I have picked up this new to me highboy roadster pickup project and am inviting comments on the rear axle attachment. This is flathead powered with what I was told is a maverick rear axle. The rear radius rods are fabbed and adjustable. The guy I bought it from told me he had built several rods before in a similar style. I need to pass inspection eventually before I can put this on the road. There are 2 pieces of rod to create a saddle and then u bolts to bolt the conventional spring to the axle. Hopefully the pictures tell the story. My fabrication to date has mostly been farm related for 20 mph applications. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story. Thanks in advance, welcome to my first rodeo.
Here is another photo. Obviously the screw clamp is just for positioning things until final angle and ride height are established.
The radius rod mounts are bolted to an original model A frame. I hope to make the frame running and driving and then transfer my coupe body to this frame and build the roadster pickup at a later date. View attachment 5545929
Yes, go here: For spring hanger https://www.peteandjakes.com/partslist/page/6/?cat=11 Ladder bars https://www.peteandjakes.com/parts/part-2011-1928-31-ladder-bar-kit-fits-3-inch-housing/
It's much worse than my RPU project when i had it delivered. The front radius rods at that angle will produce no caster or even negative caster, the pick-up box mounted the way it is way too high and looks fugly, the whole rear end is 100% wrong and will need a complete redesign and so on. I will stop there... best of luck and going by the fact the builder considers himself a ''Rod Builed'' tells me you over payed for it, i hope not. The HAMB will sort it. It does have good potential. JW
My intention was not to beat up the guy I bought it from, I certainly don’t think he misrepresented anything, everything is out in the open. The front axle is stock mounted to the stock cross member. As for value and price, I should be okay. I didn’t want to move forward on something that won’t be safe or appropriate. I have another complete 28 running gear coming and a 47 panel truck gear I can cannibalize for parts. I don’t intend to use the box as is, my hope is to move my coupe body onto this frame and gear, then tackle the rpu down the road.
I don't see complete axle location? Axle-to-wheel torque seems resisted only by the spring itself, which is quite inadequate — unless there is something else which doesn't appear on the pics. Likewise lateral location of the axle seems to be by the spring shackles alone, which works only within fairly narrow limits. You might be able to salvage bits and pieces, but it looks to me as if the rear suspension is lacking a design.
Find someone locally that knows what they're doing and take it to them to fix. It sounds like you're in above your head, which is OK, but the learning curve on fixing something like this can be steep and requires a decent set of skills in order to fix what's going on here properly without asking a million questions.
The stock car suppliers sell a full circumference clamp on parallel spring hanger mounting pad made for 3" straight housing that enables rotation for pinion angle during set up & after completion with full weight & then welded in position, these can be used as the basis for cross spring mounts, traction bars etc. makes for a tidy installation.
with it being flathead powered and sitting that high a stock ford rearend would be a bolt in and look way better
Two rear bars, with a joint at each end? That fabricator had NO IDEA how to build a rear suspension. Don’t trust anything he built. As stated above, the Pete & Jakes parts are great, and one of their catalogs is like a textbook of hot rod suspension theory. Get a catalog and read the tech section. If you still have questions after that we will be able to help you with them.
As long as I can log in here,I will never feel in over my head. I have some grass roots and 1-800 rodders that I can talk to and certified welders I can get to help me. Having said that I wanted to make sure what I was going to talk to them about. I guess my next step is a Pete and Jakes catalogue. The price of those parts is worth the peace of mind, and should get me through the MTO inspection.
Bent all thread for U-bolts? And the leverage available at that hgt is intense. Build it at the hgt wanted then add spring as needed. Too easy. Still, if this isn't addressed the next thing heard should be: "Put the parts down and step away from the hot rod!" You asked, and so far you're getting some decent input.
Some of the same kind of crap from the fifties and sixties that got a very deserved bad reputation for being possible "death traps".
Starting with picture one. Apart from all the other obvious problems, what stops the axle tube from spinning in the u-bolts? The saddles should be attached/welded to the axle. (I am using the terms 'u-bolts' and 'saddles' very loosely...) Can you post some pictures of the spring shackle and perch setup? Looks like the perch is attached to the backing plate. Start from scratch is my opinion. Nothing looks right to me.
As I am not going ahead with this setup, I don’t think I will post any more pictures so as not to encourage others. I believe this might be a model T spring. Thanks for the participation thus far. To be fair this was just mocked up. I posted this, and don’t even have the rig off the trailer, I guess that makes me proactive.
Good choice. You did say you were "inviting comments", and the comments you got are all on the right track. Whether it is just mock-up or not, the whole deal needs to be reworked. There are hundreds of threads with thousands of pictures here on the HAMB showing proper ways to hang a rear axle, and there are many very experienced people who would be more than happy to help with advice........
I'm going to hope that that was one that never got past the mock up stage and even a lot of the mockup is pretty suspect. The good news is most of the mess will unbolt and go in the junk bin. I'd take some measurements, figure out where I wanted everything to go and then blow it apart and get the right parts to build a decent little hot rod. The good news is that you can take the basic pieces and build the rod your way. With less than an hour of unbolting you have a body, a bed, a bare frame and the engine in what ever state of taking apart you decide on. Figure out what you are going to use, and how you are going to use it and start planning.
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