I am using parts from 3 1949+1950 F-1 pickup to make a bobber hot rod. For simplicity and because I am a cheap bastard I am using the original suspension front and rear. I want to make a front and rear kickup by cutting the frame and overlapping it 6" front and rear. I also want to put a piece of 6" box steel between the frame pieces in the back to give me a 12" kick in the rear. Something like this. I will need to use two stock frames (which I have) in order to have enough length to get the F-1 pickup cab in between the steps. I know that the sections where it is overlapped will need to be boxed, and fish plates welded on. I am going to have a pro weld it up for me once I get it set the way I want it. So tell me why this won't work, or what I need to know to make it work. Thanks, CHAZ
Good luck bro, my prayers and thoughts are with you...... J/K interesting idea, Skratch did something similar to a 58 or 59 Ford P/U. Shoot him a PM, he may be able to enlighten you.
If cut and done correctly{i.e. lots of measureing}all you should really have to do is make a tranny tunnel for drive shaft clearance inside the cab. I dont really see any trouble with dropping the center of the frame,but as you said,the welding is going to have to be REALLY,REALLY,good. NO one likes a frame coming apart on them going down the road. R.R.
And since your making one of those "Bobber" thingies,your probably not going to run the running boards I am guessing, so why not just cut the floor out and channel it to get it low? Sounds like you may be doing some mods to the floor anyway. Or do both and get it really low.
IMHO, the parallel leafs in the F-1 front suspension would look like crap hangin out there in the open. The frame plan would work no problem though. Hiding the kick-up in the rear would be a piece of cake but the front portion of the frame is going to have to come up a whole bunch for the stock suspension to sit high enough to look nice and low. I would start looking for a earlier model I-beam axle with a transverse leaf or figure out how to use the existing front suspension to build a suicide front axle. You'd probably still want to channel the cab to hide the frame since the F-1s sit pretty tall on the frame. I am helping a friend build a bomber right now out of a 52 truck and the plan is to ditch the entire front suspenion and use one out of a 1940 Ford with split bones.
I'm not familiar with the term "bobber" when referencing a car/truck... I assume you mean a rudy truck? Anyways... I was looking at doing the same thing to lower my F-100, but I'm keeping all of the fenders, etc... what I found was the spring hangers at the back of the front springs were directly below the floor of the cab, so I would have had to channel the cab sort of... I ended up doing a volare front end. Anyways, it might look kinda weird, but I'd love to see it... Good luck man! Ben
I plan on channeling the cab about 3-4 inches on the frame also. That will get the bottom of the cab even with the bottom of the frame. The firewall "legs" should cover the frame overlap in the front. Putting the axle on top of the springs, and turning the eyes should get me close to having the back and front level. I will put some pics of the frame on before I cut it up. CHAZ
Curious why you would stack tubing in the rear to make your Z? The front is a different story, but the rear with a "stack" like that is not going to be the "cheapest" way nor the strongest. Is it a time thing? Don't have a way to cut the materials at an angle? What is it? I don't mean to sound like I'm busting your balls, just wondering why you're choosing this method. I'm always open to new ideas and just wondering why you're going this route.
I thought that would be the "easiest" way. I have to be able to get everything set up so I can get a guy in to weld for me. What would the better way be? Box both ends and then weld a section of box steel in between. CHAZ
Do some searching. Start here with this thread. LOTS of good info here and be sure and check out the links within the thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124711 The way you have planned will work, but it's not going to look so hot and you'll have some additional weight and LOTS of welding to do. I guess you would say it will work, but not such an efficient use of materials.
I think he's callig it a bobber as in short of bob tail. Just as long as you don't call it a MANX. But you could call it a Lynx I guess that's just a souped up bobcat. Its more than doable but instead of going extreme on the kick on either end why don't you just take the stock springs and make 1/4 elips, you can set up a leaf link in the rear and make it adjustable. Send me measurments and I'll con the designer for Manx racing into drawing you up a print. With a minor channel you can have it real functional and right down in the dirt, or on the asphalt.
I don't know man, Every one I've seen has looked weird. I like the idea in theory, but I think to get it right a person would have to shrink the cab to the dimensions of like a '35 Ford or something similar. Those cabs are fairly large. Here's some "inspiration".
In the rear, put the axle on top of the springs and "C" the frame. Mine is so low, if I run over a dime, I can tell you what year it was..........OLDBEET
.....Oh yeah, HOW in the world did the term "bobber" get associated with these types of trucks? Did a magazine start this stuff? I'm building one and didn't know it was called a "bobber". The term "bobber" always makes me think of a dude giving another dude head.
I think this one has a few cool things going on, also a few very questionable things...front axle probably needs a panhard rod. View attachment 216019 View attachment 216020 View attachment 216021 View attachment 216022 View attachment 216023 View attachment 216024 View attachment 216025
Honestly the last one posted doesn't look too bad. At any rate, I don't have any room to talk. I know the Willys Jeep truck I'm putting together ain't going to win any beauty contests.
looking at the pics of the primered one, a panhard bar might not be needed. looks like the frame is attached to the axle, and the shocks/springs are for looks.
If you look close, that's not the frame the springs are attatched to, but square rube radius rod type things somehow attatched to the frame under the headers.
For the same amount of time and money, you could have a pretty nice T-bucket. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Actually its not. Check closer, there are two chunky rectangular tubing "wishbones" welded to the axle. The coil overs are functional (from what I can tell). After you posted that I had to take a second look. That would be NUTS to have the frame welded to the axle.
Quote - For the same amount of time and money, you could have a pretty nice T-bucket. Just like a million others. Just kidding, you have some really cool stuff on your site, I spent a few hours reading there, especially about vintage wheels. Not trying to hijack his thread, I only thought Hoof may get some ideas to make use of what he's already got.
Thanks. What I meant is that given a similar amount of time and money, and with equivalent amounts of imagination, creativity, and neat old parts, you could end up with a T-bucket that would be distinctive and tasteful, that would possibly have a higher resale value. T-buckets have their place in the world of traditional hot rodding. They may not be the Holy Grail of Hot Rodding, but a nice one can be a crowd pleaser. Thinking back on the '50s and '60s, I don't remember seeing any fenderless '48-'51 Ford pickups. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
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