And now a 36 rear radius rod question

If building a 32 frame, And using 36 rear radius rods. how far must you move the rear crossmember back to maintain the original wheel base?

 

Stock Ford was 7 1/2 inches behind axle center line. Hope this helps.

 

For the 36 rear spring? So factory a 36 the spring center is 7.5 inches behind the axle centerline?

 

Do your self a favor and plan ahead, Install T or A rear cross member and spring. Never know if and when you may want to drop in a QC

 

On a full fender car, most builders move the axle centerline 3/4" to make the tire more centered that Henry had.


I am using 35/36 rear arms in my 32, but with an early Olds rear. I did not need to move the stock 32 rear crossmember. Minor W/B change can be made when the mounting plates are fabbed, that weld to the axle tubes. (and those plates bolt to the arms.)

 

I have a ford 9'' that I will be installing. quick change sounds cool but probably out of my price range. Spending too much on the hemi.

 

OK, your going with a 9", But I would still plan ahead and seriously think about it. It could impact future resale and future upgrades. Yes a QC will hold up to a hemi.

 

if your just going to use a 9" then get some pete and jakes ladder bars

http://www.peteandjakes.com/parts/parts_dept/ladderBarCrossmembers.htm

if not your going to have to strengthen them to the point their are ugly to handle the hemi. ive got them on my 32 but i wounldnt use them for your application, just not logical.

 

I would use a 40 front spring and the 36 bones. The 40 front spring will give a nice ride. i have never ridden in a car with a A or T spring in the back that was not rough.
Mount the bones a couple inches lower on the axle than they were on the 36. It gives clearance at the frame kick up and drastically reduces the bending loads on the bones. Visualize a wacky deal where the bones are at tire contact level. There would be no bending loads on them at all. Just compression and tension. It takes a while to get your head around that one but comes from engineering and free body analysis.

 

i have a 40 front spring, one of those posie super sliders. i had planned on using it because it is narrower. to keep the rear radius rods inside the body. but i still need to know where to place the rear cross member to retain the factory 32 wheelbase.

 

You can put the crossmember in the stock location per various available plans.

 

A 40 front spring will slide in 32 rear crossmember without modification and will locate a 9 inch in correct location in wheel well ..What year body are you using??

 

I guess that is something I should have posted. I am not using 32 spring or crossmember. Straight spring. And I am making a rear crossmember.

 

When installing a 40 front spring in a stock 32 rear crossmember, you might look at grinding a larger radius on the front and rear edges of the top leaf at the center 6" of the spring. This allows the spring to seat properly in the crossmember. Also when using 35-36 arms you will need to shorten the rear of the shackle sleeve on the arms 1/4" to compensate for the difference in spring widths. The dimension on the spread of the shackle sleeves on the arms is 42.5" when using a 40 style front spring. I use a fixture made of 1" angle to hold the spread when mounting the arms to the housing. Hope this helps.