well, we've charged into the 56, using the 54 chassis I started with the TCI MII front suspension and the TCI rear leaf kit.
now that we have some real tires & wheels under it, the stance isn't what we want.. the rear is just too high (with the 20's on it)..
(even with 3 in drop blocks).

SO, we are changing our mind, and going with a triangulated 4 bar instead of the spring kit. We will also have to c-notch the chassis to get the travel back.
We will make our own 4 bar setup. (Matt did work at a hotrod shop in dallas for 3 yrs).

here is the chassis with 1/2 of the x-member my son made installed. (waiting on a brake pedal assembly for under the floor to get the dimension right on the front x-member pieces.

AND I got to learn on the big miller tig we have. SO much nicer than the little one from HF I used to build the headers..





Sam

 

Sam,

Nice looking pieces.

Plse keep this thread going - we don't have enough fabrication threads here.

 

I agree...looks good.
I love the fab posts too...Can't wait to get my welder later this summer!!

 

will you be mounting your lower bars inside our outside the frame rails? I like the way the cross member looks but it doesnt leave a lot of room for a lower bar inside the rail from the looks of it.

And I agree, keep this post up, I like seeing fab on this forum!

 

Would you gain enough to make a difference if you mounted the springs inside the frame tube or closer to the top of the frame?

 

we can move the xmember forward if we need to.. its just tacked at the moment.
this leaves us about 18in for the top bar, 21 for the lower. this will be triangulated, not parallel. the bottom bar will most likely be directly under the chassis rail.

Sam

 

All the trucks I have done have been triangulated four links as well. They are an easy setup and look nice. No doubt yours will be sic!

 

I am using a triangulated, long lower arm system(from Air ride) on the green truck with a lincoln 8.8/3.55/posi rear.

this one will be a 9 inch.. (I am collecting them!, now up to 3 and a housing).

Sam

 

My only negative comment would be;

How the heck do you have time to do a second truck when I can't even finish my first one?

 

Uh,, I cheat?!.. I paid someone to do the part I can't (paint, and now interior). and I have 4 of them lined up calling my name every day.. Sam

 

So, I took all the photos of the 4 links we made using my cell phone. The bars are 2" OD .250" wall DOM Tubing. We used the bushings off of a 95 s-10 rear leaf(in black of course). Its so much nicer to build them when you have a mill and a lathe, but making them at home isn't impossible either, as you will see









I still need to TIG weld up the end of the links where the nut was plug welded in.

 

As you can tell, my son Matt has some awesome skills.. training me as fast as he can tolerate!.. I'm supposed to make the brackets to mount the bars to the chassis and rear axle.. but have been busy working on showing the green truck..

this coming weekend is in Detroit at the Woodward Dream Cruise.

thanks for posting Matt.

Sam

 

Beautiful. Where do you work that you can afford all these trucks and are they hiring???

 

the trucks themselves I only spent about $2500 for over 3 yrs.
($1700, 56; 400, 54; 300, 55; ).
and the original 55 was $1000 10 yrs ago.

yes, have a good paying job, and a decent pension from my 32yrs at IBM. (paid for the green paint job over 9 months)

CA, Inc (Formerly Computer Associates) is where I work now (coming on 4 yrs), and they are hiring in limited areas.. not making what I make tho..

but ps.. they expect you to come to work EVERY DAY!!.. man its cuttin in to my fun time..

but I DO see others here making lots less than I do hoarding (yeh, you know who you are!).. trucks so no one else can have them...

and we try to do everything ourselves, much as we can.. mostly to save money, and also cause I like it, vent from work..

Sam

 

anymore up dates?