Thread: Converting parellel springs to transverse?

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I am going tomorrow to pick up a 1950 F1 chassis to use as the basis for a rat rod. I would like to change the front over to a transverse spring from the current parallel set up. I know that the axle has spring pads on which could be ground down, and batwings could be welded on, but what about sping perches? Can the stock axle be bored for perches and still be strong enough at the holes?

Could I use the current spring mounting "pads" and drill them out for a u-bolt shackle arrangement as a spring perch?

Thanks,
CHAZ

How about quarter eliptical? It would seem pretty straight forward to mount the springs onto the top of the frame and the top of the axle to get everything really low. Then I could get radius rod (hairpin) batwings welded to the back of the axle? Tell me why that wouldn't work? There's got to be a catch.
CHAZ

Chaz: I saw a t bucket at a show a few years ago where the guy used the same kind of axle you have and he modified it to a single cross spring. It really looked good. He simply welded on some perches for the spring eyes and two brackets to hold hairpin radius rods. He had the benefit of already having brakes and stuff on the axle.

Have you considered just running a tube or box tubing crossmember from side to side and doing a suicide front end? Here is a picture of my '39 Dodge truck that we did with a box tubing front crossmember. It was very straightforward and simple to do.


Don

That's what I wanted to do originally, but I got talked out of it. With as much trouble (and cost) involved with lowering the front end with the parellel sprins I might go back to trying to figure a transverse spring front end out. I really like the way yours looks.
CHAZ

Chaz, you can make your radius rods (hair-pins) with a flat plate to bolt to the top and bottom of the axle and grind the bottom with a flat stop to mount a plate for the four bolts to go thru. That plate can also house your lower shock mount an with the shock at an angle it will "dress" everything up. Then your bat wings just bolt on like the old springs.

I used that setup on a dirt track car for several years and had no problems and my buddy put a Econoline Ford axle under his T-bucket using the same setup only made it look a lot better. Made the bat-wings and radius rods one welded unit with a F650 tie rod on the back of it.

This model is not to any particular scale, and I don't know if your chev front axle has the spring pads on the top or on the bottom of the axle. This model shows it with a "pad at top of axle" style, but the same idea would work for the "pad on bottom" configuration. This type of weldment would prevent having to weld on your axle. The yellow plate fits "size on size" with your existing axle pad and bolts to it, the purple side-plates are 3/16" mild steel plate, with a steel reinforcing tube welded between them to act as a receiver tube to accept a Ford perch bolt (blue). This would provide you with batwings and a place to mount a transverse spring.---Brian

Great job Brain, as they say, " a picture is worth a thousand words".