Customs Kustom Karsters

Even though my Merc is only lowered a couple of inches, when I have a full tank of fuel and loaded up for a weekend away, I scrape my exhaust tail pipes as I go down the ramp from my drive into the street.
Obviously this problem is not a new one, as the old photo below demonstrates.

I wonder if Tommy Ivo also had the same problem with the tailpipes on his Buick?

It’s not generally an issue for me, but I’m thinking of perhaps taking the Merc on some travels to far off exotic places later in the year, and that might involve crossing the seas to the Isle of Wight. (Assuming the island has not been turned into some Covid Leper colony by then).
I’ve heard some owners of low cars say that it’s best to get the Isle of Wight ferry at high tide, due to the wide variations in the steepness of the ramp to get on the boat.

I don’t really want to be consigning my exhaust tips to Davy Jones’ Locker!
I could always tell my other half that in the future she’ll have to pack less gipsy tops when we go away for weekends, but to be honest I’m not that brave!
With that in mind, I thought I’d see about fitting some castors somewhere under the rear of the car. (If they’re good enough for the Hirohata Merc, they’re good enough for me).


And the Hirohata Merc is not the only Kustom that used them in the days before air bags. A few other examples from way back include these: –

 

One good idea I came across elsewhere on the HAMB, was to make castors using wheels from an old trolley jack, as they’re obviously up to taking a heavy loading. Only trouble is, I don’t have an old jack to cannibalise.
Checking out what is commercially available I decided I needed ones stronger than those on your average office chair, not huge so they don’t look like 747 undercarriage hanging down, and most importantly, cheap!
In USA it seems easy to get these ones for use on trailers. They have no bearing, just a greasy hole through a solid steel wheel. They look very robust, though they don’t really look anything like the ‘authentic’ castors in the photos above.–

Not being able to find any of those in the UK anyway, a good alternative were these ones.

They have steel wheels and roller bearings with grease fittings that make me feel they are of a reasonable design quality. A bit big maybe?
I figured they are only going to be under stress for the ‘blink of an eye’, but if they are going to fail, it would most likely be the ‘forks’ bending, rather than the wheel or spindle bolt breaking. I therefore beefed them up a bit. (Maybe I’m being over-cautious, but you have to understand just how many gipsy tops the other half insists on packing for weekends away).
I didn’t go for the more expensive swivel castors, even though I appreciate that the further away from the axle the castors are fitted, the more side stresses fixed castors would endure when turning whilst crossing a ramp. I think it would only be a problem if I came out of my drive at speed, with the rear end side-ways. If that was the case, I really should be re-evaluating my style of driving!
This photo, (also found on the HAMB), makes me feel a little more confident, as it was fitted to a Dean Jefferies ‘51 Merc built back in the day, and appears to be a less than heavy-duty looking ‘fixed’ castor, and not a swivel one.

Before fitting the castors, I got a piece of string from the bottom of the rear tyres to the lowest point on the back of the car – the exhaust tail-pipes. I figured the casters would need to hang down just below the line of the string.

It’s at times like this I wish I’d paid more attention to geometry lessons at school. Had the teacher talked about mathematical equations, such as X = chopped Merc scrub line, times angle of the dangle, over inclination of rampness, I’d probably have been more engaged.

I established where to put them by standing them where I wanted under the car, and then building bracketry that pressed against the bottom of the chassis, and attaching that via the two huge bolts that hold the bumper irons on.

 

I tried to camouflage their shopping trolley looks with some satin black paint to help lose them in the shadows.
Hopefully they don’t look too obvious, as I fear it may look like I’ve run over a senior citizen, and am dragging their Zimmer frame, caught under the rear bumper. Not a good look!

There is very much a danger of spoiling the lines beneath the car with people’s eyes drawn to a monstrosity dangling from the back, like some dog with a ‘claggy on the waggy’. Hoping I’ve got away with it. –


I don’t know really why I should be trying to hide them though, as articles in the old magazines have the owners actually drawing attention to the fact castors were fitted. Maybe it was considered some kind of badge of honour as to how low their car was, or perhaps it was just pointing out a good engineering solution for the time to a practical problem?
If I do feel they look a bit kookie, or result in people take the Mickey calling them ‘training wheels’, I just have to remind myself that castors were not just a bodge fix by backyard builders, but were put on the most influential Magazine cover cars, and used by THE biggest names known throughout the Kustom world.

Kuztomklaus on another thread shows how he attached his to a plate on the bumper irons. If mine were smaller I would definitely have copied his idea.


Anyway, looking at my Merc now, I’m confident that it might not sustain much damage if it gets hit up the back by a Lamborghini Countach, (I live not far from Premier league footballers, so always a possibility).
Also, the castors might also assist me in one of those situations I might find myself in, such as taking a wrong turning and then having to reverse my way out of a skateboard park. (We’ve all been there!)

