Handling troubles

Clevis' should be used at the rear end and either rod ends or bushings at the front end on a triangulated ladder bar set up. You don't want the ladder bars moving in relation to the rear end, you want that to be essentially solid. The front needs to rotate and articulate, hence the rod ends or bushings. Rod ends will allow a lot of movement, but can be noisy on a street car. Urethane or rubber bushings will be quieter and will stiffen the roll stiffness slightly as well.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. With that answer, I won't have to weld new brackets to the rear end when improving my set up. I'll use the existing ones and build from there. I get kind of **** about these things.

 

thats a pretty nasty combo ya got there. just putting on some shocks would proboally help ya out a ton. my 1 1/2 ton bread truck did that because of no shocks.. that was a fun experience i know how ya feel...

 

I need to fab. up a crossmember first to attach the shocks. The frame is an "L" type which stops right ahead of the rear axle. Starting to work on the floor sheet metal. There are 3 sections that are screwed together. No welds! Crazy. I'm going to use a spot weld cutter to enlarge the top panel that overlaps the bottom flange then rosette weld all the holes. That should make the body want to flex less and it will be more rigid.

 

Dave,
If you want to make it handle better, ladder bars are NOT the way to go...
Without getting into a huge explanation/debate, they work much better on the front axle than the rear. I think the 4 link you mentioned earlier is a much better choice. Any mounting point that has to twist in relation to the axle (or frame) cannot use a clevis, it has to have a heim, bushing, etc.

 

Mounting the spring ahead of the rearend does not decrease wheelbase, rather it decreases springbase and does make the ride harsher than when mounted behind the axle.
Ford moved the rear springs back of the rearend in 32 and followed in 35 moving the spring ahead of the axle up front. This increased the springbase of the car allowing for a softer (big car) ride, not necessarily better but softer.
Starting in 1942, Ford mounted factory Panhard bars front and rear because the springs were no longer mounted under tension as on previous cars. Again an effort to get a softer (big car) ride from the same short wheelbase ch***is.

 

Okay. No clevis will be used. Understood. Measuring to see if a ladder bar set up will fit better than the triangulated 4 link set up. Looking at what the Welder Series offers.

 

Are you talking about ladder bars that run straight along the frame, or the type that meet on a crossmember near the front u-joint (truck arm type)?

 

The ones that run straight along the frame. I might have clearance issue since the body is channeled over the frame. The brackets in the kit(s) might not clear the floor pan. The length of the bars will also be a factor. Still have to fab. a shock mount crossmember off the "L" upright on the frame. Doesn't appear to be straightforward fix.

 

If space is a concern and you want it to ride correctly, consider the torque arm rear.

I do my setups a bit different by building a ladder bar that runs parallel to the driveshaft but you may not have room.

TCI and a few others set theirs up with the arm under the drive shaft..