underslung chevrolet (new project)

a tad bit of body filler and it will be smooth as butter =)

 

just a couple more with some mock up of the friction shocks and grill. i like to step back some times to think things over.

 

Here is what we did on the rpu's we are building this year.

 

VERY nice.

 

Scottyknuckles love those weld. Hey what have you done to the body any chance you can help me out with measurments between the drivers side door pillars, mine were tweaked out badly and its hard finding some one who has the same model as me. In the way you mounting your radiator to frame bracket will you need it, I'll buy it from ya...

Ryank

 

Those welds are good looking and the fabrication is cool but I have to ask why you needed the channel under the axel ? I'ts been my experiance driving an underslung, that the travel that the axel takes from driving down the road pushes the axel away from the frame,into the arch of the spring.The axel on my modified sits 1 5/8 inches above the frame,it has never bottomed out.I don't think it's possible to hit the frame as that would only happen in rebound,the spring bent opposite it's arch.I'll bet if you tape a piece of string across the channel on your frame, under normal operation,the axel will never touch the string.I'd put money on it.

 

Scotty good build, dont worry about the hater or the nay-sayers.

You look to have a good handle on the underslung doing. If I missed it you may need to add a wedge shim to your axle to leaf pack to fix the front geometry.

I've posted these before, but dont have new pics so old will have to do. I'm doing a '42 Chevy 1.5 ton, I flipped the frame and went after it.





Keep after it, keep up with the pics. I dig it. And dont sell that body, use it.

 

great pics, and great build keep it up

when you come to michigan i guess for a low as that frame sits you wont have to worry bout poot holes as youll ski right over them

lol lol

 

hey thanks, i ll take some measurements for you. the body i have is pretty mint. I think i m keeping all the parts to the car till i finish it. just in case i need them.

 

the channel is for the axle clearance. im raising the car up about 3 more inches. ill post some pics tonight of the progress. im not sure how much the car will rebound if any but if it does im in the safe zone. also the front end is alot more stiff now. just carrying it in the basement was like carrying a wet noodle

 

hey i have the wedge made already just screwing with the axle rake and stuff. i ll post some pictures of what i came up with tonight. it lifts the car up and add tilts the axle back at the same time. btw your truck looks killer....

 

ahhh i can get some rein deer to pull the car too lol. the cars actually gona be about 6 inches off the ground in the front when all is said and done.

 

some more progress on the underslung. i came up with this to raise the frame up and correct the rake. i figure when all is said and done it will be around 5 inches of the ground with a load on it.

 

heres some of the machinery i use to make this car possible. the press is a 1936 atlas they dont make em like that any more. a shop smith belt sander like the ones we had in wood shop and finally a bandsaw from the jap shack. looks outta place but does the trick.

 

Please reexamine your options for the front springs. Running a block on a steer axle is illegal in all 50 states. And for good reason it is dangerous. As well as very booty fab.
Now your axle has leverage on the leaf pack when you brake. All it takes is a hard brake, and the axle will spit the block out, or the axle and block with flip back leaving you BROKE and no way to steer for the reason you were hard on the brakes.

I see several options and some compromises among all you get you on the road.
You could run a zero-rate spring to your pack (1" solid that is clamped into your leaf pack, you could machine this zero rate to be your wedge to get the axle caster back into spec. Change axles to one with less "DROP" in it. Or have someone "UNDROP" the stock in it. Run larger diameter tires and wheels, or live with your front end higher than 5"s from the ground.

I accomplished mine by going to a Gasser "Straight" axle, zero drop, and fixed the caster by what angle I welded the perches onto it. I also had to run a 20" rim with a nearly 32" tall tire. And I'm running a 3/4" zero rate. All to get my frame right around 5"s off the ground as well.

Good luck, but for your health and safety please dont run the blocks.

 

"My only negative comment is that I would have started with a less nice car. If your going to be cutting out part of the firewall, floor maybe chopping the top what the point of starting with a nice restored car? Seems like there's a fair amount of these out there that are solid but not fixed up yet."


Why not? The nicer car you start with the less bullshit you have to fix (rust and other issues). Hell,I started with a fully restored original 31...a few days later I started cutting the heck out of it. Alot less hassel!!!

 

Great Build

But I have to tell you the blocks in the front look a little scary to me. But this is coming from someone who doesnt have either the talent or vision that you do.

