Suicide Front End...yay or nay?

Front end looks nice, the rear fenders are just BLECH. They don't go with the truck at all.

 

I like the Suicide fronts my self. That's what I would run. Just make sure you radius rods are even with your pitmen arm so you don't get to much bump steer. thats my .02

 

Just make the thing proportionate and get after it.

 

If all you have is the cab do it! Build it like you want it. Don't listen to the negative naysayers.

 

I vote no. I think the only car that should have a suicide perch is a Model T roadster. I was thinking about running a Suicide Perch on my 27T coupe but I am now having second thoughts. I think I might just run a Model A frame instead with the axle in the normal place. But on a 40 Ford truck I definitely say no. YUCK. Definitely a build destined for Rat Rod status if you go that route.

 

I agree with rgaller. The front is sick but that rear...........

 

Hey, I was bustin' someone else's chops!! One thing you learn on the HAMB is you'd better have a tough hide here. You might even ask a question and get flamed for something else altogether!
Where were we.....oh yeah....unless you intend to build a bobber a suicide front end will be wrong from a design point of view.
A dollar says the OP gave up on all us sistyuglers and went about his business without us.....

 

Hi Jalopy 13,

. In my limited experience driving both suspension set ups I noticed that a suicide perch suspension can ride quite nicely,( a non Hamb friendly T bucket with a suicide perch, my boss drove tracked brilliantly at highway speed and handled bumps well)

however it seems that all set ups can work fine as long as they are well engineered. Proper suspension geometry and quality engineering seem to be the determing factors to ride stability. Many import kids manage to make brilliant handling cars attrocious by fitting coil overs incorrectly,

so it seems to me that whether the spring is out front or under the crossmember. good safe suspension is entirely possible.

So i would only run a suicide if wanted the front very very low.

As a side point have you considered selling the 40 project and tracking down an earlier truck body, If fenderless is what you want then maybe that would work and look a whole lot better.

 

Thus explaining why the tranny hookers, are still out there hooking it. Or at least explaining RuPaul.


But seriously, it's rare for one of these trucks to look good without fenders. And the ones that I do think look good, still have the stock wheelbase. Someone had a 46-47 Ford pickup at a car show I was at in May that was bascially stock with no fenders, flat paint, whitewalls and moon discs - and it looked pretty good that way, I was surprised. It had the hood and the grille on it, the full bed, sat level on what looked like the stock frame.

I only saw it leaving from 50 yards away, though, I didn't notice if it had an adam's apple.


I would say look at some photos and see what people have built and figure out what looks like shit and what doesn't. But it shouldn't cost any more money to build a fucked-up looking pile of junk as it will to take the same junk and put it together in a way that it looks like something decent, instead.

 

Hey Man, don't ask the question, if you don't want to hear the answer! If you haven't figured-out the opinions of the HAMBERS on the RatRod subject by now, you aren't paying attention. Just because you're are building on a slim budget dosen't mean it has to look cheap, or you have to cut corners on style and safety, do it right the first time and it will stand the test of time. Lastly, listen to the voice of experience kid, us old heads have tryed about all the stupid stuff already and we're trying to prevent you young guys from doing the same! Good luck on your 40 PU, and don't wear your feelings on your sleeve.

 

wow is no one reading his original question? His question was about suicide front, axles not whether or not his build will turn into a RatRod.. good christ.. i popped into this thread to learn something cause, guess what, I am building a fender-less '47 Ford PU and was contemplating a suicide axle set-up.. I was hoping people would put aside their opinions and put up some good pro/con comparisons and some good formulea/algorythyms and such about suspension geometry.. guess i'm a fool.. You know it's funny how long time hambers bitch about new people dragging stuff OT when this entire thread had been dragged OT by mostly senior members forming un-educated opinions about what this individual is capable of..

 

Nay

 

What he is decribing for the PU is a RR for sure! So yeh, we all were trying to tell the lad to go traditional with fenders,and frontend, or go somewhere else for info. This is a traditional site the last time I checked! Therefore most of the advice will follow those lines.............................

