Bouncey straight axle front end...

i am building a 55 axle car and really like the picture quality, i also like the input from other people---that said the only cars i ever had that bounced had springs too soft---that first shock setup was scary ...

 

The Speedway springs have 6 leaves, my guess is each leaf is quite a bit thinner than yours are. Might be worth trying them to see if it helps? You could call and ask how thick the leaves are, compare to yours

 

Speedway accessories on a BzRods front clip, All 6 leafs, Shackles in front, Box in front. Drag link level = No bounce and no bump steer,finger tip driving.

 

Smokinbill I was thinking about your car, what is the length from Eye to eye of your leafs ?

Thanks man !

 

I'll be getting the car out today, I'll measure the thickness and length when I get to the shop.

 

Thank you !!!

Our setups are very similar and were both sbc so I betcha our total weight up from is with in a hundred or two pounds.



You know I was checking local areas near me as some guys are reffering " Try your local shops " and there is one a few minutes away from me for petes sake

http://www.babcockspring.com/

I will call them Monday about springs in my length and rate and see what they say.

Smokinbill your shock location I can also duplicate with some hardware as my shock will then travel more.

 

Good question, especially since they've gone back and forth. Different group of engineers, with different perspectives? Or maybe it was a cost thing? Without input from GM I guess we'd just be guessing as to why it's been changed. Since the later Chevy trucks are 4x4's, it could also be to protect the vulnerable front side shackles from physical damage when off roading.

 

damn! i know a guy that has a gasser nova that looks just like yours!,

babcock spring made the rear leafs for my (OT) Nova, also has done a ton of work for my dad.

Brad check out National spring in west allis, they just made pete a spring for the front of the T, it turned out just the way he wanted it too and it was cheap!

 

This is good to hear. My set up is almost identical.

Blue

 

The OP’s car is cross steer so the placement of the shackles can be either front or rear of the springs



This GM chassis has “side steering” [similar to cowl steering] so the shackles must be at the front if the box is behind the axle [to prevent mechanical bump-steer ]



Neither of these situations would cause bouncing , this is a spring frequency problem or bottoming out through binding

 

those shocks are junk - they have no damp in them at all - ask me how i know

 

How do you know?

 

How do you know ?

 

reading between the lines , are you suggesting he use a hemi instead of a light sbc motor?

 

Well that woud be the 20 dollar cure for a 10 cent problem. Although I may be inclined to do it myself. I did change to a late model engine in a '53 Effy once because my generator went bad.

As for why GM changed to rear mount shackels I gave a good enough reason from an engineering standpoint. But likke I said earlier it has nothing to do with being bouncy. More to do with dive and jog.

There was actually some compelling arguement as to shackel placement given in another shackel front end setup thread a couple fo years back. it had to do with not all spriings being semetrical. IE some being longer from center on one end or the other. As I recall the shackle goes on the long end. The arguement made sense to me although I probably didn't tell the author at the time.

Getting back to the original topic, I think that the question has been answered, better shocks and the proper spring rate will probably solve the problem.

 

SmokinBill, thank you !!!

 

Shackle angle was mentioned twice . Notice the angle on Bills car. Shackle angle should be pointing towards front of car slightly to keep springs from binding.

 

Seeing as this was brought back up to the top, my update is that I'm getting leafs and shock mounts from bzrods, I will then have a update when its welded in.

Unfortunately our Wisconsin weather sucks and its freezing nuts out side :-/

 

I had a 58 gmc suburban with straight axle..mounted on straight axle sandwiched between leaf spring and axle by ubolts..cans were approximately 5 inch dia maybe7 inch in height believe to be fluid damper..truck rode like a car not typical truck...anyone seen these are they still being made?