47-55.1 Four-link questions

[TX3100Guy]

Several of you are following another thread I have going at - https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=849339

That thread started out when I found an oil leak but couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from and why. I wondered if my elimination of the road draft tube and substitution with a PCV fed into the intake could be causing back pressure (HINT: it wasn't). As the thread progressed, the result ended up with me 1) find an cracked crank end cap, 2) pulling the engine, and 3) sending it off on a pallet to be rebuilt and overhauled.

Since I am a member in good standing of the "While I'm at it club" and find myself bored while waiting on the engine, I've undertaken a few miscellaneous projects. I traded an old four speed transmission to a buddy (plus a few bucks) to paint the bed, which is all new Mar-K metal in primer).

Now I'm reconsidering the leaf spring suspension on the rear of the truck. I've been looking around at different four link systems with coil-overs. With the engine out, truck bed removed, there will never be a better time undertake an upgrade to the suspension.

i have two questions 1) does it make any sense to have a four-link in the rear and still keep the solid axle and leaf springs up front? and 2) Does anyone have an experience with the "bolt on kits" (still need to weld the axle brackets)? I'd like to hear (and see photos) of the work involved and what your thoughts are afterwards....would you do it again?

[leegreen]

Originally Posted by TX3100Guy

1) does it make any sense to have a four-link in the rear and still keep the solid axle and leaf springs up front?

No, Spend the money on front suspension first.

If you are after ride quality then look at getting some new leaf springs for all 4 corners.
If you are after handling, IFS will make the most difference.

[jweb]

Originally Posted by leegreen

No, Spend the money on front suspension first.

If you are after ride quality then look at getting some new leaf springs for all 4 corners.
If you are after handling, IFS will make the most difference.

Totally agree with this.

If you are planning to do IFS in the front later the rear may make sense now since you have the bed off.

If you plan to leave the solid axle in the front, you could do something like this leaf spring upgrade for the rear.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/TCI-1...iABEgLEa_D_BwE

[dsraven]

I would say figure out what it is you want from the truck. if you are going to keep the solid axle up front then it makes no sense to upgrade the rear to a 4 link. the reason for a 4 link is to help the rear axle "hook up", to be able to stop wheel hop under hard acceleration, to be able to adjust the weight distribution when under hard accelleration, to be able to adjust pinion angle, to be able to easily adjust the ride height without messing with the pinion angle etc-like bagged vehicles use, or to be able to quickly dial in a race car suspension, again, for traction. note that almost all of these are for traction control. if you plan to swap out the old inliner for some high horsepower unit, or plan to install an IFS up front so the ride height will be lowered, then possibly a 4 link would be nice to have. a 4 link also comes with a few drawbacks, one of which is the removal of free space back there for exhaust, fuel tanks, etc. there is nothing wrong with a set of leaf springs. possibly a few less leaves than the stock pack would help with the ride quality. since you will have the bed off you will see that other than requiring a lift or some help to removeit, that job isn't all that tough. a new bed would hopefully have new hardware fasteners with antiseize so getting the old rusty fasteners off won't be an issue. possibly clean up the frame etc under the bed and apply some fresh paint, consider placing a fuel tank outside the cab, upgrade the brakes to have a dual master cylinder for safety, etc. things that won't take away from the vintage look of the old truck with the stock inliner with the cool supercharger.
if it were me, with the box off, I would:
(keeping in mind that anything removed from the truck would be properly boxed up and labelled so the truck could be put back to stock in the future if so desired by yourself or a future owner. taking pics of the before and after is also a consideration)
-strip the frame down to allow buffing and fresh paint
-scrape, wire wheel, sand or whatever needed and apply a nice coat of frame paint
-upgrade to a newer leaf spring set up with new hangers etc for a softer ride with rubber bushed springs. no more greasing and squeaking and a better ride. bear in mind the pinion angle when doing this step
-some new shocks for the same reason as above
-install a rear stabilizer bar
-ensure the rear brakes and park brakes are up to snuff. including the brake lines and hoses
-ensure the rear wiring is all in good shape, tied up in loom and secured well. possibly install sealed electrical plugs for ease of removing the box in the future and to keep everything sealed up
-consider a ower brake unit frame mounted. personally i would look at the hydroboost since it isn't affected by engine vacuum or boost

after that the front end would be my next consideration. it all depends on what your plan for the truck is though. if you want to keep it all along the idea of keeping the stock truck with the cool old inliner then that will hamper what you can do with the front suspension. a front disc brake option would be high on my list. power steering would run a close second to that since I drive mostly city miles

anyway, if you want to do a 4 link set up i suggest to look into some of the online 4 link calculators so you have an educated idea of how the systems work. if not done correctly it can make the ride worse and really affect the traction of the "light rear end" truck. 4 links also require some sort of spring so the frame may need to be beefed up to allow that new configuration to work without problems

[leegreen]

I would not put a sway/anti-roll bar on the back without putting one on the front first. And unless you are going to do other stuff like wider tires AND drive it hard I would not expect to get much benefit from a front say bar on a beam axle.