Gary

 

i have seen trucks with double the amount of leaf springs i have and a solid axle. so if i put more leafs it would be safer? how does the axle know what got it to a certain spot. these arent the typical lowering or lifting blocks you would but at pep boys. they are going to be fully welded and they are keyed.

i would love to find a straight axle but i cant find a chevy one that has the same spring width i need.

if i were to take these to a spring shop and have them arched differently do you think they would be able to get them where i need em??

 

ok i found a place near me that can de-arch the spings. i m sure in gona confuse the hell outta the guy when i tell him the frame is upside down. so my question is how much do you think i should have them de-arch these babies? and i would still need to run the wedge of course. im gona take some more pictures of my set up tonight so you can get an idea of what i am working with.

 

You should try flipping maybe the 2nd and 3rd leafs from the top upside down so that they're arched upward so that when you reassemble your spring pack the net effect is a de-arched spring. This might have the same effect as you having the leafs dearched and it's free.
Also, I think you could gain an inch or two of ride height by simply moving your shackle mounts backward (toward the cowl) a little. You have that nice notch in your frame rails that you should take advantage of. Thanks for the updates!

 

haha i know about the free thing. im not one to out source any work lol. i ll take them apart and see if i can rework them with the method you are suggesting. if not then off to the spring shop. the guy said it would take about an hour and cost 75 bux for both. so thats not horrible.

 

Cool project man! Glad to hear you are de-arching the springs to get rid of those spacers.

el chuco, I'm trying to figure out that linkage on the front of your axle. Am I missing something, what's it doing?

 

el chuco,
I think you'd have better luck moving the friction shock out towards the ends of the axle. not much leverage in the middle. (Imagine grasping a broom handle right in the middle with one hand. If someone pushes up or down on the ends it requires a lot of torque to counteract it.)

I like the underslung look guys. Cool stuff, keep it coming.

 

I'm not really familiar with underslung rear suspensions, so bear with me. The car with no brakes on page 4 or 5 just has an upside down frame. I'm not sure if it's common to build an underslung that way, but it seems pretty genius to me.

 

I see where you're coming from but the intent of the friction shocks is to kill the "bounciness" of the ride as the car is going down the road. These aren't supposed to replace shock absorbers or lever shocks which are a speed-sensitive way (valving) of absorbing a sudden jolt. We also aren't trying to keep the ends of the axle from moving up and down by holding it from the middle with the friction shocks (your broom examble above)--the suspension travel will be very minimal and we're relying on the leaf springs to absorb what a regular shock absorber/spring setup would. We're just trying to kill the little bounce as the car is going down the road. I guess the name "friction shock" is a misnomer because they aren't "shock" absorbers but simply a means of dampening the vibrations. Thanks for the input--that's what this place is for.

 

I'll tell you what, there is some really good information being passed through this thread. Even if your going to ever build a Underslung the basic principles of suspension systems that you guys are passing around is amazing. Especially you el chuco. I am building a '31 Chevy right now ( http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253677 )and even though I am keeping the frame right side up you guys are really explaining a whole bunch of theory to me. Keep this going!

 

I've never built an underslung ride , so I'm just talkin' out my ass here. Try flipping springs and put axle on top. fine tune ride hight
with shackle length. Looks like fun, Gitter dun.

 

OK. I can see how this would dampen it if the axle moves straight up and down (driving straight down the road), but I still think it will do little for side to side bounce and cornering, but maybe that's not an issue if it'a a cruiser. I'm not trying to argue with you, but there's a reason why shocks/dampeners are usually mounted outboard. It looks cool, though.

 

How married are you to that "I" beam axle? Judging by the height of your spindles on the wheels and where the leaf pack is. Looks like you could get a Speedway gasser tube axle, and be damn need spot on ($250 though). If anything have to remove a leaf or two for slightly more drop, or have your main leaf re-arched to give it more drop.

I went through all these same motions and ended up with the speedway axle, but I hate the tube, i really wish it was an I-beam, I just couldn't get the drops to work right.

As far as taking arch out of your setup where you're at now, thats not a half bad idea. Do you know anyone with a Hydraulic press? you can flatten out your leaves with one to give them less arch. I mean thats all the spring shop is going to do. They don't have any special equipment. You just start at one end and press, and work your way to the other end pressing as you go to take the arch out.

Good luck.

 

ok the repacking the springs is out the main spring looked pretty funky when i did this.

so either dearchin which may ride like shit. or i have a new idea. i may just put i small traction bar on each side. it would stiffing up the whole thing regardless.