Here is the over the spring front axle for my F-1 hot rod. Does this scream death by firey crash to you? Thanks, CHAZ
YOUR KIDDING, RIGHT? ONE STOMP ON THE BREAKS AND YER GONNA ROLL ALL THAT ABORTION RIGHT OFF THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK !!!!
Oh no you di'nt...... Check the "let's talk underslungs" thread. The basic configuration is do-able, but yours is going to kill someone.
If your common sense already says "this doesn´t look safe", you´d better believe. As said, that kind of solution can be done, but not that way... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134518&highlight=underslungs I have a better photo of this car somewhere, it looked as good as they get. Try to post it later.
Am I seeing it correctly, or are you just getting a better angle on the axle for a picture? camber, ackerman all that is static on a solid axle. upside down is exactly that. don't do it.
I think we are all confused. Is that axle set-up going on that frame shown? You are just showing us the axle and spring, right? Are you planning to run this in your F-1 with the springs in the stock location? If that's the case, it's not an underslung arrangement that others are referencing, but you need to better explain your plan. It's possible to run a straight axle "flipped", but you need to securely weld that bottom plate to the axle. That means taking it to a pro welder.
i agree if the bottom plate was welded onto the axle and some dussets weld to then you have winning axle . good idea but just not your way .
Are those old sockets being used as spacers? Why would want to 'jam' the system with the middle nuts? The whole purpose is to pull the spring as tightly to the axle as possible so you want the force of the top nuts stretching the whole u-bolt, not only the section between the nuts. I think a re-think is needed on this and you better do it before you need to do an emergency turn and brake or you'll be sitting on top of your wheel. It will be an F'd-1.
Not underslung, the spring is just laying on the frame where I worked on it. The springs will be in the stock location and the axle will be between the spring and frame. I was afraid to tighten the ubolts as tight as I wanted them without the spacers and bolts underneath, I figured I would break the axle "ears." I also tightened the bolts on top of the spacers up good to secure the plate to the spring pack. I was planning on welding the plate to the axle yet, but wanted to make any other changes I needed before I did that. Someone sent me pics of a panel truck set up just like this. CHAZ
What Ya Need To Do Is Stop Being A Cheap Ass And Have The Axle Dropped 4" ..... Then Have The Main Leaf Reversed Or Buy A Pair Of Them Mono~leaf Lowering Springs. Its Crap Like This That Makes The Whole Hot Rod Community Look Bad....... Then They Start Calling You A "rat Rodder" For A Reason
I'd like to see that axle dropped four inches - as in four additional inches? If that's what you're talking about I think I'd prefer swapping it to the top of the spring over putting all of that distance and between the kingpin and spring pad. Reversing the main leaves would be smart. And though the spacer/nut arrangement is a bit strange I don't see anything that's any less safe than many bulldog perches on countless hot rods over the years. But get those plates onto a sander or something. The square edges hurt my eyes. I want to see how this all turns out. I have a friend who will be gragging an F1 home soon. Plans call for a mild drop and proper wheels and tires.
Yeah , I too was wondering if those were sockets,,A set up like that on just about anything would be unsafe,,,If you trully need spacers of some sort there are far better ways to go about it.Hell the one already looks like its shifted and it's just sitting there.
It actually seems sturdier than a rear end with 4" lowering blocks to me? Why all the bad vibes? I posted this on another board and got like 10 good suggestions and no insults, here I got the opposite. One guy actually posted that last comment as a reason he isn't on this board! CHAZ
as you mentioned, i would weld the plate to the axle. i'm not crazy about the spacer setup. it would be okay as long as the spacers are butted right up to the axle to prevent twisting front to back. what i would do is throw out those spacers, start from scratch, and have the spacers welded to the axle and the lower plate, no jam nuts. then i would feel it would be acceptable.
A. your pictures showed an upside down axle 2. the u-bolts don't have max clamping force with the spacers D. lowering blocks are proven to lower the car and increase wheelhop and screw with the scrub line. however, they work exactly as intended. 7. there are some smart guys on here, I have seen their work 1st hand, its good. the people on OSR aren't as technically savvy but they are entertaining. naysayers can kiss my ass.
You know whats funny? Is people have been doing that conversion for a long time. Its fine if you weld the spacers to the plate and the locating pin goes into the plate. Its no different than a rear end. Also dropping a dual leaf axle 4 inches causes all kinds of problems.By the time your finished moving the arms bending stuff ,i would take the flipped axle over a dropped one.
yeah...it looks scary, but it could be safe if you went about it the right way...think of how a normal rearend mounts on leafs... the axle should have those pads welded to it where it sits on the spring, but gussets should be added for strength. In addition there should be a plate on the BOTTOM of the springs that the threaded end of the u bolts go through...this cheesy hillbilly cutaway picture is not the greatest, im in the library at school and have to deal with the shitty paint program they have on here the hypothetical axle in my imaginary world from whence this picture came has had the original u-bolt hole pieces ground off... hope this makes sense, cold meds always fuck with me...
Well I don't think the first five or so to respond really knew what they were looking at - and you have to admit there wasn't much of a discription. Outside of that I see some suggestions, questions, and yeah, an opinion or two. I'm confident in saying hands down there are some of the smartest people around hanging out right here and you don't always get a thoughtless pat on the back with an "attaboy". I've been called out several times - my car is better for it.
Explain how gusseting the axle will help. Its the same princaple as a rear end. As far as scrub line its close but good with 15s. I like how you guys are calling it a rat rod mod when most of you guys still run single pot masters on your cars.Its plenty safe on the axle deal and i think some havent been around long enought to know they used to sell kits to do the exact same thing he did.
I've done this before. My dad and I did this on an F1 back in 1974. It's still driving that way. Weld the plate to keep it from walking and loose the spacers. Torque the nuts to the appropriate tension for whatever the size is and it'll be fine.
my head hurts right now, and dont feel like trying to explain geometric principles, suffice it to say the gussets, when welded to the axle and the pads which would go underneath it, will help keep the axle from rolling over moreso than the u-bolts alone...maybe overkill, maybe not, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I apologize if my reply seemed hateful or anything...not intended I'm gonna log off here and go home and get over this flu or whatever has nabbed me...later y'all!
Just say you dont know and you made a mistake. The axle from ford came that way on the bottom of the springs ,so why on top of them it needs more engineering than ford ever could have done. Sometimes you guys really make me laugh.
Chaz Your axle is upright if I'm not mistaken. Ya make sure that the plate on the bottom of the axle is parallel to the original mounting plate on the top of the axle that will set your caster angle. you can't change you camber angle so don't worry about it. The only thing I can see is that we normally weld the bottom plate to the axle. Make sure you have a locateing hole where the bottom plate on the axle meets the spring and you'll have to reverse the spring bolt so that you have the nub that sticks into the locateing hole. If all that is done you should be alright.
they used to do alot of things. I have a dual chamber master and disc brakes on my car. you wouldn't know if I didn't tell you. It's hidden under the floor, where it belongs. that unwelded upside down axle "deal" wouldn't be safe. caster matters, period. hot rods are made to go fast. I wouldn't want to spend all the time, effort and buck to go fast, and crash because I had an improper axle, failed brakes, dry- rotted tires or 3 missing lug nuts.
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