If sticking with straight axle in front, I'd focus on brakes in this order of upgrades, depending how far you want to go with it
Dual master
good tires
Self adjusting drum
power booster
front disk (with new master and proportioning valve)
upgraded rear drum to 70's c10 spec
rear disk (largely just a cosmetic upgrade IMO)


power steering might increase driving pleasure depending where you drive, but it is not that easy an upgrade on the straight axle. Bolt in IFS might be the way forward if you think you want both disk and power steering.
Then you have a decent front suspension and can think more about rear sway bars or 4 links.

[dsraven]

LG, good points. sorry I was dreaming of "if it was my truck I would do this". haha

[TX3100Guy]

I don't know if you guys are reading my mind or if I'm reading yours. My question on the four-link was one of general interest and frankly I'm a bit bored while the engine is off for rebuilding and the metal bed is off being painted by my buddy.

But since you guys raised so many good points, I thought I'd show you how much of what you suggested has already been done.





I've already installed a new under frame dual circuit master cylinder (electric hydraulic pump, frame mounted, along with four wheel disk brakes. The new master has built in proportioning valves.

The previous owner had the frame sand blasted and powder coated.

I've also added new leaf springs (the four-link was just a thought) and moved the fuel tank from behind the bench seat (Ralph Nader is happy now) and moved it under the bed.

The truck already has a front sway bar and I've tried a couple of off the shelf rear sway bars but they interfere with the Halibrand quick change rear diff on the truck (installed by previous owner). I also added an electric power steering setup on an Ididit steering column, but its connected to the factory steering box (which I serviced).

I've also installed a new wiring harness (Classic Upgrade from American Autowire) and added water proof connectors for all front and rear electrical components.

I think I've previously mentioned that the truck has a Vertex magneto and a McCulloch supercharger (from a 57 Studebaker Golden Hawk) so its a rather unique vehicle. There is zero chance that I'm going to be racing it but will just enjoy it at car shows, runs to O'Reily's, and out with the granddaughter when she can find the time away from school, boy friend, and her phone.....





PS. Almost forgot the Vintage Air system.

[leegreen]

wow, the more pictures you show the more I like it. I want to see pictures of the hood with side louvers installed.

4 link or IFS would start to impinge on the essence of that truck. I'd keep what you got. Unless you drive it and don't like something.

This project is too close to done, clearly you need a new project!

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by leegreen

This project is too close to done, clearly you need a new project!

I'll have the metal bed back from the painters this week. It will be another week before I can reassemble it with my son's assistance (the spousal unit has provided me with a "honey do" list that I'm told has priority). Then I will be sanding and staining the new bed wood. The plan is to have the entire bed completed before the engine comes back from the California builder. He had warned me in advance that I likely wouldn't see the engine until late May.

In keeping with the hotrod roots and the previous owners plan for this truck, I eliminated both the front and read bumpers and instead went with roll pans both front and rear. My painter buddy painted them gloss black to match the running boards and he did the same for under the hood.

I'll post a close up of the louvers on the hood later. The previous owner had that done back in California twenty years ago for the grand cost of $50 (I have the receipt)

[jweb]

Originally Posted by leegreen

wow, the more pictures you show the more I like it. I want to see pictures of the hood with side louvers installed.

4 link or IFS would start to impinge on the essence of that truck. I'd keep what you got. Unless you drive it and don't like something.

This project is too close to done, clearly you need a new project!

I totally agree. Finish and drive it.

If you do need a sway bar that will work, you can use one of these. It's what I had to do since my 8.8 rear axle is offset. I mounted it on top of the frame, just under the bed wood.

https://welderseries.company.site/Sw...-Bar-p49762034

[dsraven]

Just tell people you have free wifi in the truck and then everybody will wanna get in.
Nice job so far.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by leegreen

wow, the more pictures you show the more I like it. I want to see pictures of the hood with side louvers installed.

This project is too close to done, clearly you need a new project!

Here is the hood from the side - (and my reflection by accident)




I've already been thinking of my nest project. Over the past ten or so years, I've restored a 1982 Corvette (Collectors Edition), a 2003 Jeep Wrangler, a 1999 BMW Z3, a 1969 Jaguar E-Type (XKE), and now this truck. This truck by far has required the most work! (by the way, all the other "projects" got sold to pay for this and a new Corvette.

I'm thinking of an early 70's MGB GT (coupe) or a late 60's/early 70's Mustang or whatever tickles my fancy when I'm done with this truck. By the way, this truck won't be for sale or my adult son will disown me.

[TX3100Guy]

Off topic question for you guys. Here is a picture of the hood emblem. i found it wrapped in tissue paper in one of the boxes of stuff from the previous owner. Does this just mount directly to the hood or is there some kind of a gasket that should go under it to protect the paint?

[leegreen]

our local toy shop sells one by counterpart:
https://www.kmstools.com/counterpart...let-truck.html

custom side emblems on the hood!?

[dsraven]

looks great. now, since you have time before the engine comes back, maybe you could polish up the paint and make it shiny.........kidding!, looks awesome. stick with the theme you have going.

[1project2many]

Originally Posted by TX3100Guy

Off topic question for you guys. Here is a picture of the hood emblem. i found it wrapped in tissue paper in one of the boxes of stuff from the previous owner. Does this just mount directly to the hood or is there some kind of a gasket that should go under it to protect the paint?

Attachment 2353118

No gaskets originally. You can make one if you'd like.