Independent Front Suspension in a 32 Ford

Re your comment: "THE SPRING IS ALMOST BLOCKED OUT SETTING THERE..."

The top three spaces in the coils alone would have (at a guess) about 2" to 2.5" of available compression before spring bind, then add in all the other gaps below that. Looks like more than enough jounce room to me.

 

I agree the old Kugel set up in my A PU has even less gap in the springs and it dosent bottom out and I drive it pretty hard . With the IRS it also has it will give most C3 corvette a run for there money in the twisties .
I actually considered auto crossing it LOL.

What I wish I had on my older set up thats SS tube arms , coil overs and Wilwood brakes was the ability to add / adjust caster as well as camber easier. It dosent have the easy adjustable non concentric shafts and such that most the new set ups have .
Its really good but I have to pull fenders off to pull the pivot shaft bolts to adjust heim joints for camber adjustment .

I would not have built it this way today but it does ride good handling is great . It dosent jump out at you looking at it . With the front bumper and fenders most don't see the IFS unless they really look.

 

https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/b78bf41e-405b-43d2-af5c-ff6673d338a8

 

The beauty about hot rods is you can build your car to suit your taste, that's true in any period of time, I certainly appreciate positive comments but leave the negativity at home, there are build styles that do not appeal to me but if it doesn't float my boat I keep my mouth shut.

There is nothing to be gained in running down someone's car. HRP

 

It's funny, one of my first jobs in shops was working for Tuneup Masters. Not a great place, but learned a lot there. They wanted you to attend after hours classes held in the shops. One of them was about this very thing. A good company doesn't denigrate another, that just names the other company as your competition and makes yours sound negative. The whole two wrongs don't make a right.

If you are flinging poo, it's also on your hand.

Sometimes it's difficult to hold back on disagreeing on a style choice. So long as it's not a safety issue or you can offer a better, easier, cheaper way it probably doesn't need to be shared. I don't always follow this, but I try to keep it in mind.

 

I think what you are seeing is a progressively stiffer spring with the bottom coils providing less Travel/Resistance before the Stiffer/Further apart coils at the top take over.

"Yes, many coilover shocks use springs with a progressively stiffer rate, meaning the spring becomes stiffer as it compresses further, to provide a balance between a comfortable ride on small bumps and firm support during more aggressive driving or when encountering larger impacts. However, some performance-oriented or racing coilovers use linear springs, which have a constant stiffness, for predictable handling and simpler damper tuning, though with a potentially harsher ride. "

 

I have no problem with someone having different ideas than I do about how a car should look . I find that you normally express yourself very well and if you dislike something you do it respectfully and graciously. I don't always manage to do that myself, but I try to explain when I see things differently than others. In the case of front suspension choices, its not a question of which looks best or which satisfies a nostalgic bent, but which provides a mechanically superior ride while providing an appearance that I not only find acceptable, but actually like its appearance. The only real argument for a straight axle suspension/steering is nostalgia. Since we all take liberties with nostalgia every time we use any post 65 part, this is just one more thing I find acceptable/desirable .........while some others don't. Thanks for the support.

 

It wasn't aimed at you @ekimneirbo ! But thanks.

Usually we all agree that billet wheels on an era correct '40s ride is just wrong. That's part of feeling a group cohesiveness. Fitting into the clan. Acceptance of a norm.
But it can easily slip over to gatekeeping or excluding others for something that at the end of the day doesn't affect us or our own rides at all.
I've typed and deleted things, as I'm sure many others have. Especially since lockdown, I've found that being gracious is more important than ever. I get a lot out of being here interacting with others. I don't need to call them out or antagonize them, either personally or because I develop a reputation as that type.

 

The only complaint people have with IFS is ............ LOOKS.
This has nothing to do with engineering integrity or any other cognitive decision [only emotions]

The IFS beats a straight axle in performance hands down. And in a full fender 32 it should be a no brainer.
Personally a full fender 32 is the better looking car [based on looks]
You can make the stance really work, the running boards create the illusion of being lower.

The lower A-Arm is the most visible component [then the coil over] but these can be blacked out.
Also adding a front bumper with shortened brackets [mounted close to the frame horns] will do wonders for the stance and make a visual barrier .

example here [the front looks low]


Good suspension/handling will "make or break" a hot rod .
There is plenty here about "death wobble" "harsh handling" "bump steer" "Geometry" and "poor brakes"
Choose the spring rate wisely.

