good find

 

Front suspension is done

Pics coming ASAP

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I took the pics with the suspension mocked up, I have shackles, but for the pics I just stuck the bolts through the mounts and snapped some pics.

The front suspension is done (almost)! And I'm about 2 hour's work from having the entire front end, (suspension, steering, ect) done. I'm still debating whether or not I want to make a wishbone for the front axle... It's strong as heck too. We had all three roommates (about 800lb worth of people) standing on the axle, jumping, stomping, ect and not even a groan from the axle or springs. Now, 800lbs is a far cry from the 1500 I'm estimating the front axle will hold but we had a little accident halfway through the fabrication, my old floor jack failed spectacularly and the frame slipped off the jackstands I had set up as a backup and fell about 6 inches right onto the axle, with only 3 of 8 welds made. Thankfully nobody was hurt, and after making sure nothing on the frame, axle or cab was damaged (nothing was) I looked over everything and the suspension held with no damage with only 3 of 8 welds! so I'm thinking that even with the added weight of the engine and trans I should be fine.

Next up I'm going to get the steering hooked up. I have a minor problem, the hubs on the axle don't steer nearly as easy as they should, and one is totally stuck. Probably because it's a '51 chevy axle. I probably just need to take off the hubs, clean out the rust, and grease it up. Should be easy, then just need to bolt on the tie rods and align it. After that I'm going to get this universal crossmemeber, get the 302 mounted, and place and mount the cab. Then the REAL fun begins, getting the 302 tuned up, all the wiring set, ect.

Dragula is already a mismosh of various cars...
Frame and cab from a '94 Mazda B3000
Engine from a '77 Mustang
Transmission from a god-only-knows-what-or-how-old
Front springs from a '68 Toyotal Landcruiser
Front axle from a '51 Chevy

 

The springs have no where to go. A leaf gets longer as in compresses, you have solid mounts on both sides. How is it supposed to elongate? looks like you need a shackle. even something short will work.

 

Yea, thats the first thing I noticed.

Could you drill some holes in the middle of the frame, than have a u-shaped shackle go around and bolt to it, (If that makes sense)
It would be a longer shackle, and not raise the truck as much.. maybe.

 

your gonna have to have some kind of shackle bud, solid mounts on both sides of the leafs is no bueno, other than that sweet progress and nice finds.

 

Stupid me, I forgot to put in my post that I took the pics with it in mock up mode, I have shackles on the rear. For the pic I just stuck the bolt through the mount to get a good idea of what it would look like.

 

Here is a picture of the shackle kit. It's a kit for 5,250lbs per spring, which is over double what it's going to be holding total on both springs. More than enough.

I'm in love with Tractor Supply, there's one not even 4 minutes from my house, and I've always ignored it for whatever reason. I went in there on a whim and it's like a mecca for weekend warriors, lol. I got everything I need for the front suspension, plus a few new toys and a new welding helmet, for $60.

 

More pics!

Looking good btw.

 

That setup doesn't look considerably lower than a regular 2wd.

I would not run rusted, short *** leaf springs some guy had sitting in his back yard and gave you for free.

Detailed pics of the welds? What kind of welder are you using?

As of right now I'm a little worried for the safety of the people that will be traveling on the same roads as this thing...

 

The welds aren't the prettiest, but I know they are strong. I don't trust them 100% yet, the brackets have a hole for a 3/4" bolt to bolt to the frame to supplement the welds that I'm going to take advantage of. I have a Craftsman 50(I think) to 230amp rod welder.

Also, I talked to the guy who gave me the transmission and the springs- the springs are off a '68 Landcruiser, they were on the cruiser until a week before I picked them up. All the rust is urface rust, they probably got caught in the rain, or theyre just from a '68. I took a wire wheel to the top of one of the springs and not even a half second later there was shiny metal. Also, unfortunetly I was wrong in my quick diagnosis and the tranny isn't a toploader, it's a Toyota tranny for the landcruiser that looks a hell of a lot like a toploader. :(

I'm going to get 15" wheels and some relatively low profile tires, it will sit pretty dang low.

 

its a rat rod hes not gonna go out and buy some non rusted long *** leaf springs at a premium that some shop had sitting on a shelf brand new in a box

 

Ok, now I'm satisfied. In addition to the weld, which I'm confident would hold, Each bracket is bolted to the frame with a 3/8th inch grade 8 bolt. I really don't know how you could be any safer, you have a set of bolts that would probably hold on their own, and welds that would hold on their own.


Also, I should take a second to ease some worries before it blows up on me, the leaf springs aren't actually that rusty, at some point in their lifetime, someone painted them orange, which has long since peeled and flaked off, and my camera makes it look just like rust, so here are some close ups that show it's just paint, the only real rust is around the center bolt and a little on the eyes. I didn't really look at the pics as I was posting because I see them every day in real life, but sure enough it looks like rust!

