Well I made up my mind on the fate of my newly aquired 55 1/2 ton. Gonna build a gasser! I have done the straight tube axle on a 55 chevy car but not a truck. I was thinking about the possibility of flipping the stock axle top to bottom for the lift, and then rotate 180* to point the steering linkage to the back. I figure it will definately take some creativity to make the steering work properly but does anybody see something wrong with this that I am overlooking? <!-- / message -->
Why not just leave that front end alone, and dress her right...nice paint/lettering, a strong mill, and go drag racing!? No need to go f-in' with that axle, but, if you do, you will be better served, I would think, to get a true straight axle custom built for it. If I was using the stock axle, I'd leave it the stock way, jmo...
You will have to go with a straight tube axle because you will screw up your camber with the spindle mounts being upside down. It would look better anyway. I've never seen a 55 gasser truck that I recall, but I do love the looks of those trucks.
Kinda what I am thinkin. Just had a thought and.... well you know the rest. @dirty- Not big on having things built or buying stuff. I would rather make it or find something off another vehicle that will work. However, since the mill and lathe I had access to just moved two hours away from me, looks like I will be headed to the scrap yard. Thanks for the input guys and if anyone else has some ideas, let me hear em!
Hell, I imagine you could whip up an axle with some tubing and welder, and adapt whatever spindles you want, if you wanted to...or find an old 60's tube...they are still around...
You could always re-arch the springs or add some blocks in the front to raise it, but I wouldn't suggest flipping it. By the way...I love gasser trucks, building a '38 chevy myself, using the stock axle. Eric
Re-arching the springs will work, I imagine, but I'm not sure the effect on the rate? I'd avoid blocks, don't put them on a steering axle. Adding leaves will make it stiff, and hard to handle, I would think.
Those are the first two options I though of when I decided to do this. After looking at some cars that had done this, I like the straight axle look better. The axle is forged steel which welds nice if done right. Thinking about cutting the axle right before it turns down, inboard of the spindles and hubs, and welding in a staight piece across. Then mount the springs atop that. Trying to get info on what, if any, kind of heat treating or hardening these axles got at the factory. Anybody know? And yes, before anyone says it, I like doing things the hard way! Much more pride saying,"I built" rather than, " I bought" or " I had that made".
i see three problems here. first flipping the axle outside the springs is gonna fuck up everything. leave it alone and take out a couple leafs from the back and you'll be fine. second if you must do it then check into using an axle from one of the 49 to 55 AD trucks they mounted outside the frame anyways and are similar in dimensions might just bolt in who knows. third have you ever seen a gasser pickup? (a willys is a whole different animal so dont even bring it up) because they're heavy in the front they dont hook up and they're generally a dumb idea. ive got a gasser and a 55-9 chevy truck and they're different animals. do what you want to but the nascar crowd is the only ones that are gonna be impressed with it. anyone who knows anything about gassers is gonna hate you. sorry for being blunt but i'd rather save your time and energy. feel free to tell me to take a hike. but these trucks and gassers are a few of my favorite things. but they are different and should remain that way
Why slam a truck to the ground? Why run around in a car with 500hp on the street? Why chop a top? Why do anything? Come on guys, it is just something that I figured would be original and not something you see every day. I already built a gasser out of a 55 chevy 210 so I have been down this road. I like the look. I am not planning on racing it, just enjoying it. As for no traction in a truck, that is a very easy problem to solve. I had an 86 chevy short bed that I put a wicked small block in as a sleeper. To get a little weight transfer, I built round form about the size of a tire and poured it with concrete. Then mounted it in place of the spare tire. Hooked up pretty good. For this truck, since the wood floor in the bed is long gone, why not replace it with a piece of 1/4" thick steel to get a little weight out back? Trick that an old school hot rodder let me in on. You can even go as far as to cover it with wood so nobody is the wiser about it. Hot rodding is all about being unique and original, hands down. Mabey I should just sell the truck and buy a honda civic, buy out the double sided tape customizing section at pepboys and be like every other squirrel on the road these days. And by the way, I don't feel the need to impress a damn soul except for my own by working on a project that makes me happy. If the nascar crowd likes it then fine but I could give a shit less.
sounds like a cool project. i will say this, it is possible to flip the axle like you suggest, but i think you would like the results better if you took dirtyThirtys advice and built a straight tube axle. i own a 55 first series that has the axle flipped, and the guy that built it did so for ground clearance to play in the dirt. he said it worked well for that but it wasnt worth having on the road. those are his words and i cant say other wise because i bought the truck for parts and never drove it. whatever you decide, good luck and have fun.
