With a beam axle correct caster 7-8 degrees 1/16 inch to1/8 tow inn and correct tire pressure All this learned the hard way.
Not to hijack but currently I have about 13 degrees of caster in my front end. Can I get away with that? What problems would that cause?
You could easily take up the front bolts for more thread engagement and let the rears out some to keep things even. That is assuming the threaded shanks are the same. It's really important to verify the frame is square before using its dimensions for guidance. You can still get the axles square to the road even if the frame is like a banana. The lower pic demonstrates equidistant measurements side to side on a out of square frame.
I will double check the frame for square. Also may have to use a different bracket at the back of the radius rod to allow more thread engagement at the front (adjustment). Thanks all for your comments
This song comes to mind. Lost of caster makes one real sluggish and enough will make it scoot the front tires. Look at videos of old diggers turning. The tires are leaning more than turning. Works good on a road bike real stable at speed but you lean a bike something you can't do with a car. Of course I am using extremes hereto make a point. @31Vicky with a hemi I like the idea of hairpins because you can fine tune them a little bit. Nothing radical but if you miss it a little bit on your build you have a little leeway.
Double checked the frame for square and its good. Re-adjusted the threaded clevis for 1-1/2 times thread engagement. The bracket is about 1/2" from the frame. See pic to reference bracket. not sure what to do from here. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Consider upgrading those heim joints. And adding a hardened flat washer to prevent the joint from lifting over the head of the bolt should the joint fail. http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/58RE.html
At the front, the Clevis' do Not have to have the same amount of thread engagement top and bottom. You can adjust the lower one longer and upper shorter to bring the rear of the hairpins up closer to the frame (and vice verse) as long as you still keep the 1 1/2 times diameter rule in play.
I want to go with the open drive install. Thinking of sending the rear to Hot Rod Works for the conversion.
The open driveshaft conversion is a bolt on kit. You can do that at your place. If you want to upgrade the axles to a modern slide in style, there is machine work involved. You can either send the parts to us for machining, or we can send the parts to you and you can have a local shop do the machine work. We also can do everything at our shop: set up and assemble and blueprint the complete rear end if you want to send it to us. Either way, we are happy to do whatever you'd like.
Going with radius rods in the front, want to use a banjo rear, not sure what to use on that... I am a newb when it comes to all this... on a big learning curb right now . Got this pic on google images
There are several books out there on "How To" build a hot rod, they would probably be a good investment for you. Also, there are a lot of threads here on the HAMB that discuss radius rods, ladder bars, 4 links, etc. Spend some time searching for those threads and reading them, there is a lot of good info available. Basically, since you're converting to open drive, you need something to locate the axle in place that will allow full movement thru the range of suspension travel without binding while keeping the axle centered in the chassis and handle the rotational torque stresses that will be applied when you accelerate. Old school traditionalists will split the wishbones and mount the leading ends to the outside of the frame rails, and use a panhard bar to keep it centered. But many will tell you that the wishbones are not strong enough by themselves to deal with the torque stress, and will eventually fail. Again, do a search and look how others have dealt with that, certain wishbones are stronger/weaker than others. Mounting the leading end inside the rails, as close to the original position will help, but is not a cure. Some guys like to weld braces onto them to increase the strength and relieve some of the stress off the weakest parts. For a Model A you could go with hair pin rear radius rods, which are still very traditional. About the easiest installation too. Rear hairpins need to have additional bracing added between upper/lower arms to help deal with torque stress. These are probably best used with lower horsepower engines, flat heads Fords and small block OHV's that are not built to the hilt. Too much torque stress can twist them if you're too heavy on the throttle/clutch. You'll still need a panhard bar to keep the axle centered. Then you have ladder bars, which are a stronger form of radius rods, mounted inboard of the rails, that were really developed for drag racing. For serious HP applications this may be the way to go. Then there are plenty of guys out there, and don't be surprised to see them jump in here, that will swear up and down that neither split bones nor hair pins nor ladder bars are any good, because they don't allow for rotation of the axle as it moves through the range of travel. This makes the axle work like a huge anti-sway (anti-roll) bar. They say that causes poor handling and rough ride (binding). For these guys, 4 bar is the only way to go. Triangulate them and you do away with the need for a panhard bar. But this increases the complexity of installation, and I'm sure they are technically best, but IMO not so traditional. That's a real brief summary of your choices. Like I said a couple of times above, spend some time researching. Get yourself a tall soda or a cup of coffee, whichever you prefer, and sit down and goole all of those terms and read everything you can. You'll have to wade through a lot of opinions and decipher which is real and which is imaginary, and which applies to your project and which doesn't. But the time spent will be well worth it. FWIW, In my Model A pickup I have front and rear hairpins, and I'm quite happy with the way it rides and handles. In hard turns it remains very flat and stable and it corners very well (for a 87 year old car with flexi flyer chassis and about 3 inches of suspension travel and skinny bias ply tires). It's a blast to drive through the twisties, and I think I could stick with about most hot rods through the tight stuff. So for those that say they cause the car to handle poorly, not IME. But it's a light weight car with low HP 283 Chevy, not a lot of weight or torque to deal with. In a bigger heavier car with more torque I'd probably do something else. Hope that helps. Next, what about the rear spring? Buggy spring or coil overs?
Picture in the OP shows an I-beam axle. I'm assuming that's what he's going with. I didn't see a tube axle posted.
The Jalopy Journal
