Torsion bar front end for A-Bone?

that is a great install, very creative, i like it alot.

 

Jeem no problem.
I was going to call him tomorrow anyway to wish him merry christmas so i'll get the info for ya. I'll probably be out there next week too, so if he's not in tomorrow i'll get it then.

Tony

 

Tony- I'm heading out there tomorrow.....I tell him to expect your call!

 

Has anyone used VW torsion bars? Super cheap and available.

 

Thanks

 

Lee's old partner is in fact still doing chassis work in Indiana. I must say he
does it extremely well also. If you have trouble getting ahold of him PM me.

 

I have contact info for Steve if needed. PM me if needed.

 

Here is a track T that I built with my dad. It has cross torsion bars like a sprint car on all four corners. Handles great even with the skinny fronts and wide rears. Has a nailhead, franklin quickchange, and a full tube chassis.

 

your dad's track car is a neat piece....i remember seeing the chassis out at brandon spades when i was picking up my anglia....a lot of neat stuff on there.....brandon

 

Dug out the book (put together in very early sixties) last night. The tub with Packard bars and self-leveler is almost like a fifties version of a modern streetrod...ultimate luxury late model everything, with a '56-58 timeline in mind. No pics of the chassis, which must be wild.
The restorod looking '29, owners name something like Nagakawa, used '57 Plymouth bars and arms at all four corners on a homebuilt chassis. Both cars were totally non mainstrean rods in their day, and VERY well executed by people who probably didn't consider themselves rodders--they just like old cars, but wanted theirs slick and comfy.

 

Jeem, sent you a pm with the info.

Tony

 

Got it, THANKS muchacha!!

 

I have been using torsion bars for a long time in motorcycles. They have a spring rate of 800lbs. per inch of travel, memory of up to 22 degress of rotation. According to my calculations this would work in a light car, and can be hidden. What do you think?
I tried to up load pictures but it says the file is to big and I am not smart enough to figure out how to down size them, have to wait till monday when sombody comes to work that knows how.

 

Gawd yes, I'll be waiting. Gathering as much info as possible, 99% sure how and what I'm going to use but yearn to learn!

Thanks in advance!

 

Here ya go.

 

I have a friend that used the front end out of a Volarie. It's in a 56 chevy truck. Might be worth taking a look at that set up.

Chuck Fish

 

This is a quick scan from my Feb '55 Popular Science article about the Packard Torsion bar suspension. Click here for the large pic.

Text that went with the picture: "In new Packard, where a single torsion bar per side replaces both springs, front-end design is roughly the same but lever arm substitutes for the coil. In rear, another lever presses against stirrup in torque arm running from axle to frame. The two torque arms take over the job of delivering rear-axle thrust, as well as brake torque and drag, to chassis. Pretzel-shaped bar in left photo above is stabilizer that ties axle against sideways movement. Heavily geared down motor that windws up the ends of the leveling bars is shown in the right photograph above. It runs only when the car loads changes."

 

Link doesn't work.

 

Here's a company that has a setup and chassis plans.

http://www.atrackroadster.com/

 

Salt Shaker:Return of the Ramblers' Roadster, The Rodder's Journal number 33 shows several views of torsion bar suspension. Very clean, very interesting.

 

Here's whatI'm using....all vintage sprint car stuff purchased on eBay.

 

I snapped some pics of a torsion bar setup installed on the front of a truck (rear was also torsion - no pics) at the Nats North. Don't know how to post 'em (and may not be trainable). Happy to email the pics to any HAMBer who can post them here.

Truck was built by a sprint racer, ride height adjustable front and rear by turning a bolt. Trucked looked very ratty, but was nicely built. Aluminum buckets, full floor, new frame, etc.

Anyway - will send pics, or try to post them with help.

John

 

I forgot to mention - the pics show the axle and sock, I mean shock, mounts very well. This was why I snapped them.

 

has anyone used bug or bus bars?

also, can torsion bars arms be solid mounted to the axle/ wishbone, or should a link of some sort be used between the bar and its mounting point on the axle/ wishbone?

 

Most cases require a shackle. The sprint guys allow the torsion arm to ride on top of the front axle but that may not be a good street deal because of wear. Racers replace those arms quite often. I'm using rollers on the axle and under the front arms of my street-legal sprinter to minimize that wear.

 

i've wondered in the past if you built a sprint car type torsion bar set-up and included a "wear bar" between the axle and torsion bar if it would work without wearing out. any opinions? i've got no desire to build such an animal, but have been following this thread out of curiosity.

 

what are rollers? and do you have any pictures of the set up? - thanks

 

Here's a quick sketch of a torsion arm/roller setup. To answer atch's question....a wear bar such as U.H.M.W. polyethylene could be fastened to the underside of the arm and then the roller deal could be eliminated.

 

just to make sure my pea brain gets this...the torsion bars are not secured to the axle at all (is this the same front and rear?) the torsion bar is riding on a effectively a large needle bearing and the wieght of the car provides constant pressure to hold the bar in place. and a wear bar is just a sacrificial piece of material that gives up its life rather than wearing a hole in your axle housing.

 

Yep....except at the rear !

At the rear of a sprint car the forward end of the torsion arm (mounted behind and below the axle) has a spherical bearing in it that attaches to the lower side of a birdcage. The birdcage contains a bearing that the open-tube axle turns in. The upper side of the birdcage links to the chassis via a trailing arm. This forms a watts link that locates the axle (front to rear) and lets the axle move in a nearly vertical plane.

See sketch.