Thread: 1940 Ford Pickup

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Sooooooooooo-----------I take it that you don't know that the shocks are typicaly mounted on the front side of the axle leaning in and forward???????? this was to not dampen some of the side to side rolling action but to dampen the forward/upward rotating motion of the rear end housing under acceration with leaf springs------------


and when you say that you can raise the truck by the frame without the axle housing touching the pipes---is it hanging by the shocks????????


Post 287 pic of battery---have you considered putting a plate from the lower inside of frame rail over to the tube of the tubing in the center structure??? and then a thinner sheet around the front of that bend to shield the battery area?????????might be a lot simpler that trying to change gravity, earths rotation and global warming---------

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Sooooooooooo-----------I take it that you don't know that the shocks are typicaly mounted on the front side of the axle leaning in and forward???????? this was to not dampen some of the side to side rolling action but to dampen the forward/upward rotating motion of the rear end housing under acceration with leaf springs------------

and when you say that you can raise the truck by the frame without the axle housing touching the pipes---is it hanging by the shocks????????

Post 287 pic of battery---have you considered putting a plate from the lower inside of frame rail over to the tube of the tubing in the center structure??? and then a thinner sheet around the front of that bend to shield the battery area?????????might be a lot simpler that trying to change gravity, earths rotation and global warming---------

No I didn't know about the rotation , NOW I see !

No it's not hanging by the shocks, I was just saying that the pipes won't hit no matter how far the rear travels downward or upward for that matter.

Yes that was my 1st thought. In my 1st post on this subject I was wondering if that might be too much stiffening in the frame if I boxed the area for the battery, or perhaps welds would crack after a while from frame twist ? Thanks for the input.

We all go through the same things on most any build unless it's something really common and you have a big checkbook, those folks just order up the stuff and it all bolts on!!!! Lots of things get done twice, or done once and then modified a bit---main thing to remember, if it was easy everyone would be doing it!!!!!!

Dave's right.. even on the biggest build by any pro, things will change during the build and that's why on the blueprints there's little spaces on the lower right for revision numbers. You can decide for yourself what needs the revision of course.. will the shocks work as installed? sure.. Is Jerry pointing out a better way? Sure, but at what cost and does it outweigh any change? Actually.. if you are going to "play" with shock mounts.. consider staggering. That is one side in front and the other in the rear. Helps to slow down axle wrap. But if your asking opinions, leave it for now is what I'd say. They'll still work, but not as efficient as either of the other choices.

And remember, we can help spend your money of course but it's still in your hands and you get the final say.

That type shock aren't dual action---they pretty much have so much compression/rebound-----when they went to staggered shocks( one forward/one back side of housing) it was pretty much after they went to coil springs, which didn't have the wrap up tendency---


On the exhaust dip collecting water/condensation---drill an 1/8 hole in the bottom of the bend like on the bottom of lots of oem mufflers---


And----------if you are going to change anything here, its this time to do it---not after all the smoothing and painting


and the cost of this change would pretty much just be a few hours of his time to turn those lower mount plates side to side andweld in another cross bar for the top mounts---and do that before cutting out the one that's there now--use it for rigidty while your working then remove if you want----

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

That type shock aren't dual action---they pretty much have so much compression/rebound-----when they went to staggered shocks( one forward/one back side of housing) it was pretty much after they went to coil springs, which didn't have the wrap up tendency---

I'm not trying to be that pointer outer guy, but dodge used staggered shocks on their leaf spring rear suspensions for years with no ill effect. I'm pretty sure it was that way up until at least 2002.

"........ Is Jerry pointing out a better way? Sure, but at what cost and does it outweigh any change? Actually.. if you are going to "play" with shock mounts.. consider staggering. That is one side in front and the other in the rear. Helps to slow down axle wrap. But if your asking opinions, leave it for now is what I'd say. They'll still work, but not as efficient as either of the other choices......."



I absolutely agree, it's up to you of course but at this point if you are happy with what you have I'd probably leave it until you actually get the truck to the point that it can be driven. As the posts by 34-40 and Jerry point out there have been different approaches and thoughts to shock location over the years. One of the reason for this is is that there is not really a one size fits all ........what may be optimum on one vehicle my be either too much or too little on another based on size, weight, horse power and space limitations.

When I finally get back to my 37 Dodge (something I've been procrastinating on) my next step will be to hang the rear end and redo the springs. My thinking right now is modifying the spring pack I'll be using to a Mopar "super stock" type style, staggered shocks and Cal-Track type bars. Will it all fit the way I envision it, possibly but I won't know till I start building stuff. Will it be enough hook up and go straight.......I think it will but I won't know until the truck goes down the road. If it doesn't I'll try something else. Would I use this if I was building a truck like yours......probably not based on the differences of our drive trains vehicle weight differences.

As I said it all basically boils down to the individual vehicle and how it's used and what you have on hand.......sometimes good enough is more than adequate.



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Wow Thanks for all the support on this project. Some things I'll change. This gets to be mentally tormenting sometimes with no blueprint to go by. Here's a few picks of some work I did with blueprints, and yes this is a flyer.

Now back to the hotrod .

Ok I'm looking at a new shock cross member. Here's some material that I have on hand. The 2.5 x 2.5 seems like over kill for sure. The 1.5 x 1.5 x .125" might be to weak for the 40" span ? What do you guys think ? Maybe I should just go buy a new 2 x 3" as is the 1st one I made ?

What do you think ? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUTS !

now we 're getting somewhere-------did I ever tell you guys I used to fly airplanes????even tail draggers

Very awesome airplane build!!!

do you know when they started using them staggered???

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

do you know when they started using them staggered???

I think 1994 was the first year and they continued it all the way up until 2007 if not until current. Sorry for the bad picture.

Navy---try a spruce 2 x 4!!!!!!!!!whats your deal with the plane??????

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Navy---try a spruce 2 x 4!!!!!!!!!whats your deal with the plane??????

Jerry 2 x 4 aircraft quality spruce cost more than steel !

The plane is a French 1917 Spad XIII . Took 4 years to build. All built from raw materials except the engine and the lower fuel tank. Myself and 3 others worked on it. I did the wings, sheet metal and the pluming, oil, water, fuel and air pressure lines which were a nightmare. No detail was to small. My boss had the Original French plans translated to English, all measurements were metric. This was built for a collector in Calif.. There was so much more to it than can be described, ie: shutters over the radiator controlled by the pilot as he watched the temp. no thermostat in the 700 cid v-8 with a gear box reduction at the prop. 2 Vickers machine guns mounted on the top of the cowl.
The french pilots must have been small because I couldn't get in the cockpit, no leg room. Got tons of pic's if you want to see them.
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