 

Mimi, I was just thinking I hadn’t seen you post lately, can’t let Kerry have all the fun!

Also very good advice as always.

 

I chimed in because "my old man" is getting cantankerous
He is just about "over" all car forums because of boredom.

 

Thanks for the post Mimi. Honestly I don't want to hide the independent suspension. I like the way it looks on a full fendered car. Mine will not be shiny, just black.....but the coil overs will probably be shiny. I may yet buy some shiny A arms to go with it. Problem is you have to keep the shiny ones clean and I'm kinda lazy. My cars going to have Electronic Fuel injection too, so maybe the nostalgia buffs can fret over that Faux Pas and never even notice the suspension.

 

IFS isn’t necessarily ugly.
An OE set up hanging out in the open is
Ive got a subframe graft in one and doing another. No straight axle setup exists to set em stupid low without a massive engine set back.
Pretty? Don’t care. It works great as far a lowering. Ride is very good but not necessarily the goal.
My merc is retaining the stock stuff with dropped springs.

The biggest advantage for ifs is that dialing in spring rate and ride height is easier
As far as arm angles. I really don’t care as long as it works. We ain’t road racing. Just cruising.
The extremes demonstrated in lots of simulations don’t apply.

 

You can dial the stiffness with spring rate and/or motion ratio. Make it softer and add a Anti-Roll bar
This can also be done with a coilover sprung drop axle.
You can eliminate death wobble with IFS , and make it a better "Drivers Car"


I don't like Hiboys [I prefer full fendered] but this Hiboy below has IFS that looks right [except for the 4wd]
This car is the '32 version of a Lotus 7 autocross racer.



If it was 2wd with cantilever A-Arms [instead of pushrod rockers] it would look "clean"

Here is an example of cantilever A-Arms [The coilovers could easily be hidden between the Radiator and Grill]


But this ^^^ is just engineering for the sake of engineering

 

I’d drive that

 

Tell him to hang in there..........he's got way too much knowledge to just keep it to himself.

 

@ekimneirbo
This looks interesting
Tag looks to say 1948

 

That’s a Planar front suspension, it was used by Willys-Overland on 2wd station wagons and the ‘48-‘50 Jeepsters. Upper control arms, transverse spring and king pin mounted spindles.

 

Looks pretty neat. Since its a black/white picture it most likely was early on in Hot Rodding history. People did all sorts of things "back in the day" just to stand out from the normal stuff.

 

Does anyone remember the spit I beam , IFS that was being sold for a bit a long while ago ?

 

Would that be this one...???



... or the Ford Twin I Beam system?

 

The tube axle is what I remember . Did not seem to be around long

 

Tried to fix something that wasn't broke!

 

not under standing the post???? the car in the pic has a drop axel???

 

here's been my experience .. had 2 32 roadsters and a 32 sedan.. all had drop axels and road real nice... chassis's mirrored each other... the sedan was 4 bar... the other 2 were hair pin.... all 3 were in for front end swap to ****** front IFS... we measured the ride height on all and recorded... the sedan was full fendered and layed low... with the cross member in as man. required , and springs they said to use... raised the front 4''... car was wishy washy and would get lot of body roll..... that and it looked like hell.... so started the spring changes... figured out real quick that it would not ever be as low as it was... I had a test road by the shop . there was a section with wash board surface... the ifs hit and it washed the front out and had to almost stop to get around the turn... getting in our drive at the shop... all cars did fine.. with the ifs lowerd / back and front tires rubbed.. sooo... called the manufactor ,... the owners son******* came to my shop... first thing he said was , Steve, you know this IFS will never ride as good lowered as a drop axel... it's what people want... i would never do this to my 32

 

Fatman Fabrications played around with the idea for a while. Never really caught on.... or worked properly.
There was a tube axle version as well.

 

Well, it for sure fixed any cross steer problem...

 

The only positive thing that it accomplished was it made wheel fitment easier due to how much of the beam was removed in the center of the axle.
I'm thinking possible liability may have led to the decision to stop offering them.

 

Straight axles don’t handle well?
Tell this guy

 

Or created one...