1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[40FordDeluxe]

Yes, I'm aware of the gusset but the metal used on the factory crossmember is a lot thinner than most of the aftermarket crossmembers. I've just never been that confident it could handle the new stresses put on it in that location, especially if you're going with a heavier engine. When mine was initially installed back in the day, I even had problems with the strut rods cracking the frame. A guy beefed it up with some re-enforcement plate, which is not pretty but hasn't been a problem since.

At any rate, I'm not saying it won't work. I hope it does! But I'm just suggesting some things to look out for that you may or may not have thought of.
Looking forward to some more pics!

Randy, no hurt feelings here. Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I definitely do not know it all and some of this is grey area to me. You're probably right about the thinner metal and cracking. I wonder if it would help if I plated the front and rear of the cross member? Or I guess if I have to do that, install a new MII cross member.

[randyr]

Randy, no hurt feelings here. Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I definitely do not know it all and some of this is grey area to me. You're probably right about the thinner metal and cracking. I wonder if it would help if I plated the front and rear of the cross member? Or I guess if I have to do that, install a new MII cross member.

Definitely a quandry! One thing always leads to 1000 more!!!

To be honest, I don't know enough about suspension engineering to tell what kind of stress these original crossmembers can take in that area. If you went with a re-enforcement plate across the whole thing between the A-arm shafts, would that be good? I don't know. But there is a point where the amount of labor required to make the old thing work sure makes the new thing look pretty good!

Unfortunately, because if the way mine was installed, cutting the old one out wouldn't be so easy. I would have to do some rehab on the frame rails before installing a new aftermarket crossmember.

[40FordDeluxe]

Definitely a quandry! One thing always leads to 1000 more!!!

To be honest, I don't know enough about suspension engineering to tell what kind of stress these original crossmembers can take in that area. If you went with a re-enforcement plate across the whole thing between the A-arm shafts, would that be good? I don't know. But there is a point where the amount of labor required to make the old thing work sure makes the new thing look pretty good!

Unfortunately, because if the way mine was installed, cutting the old one out wouldn't be so easy. I would have to do some rehab on the frame rails before installing a new aftermarket crossmember.

That's the problem with mine too. I'm going to try to get a hold of a chassis guy I know and see what he thinks. It's always some thing.

[40FordDeluxe]

Definitely a quandry! One thing always leads to 1000 more!!!

To be honest, I don't know enough about suspension engineering to tell what kind of stress these original crossmembers can take in that area. If you went with a re-enforcement plate across the whole thing between the A-arm shafts, would that be good? I don't know. But there is a point where the amount of labor required to make the old thing work sure makes the new thing look pretty good!

Unfortunately, because if the way mine was installed, cutting the old one out wouldn't be so easy. I would have to do some rehab on the frame rails before installing a new aftermarket crossmember.

I spoke with 2 local guys that have both been building rods there entire lives, they both said it'll be just fine. Just gusset it and go on. I think when I get to that point, I'll do the dual point rear mount on the lower arms to be safe.

[randyr]

I spoke with 2 local guys that have both been building rods there entire lives, they both said it'll be just fine. Just gusset it and go on. I think when I get to that point, I'll do the dual point rear mount on the lower arms to be safe.

Good to know, Ryan. Thanks!
Now go get those pics downsized so we can see what you've been up to!!

[40FordDeluxe]

For some reason I can't upload pics to photobucket. My pics are too big to upload on this site, so I'm not sure what to do. It is getting old trying to upload these pics though.

[randyr]

For some reason I can't upload pics to photobucket. My pics are too big to upload on this site, so I'm not sure what to do. It is getting old trying to upload these pics though.

You could also just copy the link to the photobucket album, even though that isn't as fun as having the pics show up in the post.

If you also have the pics on your computer, you could try clicking on the "insert image" button in the toolbar and see how that turns out. You can always test how big it is by preview post before submitting.

I usually run all my pics through that software that came with my camera. It downsizes them for email, etc.

Maybe someone else will have some other suggestions...