Thread: 1950 chevy truck hot rod, old issues looking for ideas

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Originally Posted by shine

This is why i always prefer the camaro clip over the MII style front ends. the ride is nice and handling is good. On a personal note, I refuse to install those cross members anymore. in the last 10 years or so, I have replaced 4 due to fatigue cracking. They are made from thin sheet metal and tend to crack out at the lower control arms.

I suspect that they crack due to the design of the lower control arms. Aftermarket manufacturers have decided that the original MII strut, for whatever reason, is not the way to control the lower arm. Elimination of the strut introduces stresses into the system that did not exist with the original design. Famed automotive journalist Pat Ganaal has stated that he sees a couple hundred failed front suspensions when he is on rod runs every year and I suspect that elimination of the strut has a lot to do with that.

The Camaro suspension is, of course, a fine system, but maybe a little wide for the early trucks. I personally would opt for the mid to late 80's Jaguar XJ6 before I would the Camaro, but that's just me.
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even the ones with the strut rod would bust out the frame . the bracket was 1 inch steel welded to the frame. the only mll i ever did that was dependable was when i used 100% oem including the strutrod bracket. the only trustworthy one today is Fatman fabrication. it is all heavy wall tubing .

both of these trucks were camaro clips. no issues with ride or steering .the 55 ht was clipped also

Originally Posted by shine

your about to spend a buttload of money for little improvement. you need room for the pump and reserve tank which i doubt you'll have under the truck. in the bed is your only option . if you have 4 corner coil overs there's no reason you can not dial in the ride.
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my truck is a long bed, I really think there would be plenty of room under there
Also, just to clarify a little, I don't disagree with your first sentence, but more than half of my motivation to go to air bags is just that I think it is cool as hell to be able to drop a truck on the ground when it's parked. I know I know, some guys would say it's hokey, but I think it's cool. So that's mostly what I like about it, and if the handling can get a tad better too then all the better.
I figure it would be in the range of 1-2 thousand, which I'm fine with.

well i missed that part. i've done many airbag and shockwaves over the years. just not my thing and the problems that come with it . good luck with it .

Shine, I thought the Camaro clips would be a little too wide, but they look OEM to me. Very nice work. I would be proud to own that AD.
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Originally Posted by shine

well i missed that part. i've done many airbag and shockwaves over the years. just not my thing and the problems that come with it . good luck with it .

Shine, are the problems you speak of be electrical issues and air leaks etc? I know there are issues with sensors, and extra fine tuning to do when setting them up. Plus, anything electrical or electronic is prone to more failure too. Also, you have the situation if you ever blow a bag out how bad that can be.

I'm just setting mine up to be able to drive with a blown bag if need be. It will have bump stops, and I plan to keep extra line and fittings in the car in case. I figure semis run air bags every day with little issues, my little car would be ok too.

they are right on the edge. the guy with the black truck bought the wrong rims . a set of 1 in slide in boots always fixes that. the wider front end makes the trucks more stable. they track and corner really well .

there are just a number of problems with them. so work fine , others are a pia.

Any thoughts on the Dakota front clip?

'91-'96 will work best. Narrowest track and bolt in 360 Mopar V8, which can be stroked to 408 very easily. I helped a fellow strap a complete frame under an International, late 40's. Turned out great.
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i use the gm clip because when set under the frame rails you are guaranteed correct geometry . even then you need the offset upper a-arm shafts . i do not like the cut and butt installs as it is hard to get them right .

slight change in topics, but I'm preparing to hoist my bed up with the roof trusses in my garage to do some work underneath, and there's 2 questions I have regarding what I found.

1) I made a stainless gas tank that is under the bed, and it has a small leak. I mig'd it and did a bad job when I made it originally. So I was going to remove that and either use that gas tank sealer stuff or TIG the seams back up this time as now I tig pretty well. Obviously since there was fuel in it I need to do something to take care of that. Should I just fill it with water or something? Or is there a better procedure?

2) I had a panhard bar bolted to my differential (ford 9") and I just found out that one of the bolts sheared off. It is in that front section of the housing that separates from the main body where the input pinion goes in. I'm assuming I can just unbolt that front section and pull it out from the main body rather than pull the whole pumpkin? Then I can work on extracting that bolt on a bench rather than in place.
Or will it not come out that way?

Originally Posted by tcodi

1) I made a stainless gas tank that is under the bed, and it has a small leak. I mig'd it and did a bad job when I made it originally. So I was going to remove that and either use that gas tank sealer stuff or TIG the seams back up this time as now I tig pretty well. Obviously since there was fuel in it I need to do something to take care of that. Should I just fill it with water or something? Or is there a better procedure?

Here's a down-home, common sense approach. Not sure why he cut a hole in the tank, he could have done the operation through the fill hole.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mciCgu8Vxi0

Originally Posted by tcodi

2) I had a panhard bar bolted to my differential (ford 9") and I just found out that one of the bolts sheared off. It is in that front section of the housing that separates from the main body where the input pinion goes in. I'm assuming I can just unbolt that front section and pull it out from the main body rather than pull the whole pumpkin? Then I can work on extracting that bolt on a bench rather than in place.
Or will it not come out that way?

The threads are in the carrier, not the pinion seal housing, so the pig will have to come out to work on it on the bench. Removal begins at 8:40 on the video....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eonALVnV33I

If there is no leaking, I would just leave it until the next time the differential needs to come out of the car or when it is time for a gear change. In the meantime, I would re-construct the Panhard Bar like it is supposed to be. (NOT ATTACHED TO THE CENTER SECTION OF THE PIG).

I have railed against Panhard Bars many times on this forum and have gone to extreme lengths to suggest how they should be constructed and anchored for best performance.
First off, the bar should be as long as is physically possible. Secondly, the MOUNTING POINTS of the bar should be as parallel to the road surface as is physically possible. It does not matter how many whoopees, bends and curves are in the bar itself, so long as the mounting points are level with the road surface and that the mounting points are as far as possible away from each other side to side on the car.

Here is an example of a well engineered and executed Panhard Bar......
https://www.fabquest.com/media/catal.../file_23_3.jpg
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thanks for the links

unfortunately the rear is leaking now, otherwise I would take your advice and leave it.
I'm assuming the seepage is coming from there, but regardless I want to fix the leak so I might as well do the bolt at the same time.
As for the panhard bar, I'm actually just going to eliminate it all together because I have a triangulated 4 link, and technically I shouldn't even need one.
Years ago I was chasing a handling issue and I just put the bar on thinking it might help, but it didn't do squat. And now that I've sheared that bolt I sure as heck won't be mounting anything to that again.

It's not surprising that you sheared the bolt. With the triangulated 4 link the rear end is constrained to travel straight up and down, no side to side slop other than play in the joints/bushings which should be minimal to none. A panhard bar, and especially a short one, describes an arc tied to the frame rail, so as your suspension works the rear end moves side to side. Parallel 4 link flexes, but the triangulated links are much more rigid, so your system created a bind, and with two pivot points your panhard bar lost, and sheared the mount. It's a good idea to take it out.