i want to get my ‘32 style build similar to 3w Larry’s coupe. I want to go low without a drop axle and use the suicide technique by putting the front axle ahead of the spring. By doing this the wheel base will have to grow about 3 1/2” to about 109 1/2”. Im guessing that on Larry’s car he did something like this, but what did he do to get the radiator out farther? Lengthen the hood to make it all work. I also noticed that the hood side flow evenly with the frame rails. Again he must have pinched the frame a little to get that so perfect. My only concern is if a spring breaks, the frame will be on the ground. I have no idea how to add a safety measure to this issue. I’m sure Larry had something on his car. Does anyone know how his car was built with that suicide front setup?
If the spring brakes it lives up to its name. But, no matter how ya mount it, a break of any kind is unhealthy
That is my only concern, other than the way the steering box and column are fixed to the frame rail. I’ll go with a franklin steering box to fix that issue. Maybe a skid pad at the bottom of the frame rail will keep the car from catapulting?
There was a subtly that was lost there. Anthony was not asking if you are after the rolling bones style. He was asking if you are after The Rolling Bones style. It's a specific thing: https://www.rollingboneshotrodshop.com/ Have a look: https://www.google.com/search?q=rol...UvGDQIHVT6DHcQ_AUoAnoECAwQBA&biw=1536&bih=722
"Rolling Bones" built the frame for 3W Larry so its definitely RB style he is after. Heres a link to a Mag article of how they used to do it...although I'm pretty sure they have changed it up a bit since then. Still a good overview... https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0901sr-rolling-bones-hot-rod-shop-frame/
They based it on the Spencer style for sure but there are a lot of differences. Certainly not a copy. NICE pictures by the way! Don't think I saw those before!
Wow, that’s perfect. Great pictures from that shop. Never heard of the rolling bones hot rod shop. I always just thought the phrase meant a fenderless bare bones hot rod. Maybe that little angle tab welded to the end of the frame rail is a safety catch for the axle if the spring breaks?
The only safety is quality parts and craftsmanship. However, do you ever think what might happen if a tie rod breaks on your daily rolling down the interstate?
They have made changes to how they do the frames since the pictures in Hot Rod. Do a google search on them and a lot of info will show up, inc newer stuff.
Usually the wheelbase is the same, they just move the crossmember backwards with the spring. Check out Walden in California. He makes a similar chassis that looks nice.
That’s how mine is. I made radiator mounts off the front of the frame heavy duty enough to catch the axle, if anything broke. Plus my set-up has tube shocks that would also catch it. I’ll post some pics if I can find some. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There is a thread when Larry was alive that showed all the details of the frontend. I'm just too lazy to find it. I have all the pics saved somewhere and again I'm jus too lazy to post them. Ha!
Nick has a fail safe built into his front axle shown below. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...roadster-build-updated-01-23-11.543427/page-8
Here's my suicide front end - the top spring plate is in 10mm steel and has a "hook" that also supports the licence plate. It's intended to catch the axle but who knows if it would work in the real world. Better than nothing I suppose. If we wanted modern standards of safety we would be driving modern cars.
Here's another great pinched and suicide mounted chassis: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/60s-3w-build.1109665/
Here's a thread full of photos of exactly what you're looking for @65standard : https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rolling-bones-front-suspension.505979/
When I first looked at this picture I thought the forked brackets above the suicide axle were bumpers. Looking at it some more it appears that they might actually be there to limit travel in the event of a catastrophic failure.
I can't find the photos of it but I just remember the 34 that had that style of front end that got totaled when something to do with the spring broke. Unless you have something to catch it on the axle you are going to have parts hit the ground and the results aren't gong to be good no matter how great it looks.
I KNOW what happens when a tie rod end breaks on a "normal car" 365 yard long groove in the tarmac ( I was going "fast-ish")lucky for me the curve of the motorway drew me into the shoulder from the fast lane,I went to exit through the passenger door but it was stuck ,got out ,walked round to find my wheel ,strut and half the wing jammed against the passenger door-oops -all because a £15 part broke!
There is a thread here on the HAMB about a broken spring perch on a rod with this style front end, the result was catastrophic. The driver did survive the crash, but the car was pretty much a total loss.
The biggest issue I’ve always seen with suicide style upper spring perch is welds in the wrong places. Having welds subjected to bending loads is never a good idea. Think of the drawbar of a trailer as an example. The top face of the drawbar is never welded to the trailer body for this reason as it exposes that weld to bending loads and can ultimately fail. Sometimes less is more when it comes to welds as welds in the wrong spots can create huge problems. Have seen many of these front end designs used and they have worked fine (without failure) provided the welding detail is correct. Some sort of pan hard bar or dead perch is essential for lateral restraint as well. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
i know a thing or two about these front ends. First off, the wheel base does not stay the same. aftermarket perches scare me to use, so id try to find really nice original ford pair to make due... They require machined tapered bushings welded in the wishbones, then modifying the perches to weld into the bushings and the wishbone at the same time. the proper welds and gussets to make it all safe. Posi spring sells the correct spring to run this front end. The Rolling bones have been running these for years, flawlessly. Im the one that broke one and totaled a car. which is how i figured out the best way to do it all. as far as Doane Spencer, or Rolling bones, or Walden as a title.. they are all different. hell i could call mine the HAAG front end if that was the case.