Gassers...Successful Suspension Designs, Theories, or Pics...Lets Discuss!!

I would be tempted to add the fourth link on the drivers side.
Especially if you are using compliant bushings.

 

Thanks Stevie.

I have considered it and will look into it.

I appreciate the response.



BloodyKnuckles

 

i'm tryin to figure out what springs to use on my 54 chavy and i have hit a wall, where do i even look for springs? the junk yard around here has got all the damn eyes torched off theirs and they are way too long, i want somethi line 32" maybe so i can stretch the wheelbase forward. i cant find anywhere that sells the springs separate.

 

What width springs are you looking for? If you're looking for 2" check with early Jeep CJ's. They have a nice arch and are readily available.



BloodyKnuckles

 

Here's a few pics of a real deal succesful Gasser Suspension from 1967. this is the suspension on My gasser which was put under it in the winter of 1967. I won't change it for the world as it is absolutley authentic done by Tony russo & Eddie Sanzo in the winter of 1967. Still works great as long as the tires are fresh.

 

Here's the front suspension. sorry for the lousey pic as I took them woth the car on the ground. Ole Sandy just came out of the trailer this weekend from her winter hibernation. The only thing not from the 60's in these pics are the wheelie bars, shocks and the driveshaft loop.

 

Here's a nice launch pic on worn out tires. 75 passes and there no good to me.

 

Now that's what I'm fuckin talking about!!!!

Great pics! I will be analizing this set up for a while.


Thanks for the detailed pics!




BloodyKnuckles

 

cgaswillys sweet ride and cool how it is a setup from 67.what can you tell us about the way the rear bars are mounted.Front have bushings?? Is the rear solid mounted to the rearend? Spring full floating?? Seems the bars are longer then the spring eye. Looks like it works just fine from the pics. It is just too cool.

 

Why mess with perfection? Your car seems to work great to me in 2009,also!!

 

TOO WILD! First time I've ever seen another ball joint lift kit! Tough to tell from this pic, but I had 'em installed in my '55 that I had when in the Navy back in '66. Had to use '63 Chevy station wagon springs and it wouldn't roll till I put Chromed reversed rims on it. Tire cleared by about 3/8 of an inch and it rode like a cement truck.

You could jump up and down on the front end and it would only move side to side a teeny bit. Every ripple in every street felt like the Grand Canyon...but it was sooo cool! Got my kit from Honest Charlie. Thanks for the memories!

Bill Stinson

 

No bushings in the rear bars and no housing floaters. I know it would work much better with floaters but I want to keep it original. This is how it was set up in '67. The rear springs are also clamped tight and there is very little rear suspension movement, this wouldn't be very good for a street car.

 

Next month when I get it up on jackstands to get ready for the season I'll get some better picks. I know these get the idea across but the kinda suck.

 

I'm glad to hear your HJ ladder bar system is not giving you any problems as I am in the middle of setting my HJ up. Sitting at my desk, I took a flexible plastic ruler, taped a pencil in the middle, bent the ruler like a spring and let the ruler straighten out as I held the right side of the ruler against the margin of my drawing paper. I was able to see a clear arc with the axle moving up and toward the rear (hence the need for the shakle). Nothing unexpected there, but it appears that a short ladder bar with the eye mounted high would more closely follow the arc movement of the axle than a long ladder bar. Of course that would be equivalant to clamping the front half of the leaf spring as some did. I'm not sure I'd want to throw much power to my skinny HJ springs clamped and those riveted perches though. As it appears to me on paper, your (Von Hartman's HJ) ladder bar set up prevents the axle from moving rearward upon spring compression. This means that the front side of the arched spring has to arch even more while the back side would flatten the shakle and attempt to bend the spring into an "S". At least that's the way it appears on paper. I guess we got away with long ladders and leafs back in the day because we all ran truck springs. No movement in the rear suspension and lots in the front. When we went around turns and hit bumps the ass end of the car would bounce into the oposing lane due to tire rebound. Are we sure no one was running coil-overs in the fifties?

 

That car is beautiful!

 

I love it. You don't see those everyday.

 

Dude I got the most elaborate axel str. on my 59 mopar cross torsion coil over and it is just tits but a ton of hardware done in the 70,s by a cool sprint guy in denver all stick welded solid works great looks cool

 

BTTT.

How about a bit more on this topic??




BloodyKnuckles

 

Putting a retired gasser back on the street. I'm running stock 61Falcon rear leaves, and these vintage bars. (the pic is from the seller- i would never let my bong-be-fresh that close to the rabbit hutch, lol)



The front is out of a 65 Chevy G10 and originally ran the G10 steering box in sidesteer poking up between the driver's knees.



It was removed and a stock steering put in which is crossteer for a Falcon. I don't have pics, but i cut a keyhole in a thick plate of high grade steel, then lowered the keyhole over the bulbous end of the passenger steering arm. Using the most expensive arc rod i've ever seen, i welded them together (oven preheat and cool down). Now i just have to shape the elongated passenger steering arm and drill a hole for the tie rod end and build a draglink to the stock falcon pitman.

 

That's a nasty looking Mickey Mouse U-bolt on that spring.

 

I met this guy in norwalk and raced him at miland. The car is a new construction. This car got more attention than a john force funnycar.
Johnny Rotten

 

Found one more. One badass buick

 

CGasWillys is the deal. Build it with period correct pieces. Chevy Van or Econoline to donate most of the parts like springs, eyes, bushings, etc. The ends of the axle used to get "filled" with weld to make them smooth if you wish or if you need more metal to handle the weight?

If you can keep the geometry from the van (front to rear axle), they will drive as well as the truck did, and that ain't bad. The longer the spring, the better the ride, always.

I think you ought to point these guys to your other build thread so they can see the frame and the engine loop, etc. Because of the frame "hump", I think you could use coil overs too?

 

+1 on this^

 

Isnt that a Pontiac? It is one fine looking ride.

 

Yep.

I can't understand why Buick wouldn't step up their game in the early 60's like Pontiac. I would have loved to see a real nailhead in the Skylarks from the factory. They are the same damn body as the Tempests.


Keep the thoughts coming.




BloodyKnuckles

 

"65 gs

 

Bump

 

Here's a good gasser style rear suspension. Ladder bar coil over with a Watts linkage. It has a higher roll center which is what you need for early gassers with higher ride height. I machined front pivot bushings out of black Delrin with a stainless steel sleeve for the pivot bolt. Because of this I didn't want side movement as the rear end went up and down. That's the reason for the Watts linkage. The ladder bars are 42" made of 1 3/8 x .095 4130 tubing. Everything is very solidly mounted using 4130 brackets and tubing throughout.

 

Any pics yet Bloody Knuckles? I don't think many HAMBers know that the early Skylarks had coil springs all the way around. It would of been helpful to pull a tire and show'em
what the front frame rails look like also. When I build my 62, I'm seriously thinking a transverse spring set-up will be the way to go. Build a tubular crossmember for the spring and mount the hair pins, then I'll set my 383 chrysler back into the firewall and
go scare some Honda's.