 

yeah Traditional Hot Rods AND CUSTOMS last time I checked.. just because it's outside your definitions doesn't mean it's automatically gonna be a RR... If it bothers you all so fuckin much get a hold of him and buy the cab from him for what it will cost him to get something that won't put your panties in a bunch so badly, or option number two send him some of your fenders and front end bits you obviously have just laying around, or option number three, ANSWER THE ACTUAL QUESTION HE ASKED!!!!!

 

no, nope, nay.

 

Got-dammit... why did I just waste 20 minutes here...

Who do I talk to about getting a time refund?

<Enter your smart-ass reply here.>

lol

 

The ride will be alright as long as you add some shocks with it... "bat wings". It will also look cool as hell if done right and everything is proportional. Build it the way you want man. I love this site but some folks kill me. It is automatically a rat rod because it has a suicide front end? WTF? Everyone screams traditional, which is fine and dandy, but a mans car is HIS car to build as he wishes. Unless it has 20's on it and some billet high tech garbage in it....I could care less what he does to it. I didn't know there was a book of laws written on what you were and were not allowed to do when building a rod. I'm setting my 40 chevy up the same way, and it is, by NO means...a fuckin rat rod. Good luck on your build. I'd love to check it out when I come home to visit.

 

I know were just beating a dead horse know, but this is a traditional hot rod and custom web site so yes its you car do whatever but when you make a thread about it and its not traditional expect to get crap for it. Also just because it uses all old parts dosent mean its traditional.

 

Woah, big fella!! Don't bust a blood vessel !!

 

Yea a 40 Ford pickup without a front end is just another 39-46 pickup of about any brand.

Fenders etc can be found patience.

Oh gee I didn't see the bloody..hill post.

Let me rephrase so no one has an annurism (did I spell that right?) a '40 ford is just about the most lovly truck made. Perhaps you might consider running it with sheet metal around the tires and in front of the radiator.

As far as handling built right they handle fine. That's why they were originally built to get a little more wheel base and get the engine closer to the center of the wheel base.

 

WTF would I do with this? Certainly not drive it...good way to end up on Mucho-sucko.com

 

Congratu-friggin-lations to anyone who made it this far into the thread... Lets all do our part to offer nothing but useless negative opinions to another FNG as a means of continuing the passion. To the original author I would like to apologize for the abuse you just suffered for asking a simple question. I think all of you nay-sayers should look in the mirror and ask yourselves how you'd feel if you were a FNG looking for some helpful hints and all you got in return was verbal abuse! I sure as hell hope this isn't the welcome you will extend to the future of our hobby as a whole!!!

 

I hate grilling chiken on charcoal, I can never get it right!! turn it too many times and its DRY!!! dont cook it long enuff and everybody gets sick!!!

Went to a cool little CHARCOAL grilling website and explained my problem about not being able to control the heat ECT. and you know what I was told to get the fuck out and got to a propane site...


fuck them its my Chicken and ill eat it dry!!!!

 

I got interested in this board a long time ago when a freind showed me a link for
fender-less trucks. Some guy named Rudi put on together & though it was cool!
I don't have a lot of bucks but I sure enjoy hotrods & hangin' in the shop. I have watched this for a long time. I think its all a part of what this is all about. I have a modifed that runs a suicide front pushed out from the grille & the car is great. Handles well with no
problems. It fits the look of the the car. I too am building a fenderless truck for my origonal
inspiration for the HAMB. I think you should do want you think is best cor your build, I extened the wheel base but used a droped I beam & model A crossmember. So here's mine..
By the way the front end was missing.

 

Man you guys are calling this guys truck a rr and you have never even seen it. He has not even built it yet. Gimmy a break, build what you want,do it the best you can,and make it safe. Yes I love full fendered cars,but the lack of them dont make it a rr.

 

It sure does if the car/truck is a 1935 or newer.

 

I want to know who sets what the cut off year is for a fenderless rod, because it must change a lot! Just a page ago people were saying that nothing newer than a 34 could be or else it's a "rat rod". Well I'm building a fenderless hoodless 36 chevy truck and I think it looks good. But is it a RR! I say build what you like because it's yours! Although I do agree that a 40 ford truck does have a cowl and firewall that is meant for fenders but that's just my opinion.

 

build it like you want,....these guys aren't pitching in on the build so they don't matter. Did they ask you what to do when they where building their cars?

 

how about a photo of a suicide arrangemnet that is agreed upon to be "safe", and done correctly?...