to use for trailing arms. can I get away with throwing some traction bars on and get some miles on the car? I don't want to spend a pile of cash because I am planning on notching the rear and putting air ride in this winter.
I have no idea what is going on in your photo but all you need is some proper axle pads welded in and the right pinion angle. don't know what you are talking about with "trailing arms".. ??
I have no idea whats going on either.. I was told I need something to prevent the axle from rolling, like traction bars. If I can skip them I will.. I just need to get rid of the mess that is on there right now.
i ccalled jpl streetrods and ordered up a ch***is engineering rear leaf conversion kit for my 48. havent installed it yet but it gives brand new lowering leaf springs and uses regular shocks to replace the knee action ones. total was about $520 shipped. allows use of almost any rear axle with the right width but needs to have the axle pads welded on. just an option.
I'm looking to keep it cheaper than that. I am looking at spending about $700 on my rear air ride this winter. I'm looking to keep it under $200 to fix this mess. If I can just cut all this mess off and put in some new leaf spring pads and new lower shock mounts Ill be happy.
wow. whoever did that is a dumb*** to the extreme. all that junk needs to be cut off the rear end and redone. looks like he cut the original brackets from the stock rear and put them on the new one. problem is the original rear pivots on the springs and is held in place by the torque tube. that is why that other bracket is welded to the front. it all has to go. one thing to think about it these cars have narrow springs and most spring pads seeen in the aftermarket are wider. might try chevsofthe40s.com to see if they have the proper narrow spring pads. I don't think it really matters but it is something to think about.
I used the complete Ch***is Engineering kit for the rear of my 1951 chev. It uses a 68 camaro rear end and once you get the old hangers out everything bolts back in. Hope this helps.
That is some wacky **** right there. There are several bolt-in leaf spring kits for 49-53 chevies to accomodate an open drive line. Ch***is Engineering, Posies, Chevs of the 40s, lots of options out there. At first glance, I would look at taking all that stuff out of there and re-do it right. You might be able to re-use the rear end with some properly welded on axle pads, but check the width of the axle first and make sure you won't have wheel clearance problems. I would double-check everything to do with that rear end set up. Looks pretty sketchy.
I was planning on cutting it all off for sure. I will look into that website and see if they have the narrow pad mounts.
The rearend is the right width, I am planning on removing everything and redoing it all. Getting rid of the ridiculous yellow paint also!
The guy obviously used the stock 49 pivots, and added to them so they would'nt pivot (not needed without the torque tube). Just cut ALL the stuff off and weld on a pair of spring pads, new U-bolts/nuts, and shock plates. A tri-five would be a good donor, and spring pads can be got at any trailer supply outlet. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Just thought Id add... look over the rest of the car really well! If you dont have alot of experience, find a buddy who does.... I wouldnt trust anything the PO did! Good luck with the build. Im using the stock springs on mine right now with a 79 firebird rear, am going to install new leafs when I can afford them..
I've been going over the entire car with a couple buddies and we have fixed some wiring issues, brakes are almost fixed and the rearend will get finished up this weekend. I'll post up some photos when the rearend is redone. I'm also replacing u-joints because the pinion angle is ridiculous. The rearend is pointed up a solid 10 degrees at current ride height. Sent from my iPhone using TJJ app
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