 

this thing is sick, love the progress keep up the nice work man

 

Nice progress. Can't wait to see this thing rolling!

 

Front end is as close to being done as it can be for the night, lol.

All I need to finish it is 4 bolts, another pack of smokes and some time. The bolts that came with the shackle kit I bought at Tractor Supply are about 1/2" too short? I don't like how tight I had to tighten the nuts to get them on, it's binding the springs and not giving it the flexibilty it should have... So tomorrow I go buy new bolts and slap them in, and I SHOULD have all the parts I need to get the steering hooked up, it'll just take some time, patience and a hell of a lot of measuring.

I'm excited. Once the front end is set, I can start doing fun stuff like munting the engine, getting the cab set, ect...

 

Ok, well the steering on the Chevy axle is totally locked up, and when I opened up the grease fittings, the 58 year old grease that was in there was like clay! No wonder it's locked up! I'm going to be pressing out the kingpins, hopefully I can get them out in one piece and clean them up, if not, I can order new kingpins for $40.

 

Tomorrow should be fun...



^^ On the F100, not the rod

Today I picked up a complete front suspension from a 55 F-100 for $75... The steering on the Chevy axle somehow managed to totally lock up overnight. Managed to get some of the grease fittings off and the grease inside had totally hardened, like clay. Maybe it had a chemical reaction to Liquid Wrench or something? Anyway... Everything is in great shape, just a little surface rust. I'm not in the mood physically tonight to get it going but tomorrow morning I'll get everything slapped on and set... The Ford axle is about 6" wider than the Chevy, but that's actually going to work out better for me, but its going to take some time and measuring... I think I'm going to ditch the Landcruiser springs in favor of the F100 springs as they're stronger, but with the axle centered with the frame, the leaf spring hangers sit 1" away from the frame on both sides, so that means I have some space to play with and make it lower. So, instead of mounting the springs to the bottom of the frame like I had, I'm going to make some brackets that are bolted to the top of the frame rails, plus welded on for strength, stick out from the frame the needed 1", in the spare 1" I'm going to add some gussetting for support, and then the hangers are welded and bolted on...

In an unexpected added plus, the tie rods use the exact same setup as the Mazda... Same size bolt, same length rods, making it stupid easy to use the Mazda power steering, if not, I'll just use the '55 steering box. Also, at first glance, it looks like the hydraulic lines for the brakes MAY be the same size as the Mazda's, making that bit even easier...

I'm kind of ticked that I have to do the front suspension, AGAIN, but in the end it's going to work out better and be stronger, so meh.

 

wow....

should of just left the frame stock and threw on a set of lowering ibeams and a flipkit and maybe some shorter springs in the front, completely ruined a good truck.

 

Somepeople like take their own path not follow like lemmings.

 

thats easy, some people arent lazy and like putting thier minds and muscles to work... give him a chance. what have you done lately?

 

nothing, work to much to support my new hobbies

 

Yeah, but why? I know how to do that already, and I'd be just like every other lowered guy out there. I'd rather do something interesting and learn new things. For all I know, maybe taking the suspension from an F100 and mounting it in a weird way will be much, much easier, cheaper and stronger than lowering I beams, and it'll become the next big thing in lowering? I doubt it, but still. Plus, it'll be much more amusing, when someone asks me what it is, to say well, some of it is my old '94 B3000, that's from a '55 F100, that's from a '77 Mustang, that's from a '51 chevy... ect, than it would be to say "Oh it's a Ranger." That's the point of a rat rod, taking all the old parts that would otherwise get thrown in the smelter and make something new and cool.

 

looks good . interesting too , keep up the good work.

 

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Check out my new toy. We finally figured out that... Thing? I got in the big truckload of scrap off the CL was a Toyota Landcruiser transfer case- not a toploader, though it looks almost exactly like one.

HOWEVER-

Took the 3.0 to a local junkyard today, hoping to get a few bucks for it... Ended up walking out with a 3 speed toploader transmission, sans bellhousing. I'm going to rebuild it, the input shaft is caught, NOT locked up, but caught, on rust or a wasp's nest or something. Plus, it looks like some water got in there and there is some corrosion on some of the gears. Nothing too terrible on the gears themselves, and the teeth all look great. I'll probably just let them soak in that rust remover stuff, they are worth saving. The rest of it, still worthy of a rebuild. Note that the gears look wet in the pic not from water, I spray the whole thing down with liquid wrench. Apparently the asking price for this tranny was $125, and I was trying to sell the 3.0 for $100, so I guess it worked out well for me. Good price or not, I'm happy, the 3.0 is out of my garage and I have something I can use. I'm happy with a 3 speed, it's from a 60's F150... Can anyone say tire melter? :-p