Hey guys im looking for some help. Im putting 36 rearend with heavy wishbones under my 32 roadster. My chassie has the stock rear crossmember and I already grinded my spring so that it fits in the cresant shaped crossmember. Question: Is the distance from the rearend to the trans for the torque tube the same as stock or am I going to have to modify my lengh of the torque tube?
The 36 torque tube you mean? If yes......then yes, they are much longer. Plus you have shifted your rear wheels forward due to the distance from the centre line of the diff to the centre line of the spring hangers is shorter on a 32/34.
Or don't... ? What the human fly sez there! 35-36 are longer and you should take into account the different perch spacing when shortening the driveshaft/tube to align the wheels in the well. Crossmember will need to be moved as well...
I have a 34 torque tube so if I need to I can cut it down. I it going to be very noticeable with the wheels moved foward
i guess im going to run the 34 with the 36 heavy wishbones. The stock 34's are very lightwaight and look like they will bend. I will cutoff the perch on the 36 wishbones and make a hanger for them to fit the 34 rearend that will solve everything... thank you for the insight....
No it wont, refer to post #2. By installing the 36 bones your are speading the distance from the diff centre line to the spring centre line.
im only going to use them as wishbones im going to cut the perch off of them and im going to use the stock 34 perch and spring thats on the stock 34 rearend
Shameless plug. I sell some hangers to mount your bones. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=641547
The torque tube does 90% or more of the work, the strut rods are there for support, literally. When the rear tres to twist, one rod is under compression and the other tension, they can never go anywhere. They will in no way work without the torque tube, however the later 35-36 will. If you are not running the rear as an open drive there is no need to use the 35-36 rods, they are overkill and to just cut the spring hangers off
the 34's just look week.... i just dont want any trouble down the road. I guess they should be ok look how many people run them
What is the problem everyone??? Back in the day people used '36 rear ends in '32;s all the time. All you have to do is : 1) shorten the torque tube (I have done this on several pre '40 rear ends) 2) shorten the drive shaft (or use a later driveshaft and shorten it.) 3) Move the rear crossmember so that the wheelbase is still 106" or centered on the wheel wells. Yea, it's going to take some patience and some work. But you have to ask yourself, are you building a period-correct traditional car??? or ....you just don't care. If you lose the torque tube and go with the open drive, you WILL have to add ladder bars so that rear end won't twist when "torque" is applied. Personally, I think torque tubes, when done correctly, only add value to the car. Look at all the Hemi powered cars (think Lloyd Bakan Coupe) that ran a torque tube....because it really is that much stronger. my .02
Have you measured your wheelbase? If you ground a '36 spring to fit in the stock '32 rear crossmember with a '36 rear, it should put it in the correct position. I just did all this with a '32 and my wheelbase is 106 like it's supposed to be. Check it before you cut up the crossmember.
if i relocate the crossmember can i still run the stock gas tank? I like the ideia of the 36 rearend because of the heavy duty wishbones
but what your saying is it shouldn't need to be moved at all. it cant go back because of the rails tapering
The tank only fits in one way in the rails. You should have holes drilled already in the top of the frame for mounting unless you have a truck frame. In the stock location, there is only about 1/2" clearance between the tank and the rear crossmember. So, moving it forward is your only option unless you want the tank sticking way out the back and then you can.t use the rear spreader bar. Measure your wheelbase first if you can and see if you need to move it at all!
Mine is a '36 & '40 put together with a '36 thru '40 spring. here, check out my blog, it shows what I did to get it to fit. http://builda32.blogspot.com/2012/05/making-40-rear-spring-fit-32.html Can you post a pic of the parts you are using??