Features Econoline Madness Who's got one?

Or make your own reverser.

 

I'm not saying putting a drop axle in it is going to create bumpsteer, I'm just getting technical on how this type of suspension either can or wont be affected by bumpsteer so the guys can figure out their own geometry when installing a drop axle so they DONT get bumpsteer.

P.S. steer clear looks like rabid good ingenuity. I like it. I like the rack with the mustang II front end but I saw a case where a guy mounted his steering rack right to the front tube axle I don't know if that
s what your thinking???? mounting the rack to the frame on a tube axle should be okay within a limited degree of travel (as long as the tie rods are fairly paralell to the axle) but as those tie rods change angle while the suspension is going up and down there might be a factor of the toe measurement changing by the square of the suspension travel.
I'm not saying thats a bad Idea... for example, my 77 f150 does not have the tie rod that goes from steering arm to steering arm. to keep the tie rod above the axle to protect it from off road damage they ran a main tie rod from the pitman arm to the passenger steering arm but the drivers side steering arm connects to the main arm near the middle of it. it looks like this letter y on it's side.
Off roaders change over to the 79 bronco style that has a conventional tie rod from steering arm to steering arm to tame the steering when lifting this setup but in stock configuration drives excellent unless you get it going up and down pretty seriously or if both tires have unequal traction when going over a bump.

What I do think is a bad idea is mounting the steering rack directly to the beam or tube axle because there is no way to isolate the suspension forces from attacking the steering linkage from the rack to the driver. I think it's ratrod fail and would result in breakage of the steering shaft between the rack and the driver. The rack must be mounted to the chassis placing all suspension forces on the tie rods so these steering shafts are subject to only rotational forces.

I think a rack would be best with a mustangII but if your running a beam or tube axle and don't like your stock setup and HAVE to have something different I would install a Saginaw power steering gear box in a cross steer arrangement. it would be simple and leave you with no dangers or headaches. You'd have to consider how clockwise-counterclockwise rotation will affect the box and which way the arm needs to be installed on the box to chose the right box to do it.
You can mount the Saginaw on the inside or outside of the frame (2 different mirror image boxes) and some units have all splines cut on the pitman arm shaft so you can reverse the clocking of the arm on the shaft so the pitman ball is either under or opposite the steering shaft on the box(this can reverse the action of the box).
They are on ford vans and pickups , chevy trucks, camaros... alot of things with different arrangements and are bulletproof for something like your van.

 

ouch! those steer clear steering boxes are 600 bones. super trick tho.

road apple. how low are you looking to go with yours? looks like a big big project. keep us filled in please.

 

I would "hope to hell it works" too!! He should get a rebate from them for finding a new use for their product and giving them the huge, untapped market of new Econo fans... and other forward control trucks (e.g., A100, Corvairs, etc)

 

Your suspension and frame work is breathtakingly beautiful. I can't wait to see the van in person.

I just finished c-notching and completed the spring flip on the rear of my van, I'll post pictures when I'm done.

 

Was the van on the A-Team an econoline? I loved that van!

 

I pity the fool... GMC: http://www.classictvcars.com/gmc-van.php

- Joe

 

I think I read somewhere on the Econsauras site that you can swap in a toyota box. Looked briefly at it and let it go. $600 aint that bad, I got $300 in my restored better than new column, and I think I paid at least 3 for the NOS box. In the long run Churchs set up is gunna be the cats ass.

You gunna have that ready for the Primer Natss? I am wanting to bring mine down there.

 

I've loved these Econo pick-ups for as long as I can remember. Looking through this thread has got me wanting one bad. Anyone want to trade for a '97 Tacoma, or a '64 Falcon? It's worth a shot right? Maybe someday.

 

I just looked at one for sale yesterday....haven't heard it run yet...it's a 64 van with 90,000 miles on the 170 six ...needs a tranny rebuild/swap....body's solid and straight.....hope the brakes work!