Some people would probably leave the car without them, simply replacing the exhaust tailpipes as they wear down, or get pulled off.
This Shoebox, pictured in the 1958 Custom Cars Annual, has noticeably worn exhaust tips.

The same car, in a 1960 Rod & Custom magazine, appears to have gone down one driveway too many, and lost them completely. Is that a castor I now see?

And I imagine there are some reading this that think I should put air-bags under my Merc, but the fact is, I’d like to keep the car as ‘period correct’ as possible.
If you castor your mind back, this is the way it wheelie was! Castors were a trolley good idea, and that’s just the way I like to roll!

Of course, castors under the back are not going to solve every low car/driveway issue.

 

I think casters look lame. Not only that, I'd bet some who used them did not take sufficient steps to beef up the mounting area to prevent undercarriage damage caused by bottoming out the car on casters.

 

Casters are traditional on low Kustoms. Looks like you are hiding them as best as you can. Far better than tearing off your exhaust tips, destroying a bumper or doing sheet metal damage. I say rock on.

 

If it keeps you rolling down the road, go for it.

 

Casters? CASTERS? What casters? I've been reading the car magazines since the early '60s and I have NEVER noticed them. Admittedly, I'm a pre-'49 hot rod guy, but I appreciate a nice Kustom. I can't believe I have never noticed them before.

Very enlightening post. Thanks

 

Looks good Chris!

 

I can hear it now, some clever dude at the Pod (uk drag racing strip) saying to his mate that those wheely bars have been done wrongly.......

Chris



Sent from my SM-T515 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Nothing wrong with casters. You've done a good job. My car is a long way from finished, but I went stupid big on mine. I should get away with that, and keep them somewhat hidden, since the bumper is extended back a bit. My driveway sucks so bad, I've put 1" skid boxes under the frame rails, too. It's going to sit low, and the boxes will make it hit sooner, but will hopefully prevent any serious damage.
In my next life, my house and property will be as flat as my floor.

 

Casters tend to rattle, until they rust. Then they don't rattle. Your Merc looks sweet just like it is in the first post.
The chrome tips are sweet icing on the cake. If you know your route ahead of time and know where the "ramps" are that would be problems, maybe consider making your tips modular, removable with quick-release clamps. Another possibility is those add-on airbags for those times when you're packing extra weight. I ran air-shocks on a car back in the 60s for drag strip traction proposes. I installed individual Schrader valves in the trunk so I could adjust air pressure side to side. I've never used the bag thingies but I'm sure they've been applied to your situation.
I once had a Pontiac that came with an automatic, air compressor, "load leveler" type system. I jokingly called it my 'bootlegger kit".

 

Casters are really only visible if you're at near eye-level with them. Anyone willing to get on the ground to look under your car can complain all they want. Also, if your car is low enough, even those nuts won't see them. It's still better than air bags on a traditional car.

 

Thanks for the comments guys.
One of the reasons I didn’t go for swivel caster was the thought of rattles and noises. I figured they’d rattle and swing about round every bend. (Here in England we have a huge amount of roundabouts!).
The fixed ones I have, once packed with grease, do not want to rotate until they have some outside force applied against them, such as a driveway or my fingers, so happy they won’t be providing any irritating noises whilst I’m driving.
I appreciate that castors are a bit of a controversial concern. I can’t even use the words love/hate, as I don’t think there’s anyone out there that actually loves them. Folk fall into one of two camps – ‘can get along with’, or ‘hate’.
There’s no denying that they can mess up the lines of a car and look like an after-thought add on. However, you could say the same about wheelie bars, (though they are more socially acceptable because they shout performance). Both have a function.
It’s that age old hotrod problem of balancing functionality with looks.

 

...I repeat what I said above.

 

That's my merc, it was lowered 8 inches.

 

It sits higher now and I want to lower it again and I'm going to have to replace the lightweight casters that were on it. I'm going use Paktron casters.

 

I've been looking at using either a set of load leveler bags or small air bags to bring my 48 back to static height when I am carrying gear in the back or towing a small trailer. I've even got a couple of compressors and the level switch of a mid 70's Cadillac so it could be more of an automatic setup like the air shocks and same setup were for years on Cads.

 

I toyed with the idea of buying a new vette this year and I did a bit of research into them. One of the cool features is a speed bump/driveway leveling system. The first time you pull in the drive or come to that annoying speed bump down the street you manually pickup the suspension, the cars computer remembers the GPS location and does it automatically after that. I know, I know, new stuff is the devil but ol mephistopheles travels in style.

 

t extra credit for the proper spe;;ing!!- (mephistopheles )--maybe some crown w/ your eggs benedict on fathers day or something..