Frankland QC--IRS ?

Any Hambers out there ever see a Frankland QC centersection converted to an IRS , I have a chance to buy a complete center section with a Gleason-Torsen posi 33 spline ,it has the side bells but no tubes installed, the owner had ideas of making an IRS axle from the parts. Any ideas ?

 

I would check to see if your model Frankland will interchange side bells with a Winters. You need basically the same type of bell that is used with an "open tube" sprint car axle. Not sure if those are available for the Frankland. Winters makes them with the chassis hanger mounts cast in, but you should be able to mount it with brackets hung off the through bolts as well.

 

Thanks for the info. , I'll go take a peek at this pile-o-parts as he has several centersections and sidebells , I read some where most later frankland & winters use 12 bolt bells, right or wrong ?

 

Yes it can and has been done. I wish I had taken pics, but you can use standard side bells buy machining the id to accept a double sealed roller bearing that will ride on the axle stub you choose to use. I used corvette IRS rear components to build quickchange IRS units. One was done for a hot rod the other was for a mud racer, both worked perfectly. You have to make sure to plan on a pressed on bearing onto the stub axle shaft and a retainer pretty much like the ford rear axle retention design. Depending on the bearing you find to use, you may have to build an aluminum ring to put over the outside end of the bell snout to make it thick enough to machine for the OD of the bearing. Thats how I did the first one for the hot rod. The one for the mud racer we used a much different bearing and did not have to do anything but turn out the snout to accept the bearing OD.

I'm not sure where the hot rod ended up, but the last I knew the mud racer was in the hands of the son of the guy I built it for. I'll try to contact him and if it is still around see if I can get pics. I sure wish I would have taken more pics over the years.....

*EDIT: I should add that these were not actually all done by me, Al Larsen (hamber 333 Half Evil) is actually the guy who I asked about making an IRS rear and he suggested modifying the quick change we had. It was him that did the majority of the work, so I'm editing this to give credit where credit is due. Sorry Al....

 

speedway eng in calif has the rite side bells and stub shafts to do this i have did a few in the past check there web site out .


clay >>>>>>>>>>

 

Speedway Engineering makes a IRS Q.C. but I don't know if any of the parts are interchangable with a Frankland though.

http://www.1speedway.com/irs_quickchange.htm

 

Lil John Buttera did at least one.

 

Thanks guys , I'll check with Mr. Denning at speedway eng., I wonder if JR. still works for him. I bought a floater and axles for a class 8 offroader about 20 years ago. They treated us well.

 

Hey Brad, a lot has changed since those days man, you can buy kits to do this now!!! No need for the credit, just happy to do shit for ya!!!

Yeah snaptwo you should not have a problem finding what you need to make it work. Have fun, post pics!!!!

 

Richie Willet did an IRS setup on a Frankland Q/C(I think it was a Frankland anyway)on his narrowed T touring Speedster.I have pics of it but can't post them here for some reason.If you likeI'll e-mail them to you.He used finned Buick drums on Lincoln(?)backing plates with home made half shafts and 19" knockoff wire wheels.
One of Rebecca's posts might have detailed pics of it as well.She did threads on the Ty-Rods shows and some in Richie's shop.

 

Franklands are usually pretty easy to spot, as they use a "bread pan" shape spur gear cover; as opposed to the flat cap style covers used by Winters and most others.

 

Saw this older post and wanted to say that I actually have an old race car that the previous owner fit with a Quickland IRS. He pretty much machined the side covers as described in other posts here. We are designing a newer car based on this suspension geometry and are using the newer Speedway system as Frankland no longer has the special castings used for this.

 

A number of street rod chassis builders can provide them, for just about any brand QC you'd want. G G Google-time. Gary