 

Can someone shoot me the lug bolt pattern specs - getting ready pick up some steelies for my 64 p/u

 

delete

 

5x4.5

 

Thanks.

Couple questions:
(1) What tire size do you guys recommend running on 14" rims (radial whites)
(2) Has anyone removed a leaf in the front and back to lower the suspension? Good/Bad?

 

The stock tire size on my econo was 195/75/14. It has 195/70/14s on it now since thats all the little tire shop in west texas had.

I plan on doing some leaf spring work once i get mine back on the road. Remove some leafs and add in some notches to make sure nothing hits.

 

Stock Econo tire size is 6.95x14... which translates to p185-75-R14

 

I guess I shouldn't have said stock tire size. The size that was on it when I pulled it out of the field was 195/75, but who knows how many sets it had on over the years.

 

pulling out leaves will lower it but make it ride like you threw a couple thousand pounds of sandbags inside. Also if you look at a multi leaf stack the main leaves are not designed for full forces to be transmitted to the center of the spring.
The forces upon the other leaves from the smallest to the largest are transmitted partially through the ends of the leaves to the next larger leaf at the end of the smaller leaf not at the center of the larger leaf.
It works like a soft truss. The load is thus divided among the group of leaves proportionally, not focused on the main leaf to transmit to the chassis all by itself like with a monoleaf.

 

Everything you said is correct, but I don't think anyone is talking about pulling out all of the leafs and leaving only the main leaf. No matter what you do though you will lose the ability to carry any substantial load. And I figure you need to be very careful with how you do the front because of the fact that there is more weight focused there in these trucks vs. a standard pickup.

I plan on starting with pulling one leaf and see how it does. Pull as many as I need to in order to get a good balance between a ride I can handle and a height I am happy with, whichever comes first. If you take a leaf out and don't like it you can always put the leaf back.

 

Engineering wise, its prolly a bad idea, dont mean hot rodders havent been doing it for awhile. It will ride like you got worn out springs...but if you like it and can deal with it knock yourself out. you could rearch em too. You can always put them back if you find that you cant stand it.

 

Chad....URa substantial load! I suggest you go straight to the dropped axle and maybe some helper bags for your big muscle head.

 

Just got my AOD shouldnt need a rebuild. Anyone use the door to put a motor in? I think I am gunna put the motor in, then bolt the tranny up from below. Anywords of wisdom from the experienced?

 

seems like everyone wants these things on the ground. there is one way that wouldnt need major engineering to get these things slammed that nobody has mentioned. dare i say *gulp*............body drop?

 

Those pictures i posted are of a body drop. It would work just fine. unless you are 6'5" 265 and have to sit on the wheel well. then you have to worry about the roof heights. For reference of what this looks like, just think Grape Ape. Here is a pic with the seat height mocked up.

Later,
Chad

 

muscle lol thats ritch. don't get me wrong, i am a big guy, but any amount of muscle left this body years ago.

 

What if you pulled some leaves and replaced them with something flatter to get the stifness back? or what if you installed front springs and hangers from a 4x4 with the flat/reverse arch 2-leaf springs? that would drop it if anything from the spring pack being thinner? that might get it down and keep it firm you could probably use them front and rear

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned, but you can also just have the first three or so leafs de-arched- and/or have the spring eyes reversed.

also, Nice explanation- I never realized that, but it makes sense.

 

If you do have to pull leaves, remember to pull every other. That will help retain the load bearing lengths of the leaves.

 

got this message from the vintage-vans.com site about dropping the van. seems kinda pricey for some springs?

 

Man, I'm so glad the powers that be have left this thread open. It's not exactly "on topic" but being a huge van guy, I'm stoked to see it still up. As of last month, I am officially an Econoline owner. I know most of you guy's are into the earlier year style which I too love, but I happen to be a touch more interested in the 68-74 year Econo's. Here's my new van as well as a photoshop version of where I'm taking it. I am just waiting on the rear tires at this point and phase 1 is complete.
Enjoy!