This has to be the coolest frame mod I've ever seen: It looks broke, doesn't it?: Here's the frame modified: Here's the kit: That's one hell of a way to fix solid differential rigidity! I see all these guys who spend a shit load of cash on four-link systems to get their front and rear suspensions independent, but this mod does the exact same damn thing!
'84 half ton Fords would do that but they had no swivel. pretty cool idea for an off roader. No need for lockers if you can keep all 4 planted.
That's interesting. I'm trying to figure out the effect on the driveshaft. I guess with a proper slip joint it wouldn't make any difference, would it? Edit: Nevermind, if I'm thinking correctly, the rear diff should rotate on the same radius.
some guy named Hickey did that in the '60's, even proposed a production AWD off roader with it. i'd want to be damn sure it had some kind of travel limit to the rotation in case something went tits up!
These conversions were offered by a firm called Willock back in the '40s and '50s. There's been two of these on Bring a Trailer: http://bringatrailer.com/2011/11/09/willock-swivel-frame-1958-dodge-power-wagon/ http://bringatrailer.com/category/american/page/2/
That's just the coolest thing around in my book. It changes the nature of the truck and makes it more effective.
At one of the "Mint 400" off road races back in the 70's . I watched the one and only Parnelli Jones put a twist in a propane powered pickup, just south of Jean,Nv. on a crossgrained section of the course. Swivel ? PJ don't need no stinking swivel !! Neat idea !!
We need to add a new smiley-icon thingy for "BRAIN EXPLODES"! That's so simple that it seems that there's no way in hell that it could possibly work! And that's the real beauty of it!
How would the break lines and electrical be ran? Just longer wires/hoses? Wonder if this could be applied to lowered trucks somehow.
Ummm... Well I was thinking of something more icon-ish and cartoony looking, but this will work in the meantime. (If you click your browser's stop button while viewing this the results can be quite disturbing. So don't do it. )
Looks like the guy needed some duct tape. Too late now. Ha HA! I found those pictures of the swivel kit and installed on the frame at a site that sells them for $4,000 USD. Shit, after looking at it, I think its worth it. The machining alone would cost that. Here's the site: http://www.dodgepowerwagon.com/classifieds/mininger-122609-swivel.php
through the hole in the swivel. Looks really neat parked on a big rock. I still haven't figured out why I'd want to park on a big rock though.
okay... thats interesting, I wonder how that thing would handle on asphalt. its gotta be pretty weird. made me think about doing a chassis with like 5 swivels and an axle per frame section. then it would look like a caterpillar going over a rock lol
I thought about that also. I wonder if it would react like an independent suspension. If you think about it, with the swivel the axle would then become the leveling force making it effectively the sway bar. The swivel makes the axle the horizontal force that keeps the wheels planted to the ground effectively eliminating sway. Now all of this is just theory until we get someone's voice on this thread who has driven one, but it should increase control and make the ride very enjoyable.
I have driven one, make a right turn and the box tries to swivel in the opposite direction, its unnerving the first time. I was given the archives from the company that produced these trucks from a friend who had one years ago. I have the original US patents.
Came across this while looking to see if there was anymore old Willock info popping up on the web. This swivel frame stuff was all pre-web so I keep hoping someone will pop up out there who was involved with Willock personally. I have a 70 F-250 4x4 that was converted in 1969 by Willock with their swivel frame and drove it on and offroad quite a bit. The swivel frame doesn't really act like you think it would. It acts just like a normal truck, even handles corners great. Offroad it's impossible to get a tire off the ground, but really easy to put the front of your bed right into a rock or stump if your not careful. Driveline angles aren't effected, all the wires, tubes and e-brake pass through the tube. Full exhaust actually flexes enough to allow way more articulation than you'd think, but wrecks collector gaskets. From the two owners before and myself my truck has around 650K on it and the joint is completely worn out. The last 200K or so one of the zerks stopped taking grease and I decided I'd rather just build a new joint than rebuild the original. The bushings got pretty sloppy without grease, but I just kept shimming the bed to match the cab and all was fine. I finally cut the joint out when I found a crack starting on the rear crossmember, but will replace it eventually. My truck has a 34" frame and the safety chains were about 12". The tops of the tires go over the cab roof like this with slack in the chains. My only disappointments have been no way to lock the joint so the truck always looks like the frame is bent parked in a parking lot. I liked to park on a curb or off camber to exaggerate it so it was obvious. With the slop in the joint lots of tongue weight and a rough road was ridiculous. Anyway, I put that joint through hell and it worked better than I ever thought.
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