Hello all, I'm in the beginning stages of mockup, an am looking for ideas to get my rear down. I have a stock A frame, and a 39 banjo. I want to run the full length bed and fenders. If I Z the frame, it gets into the wood bed rails. What is done to support the bed? I have also thought about a spring behind using the 39 parts. Just looking for suggestions and pitfalls of each way. Thanks, Stan Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The wood which is basicly a spacer also is used to mount the fender braces. I think you can gain 1 1/2 inches only by c notch the frame without too many mods. How far down you want to go. To low and the wheels are out whack to the fender.
If you Z the frame you will have the center of the cross member sticking up through the bed floor. A stock Model A bed floor has a metal plate in it over the cross member due to the arch of the cross member. You can remove several leaves and have the eyes reversed which will lower the rear. To use the spring behind the rear end you will have to extend the frame to move the cross member back to keep the wheel base. Not a real easy way to lower the rear of a pickup without modifying the bed floor.
So, the consensus is to not Z the frame and use the spring over. I might have a T spring, I need to figure out how to tell for sure if it's a T. I will also need mounts for the 38 rear. I have a Dagels crossmember and will be boxing the frame. I have a T5 so I will have to convert to open drive. Any suggestions on how to mount the rear with the open drive? And where to get the spring mounts? Thanks, Stan Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I think you have the right idea with a 39 spring and hangars. On this one we used a complete 39 rear end. A second rear cross member was added behind the stock cross member, and the 39 spring de arched to get the ride height we wanted. The bed wood and floor were untouched. The 39 bones were split, and a torque arm was added to support the rear end from rotating with the open drive shaft.
Dean, Do you have any pics of the rear crossmember, torque arm, and where the bones mount? Was looking at my BT book and noticed one of the captions stated running an A crossmember with an A spring on a 32 frame with the rear sprung axle? Does anyone know the difference in mounted width of the A spring vs the 39? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'm running a Model A spring on a 36 rear Axle. I stretched the frame I believe 6.5" and pinched it for my Channeled Roadster. It also has a 37 X member graphed in. I C notched the frame 3/4" so I could install a 32 ford bump stop. I have 3" of frame to axle clearance.
This is the only pic I have of the underside of the car. It's from the Jan. 62 HRM story. There is a tube cross member over the top of the trans tail housing. The split bones, torque arm, and u-joint safety hoop mount to this cross member. The added rear cross member was heat formed in a curve to match the spring, and welded to tubular frame extensions. Wish I had a better picture. This set up really worked on the drag strip. One of the reasons the car always ET'd so good was that it hooked like the slicks were glued to the track.
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