Ordering ends for the tube axle today! Found a place that will sell me just the ends for a straight tube axle for $15 apeice. It will cost me that much in diesel just to go use the lathe. Duke- you're right about the axle. Just for grins, I did a little mock up and I like the way it looks with a tube axle better. Thanks for the advice, great to be getting some positive feedback!
Yea but why on earth would anyone listen to you. I mean hell all you ever do is build cars and drive 'em. Personally if it were mine I would just add a little arch to the springs and zing the stock axle full of holes. But I really prefer the easy way out. Tube axle is cool and better if you build your own.
Yeah Yeah, Let us refer to post #8-"And yes, before anyone says it, I like doing things the hard way! " I give you credit for being first with that one, I was just telling duke he was right that it is possible to do it. Shoulda worded it better.
Do me a little favor and look at post #26 in this thread. These ends are "flagged" and look SUPER STRONG. These are the ends apparently used to manufacture modern sprint car axles. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546927&highlight=straight+axle&page=2
Those are some serious ends! And that is also some fantastic work! Wouldn't be to hard to do with the ends I found, weld in the keys and notch the tube. Thanks for that post, you really have the gears in my head spinning now!
I don't care if anyone listens to me I'm just trying to keep my post count up. Its all about post count. BTW you really need to get some sun, you're starting to look a little peekish. Nothing wrong with doingthings the hard way. I spent a full day in the Ol' Man's shop turning a distributer blank from a piece of aluminum pig (that's billet to you more modern rodders) for an engine I was building. I was micing a shoulder and getting ready to tail it in when he walked to the back of the shop and grabbed a good dizzy off his shelf and said, '"Why don't you just use this one son?" I inherited the blank when he passed. Sometimes you just have to do it to prove that it can be done.
O.k..... Take a hike. And yes. I have seen Gasser pickups,( yes, besides Willy's). Also an AWB one ( ! ) Additionally, I hate nascar...lol... Oh, and so far my truck hooks just fine... If it has any problems later on, well, I guess we'll just have to act like hot rodders, and be resourceful, and thoughtful, and all kinds of other types of "ful" and figger' it out. How well did early Gassers hook, with stiff-ass leaf-sprung suspensions, poor shocks, and no good tires? Not too well, judging by the means they resorted to for weight transfer... Lots of trucks still compete in drag racing today. You guys and your narrow definitions and superficial summaries of history, I'll tell ya....
I can hardly imagine how anything else could be accomplished. I have an excuse, I'm supposed to be working for the man right now.
Here ya go......"different" is not merely a modern idea. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324126
Hey I just took my mid winter bath because its February, I'm still just as homley as ever but I can't believe how much lighter I am. I hope the missus don't drop a dime on me when she walks in. BTW the way you can pass, I won't tell anyone. isky1843 I'm not understanding the whole NASCAR thing, I heard that they bought the NHRA but NASCAR is roundy round and really doesn't have much to do with going fast for a short distance. I don't think I would sweat the whole gasser thing. They have been running trucks in the gas ranks as long as I have been around, and I have been here a pretty long time. My take on it is this, you have to be careful with your build so it doesn't get mistaken for a stump jumper. I'm pretty sure you can handle that part of it so I don't think I would even sweat that either. I am concerned about one thing though, I may miss your build posts and I want to see this bitch come together. Maybe someone could make sure that I get some sort of notice??? if you catch my drift.
GET EM DIRTY!!! Porknbeaner-The whole nascar thing was a retort to some limpdick on the first page saying a gasser truck will only be liked by the nascar crowd. I guess I will have to start a build thread when this gets under way and let you know about it. You could also just use your nose to find it as I predict there will be copious amounts of shit slinging goin on in it. But honestly, that is good motivation so bring it on! At the moment I am gathering as many parts for the build as I can before the war department(wife) catches on. She is actually just as excited as me as long as she doesn't see what it costs. Thinking about keepin it rolling till after the lone star round up and then have everything ready to do the deed afterwards.
Well I may be in there slinging right along with the rest of 'em, but as long as I don't call you a bad name you can be assured its because I like ya. Its great when the wife gets involved. Mine doesn't seem too concerned about the money, but she soes get on me if I don't show some progress. I got some grief about a mill I'm pulling apart just the other day along the lines of when are you going to get yourself down there and do something. Better sign off I guess she is expecting a parts list by weeks end.
Sounds like you found ya a good woman! Mine is just starting to get into the hot rod stuff so we'll see where it goes. I get the eyes roll more than anything, she just hasn't figured out how to visualise the end product yet. Took her to the mud drags last summer and let her ride with me for my last two passes. She couldn't stop gigglin and grinnin for the rest of the night! She's hooked!
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