56 pro touring build

[focusedontheprize]

Looking great. Love the geometry involved with this stuff.

[Fat Mike]

Man your frame is coming along nice!! Can't wait to see some more pictures.

[nuke1]

Beautiful truck frames so far, I love the pro-touring theme, that is how I built my truck! Keep it up!
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[hotrod1]

Mounted the sway bar and links for them and the rockers.

[xpickup]

hotrod1, Looks great. Keep up the great work.

Shannon

[Kim57]

That's a lot of work. Looks real nice.
Kim

[Chevette]

Wow!

[robnolimit]

lookin' great.

[chevyrestoguy]

That chassis is looking awesome!!! The cantilever set-up looks incredible. I can't help but notice the welding on the chassis, too. Very, very nice.

One of these days I'll get to see it in person!

[cajundragger]

your not worried about the single shear on the cantilever?

what about the urethane bushing? why not bearings?

[hotrod1]

Cajundragger:

The rocker pivots on a 1" .188 wall sleve with a grade 8, 5/8" bolt through the center of it. They both travel being one piece into the mount. That make it equivalent to 1" solid material. The bushings are not urethane but delrin which can handle the load. I have a friend that deals with bearing designs for a living. He mentioned that this application was not that good for a bearing as there is very limited movement and you will see abnormal wear. He mentioned that delrin would be better suited for this type of application. When you really think about it, there is not a lot of load on this unit. The truck rear end weighs at most 1500lbs to 2000lbs. If you divide this by two (both sides) and then count in the inertia of a shock from a bump, it still does not add up to too much. The shear of just a 5/8 bolt that is grade 8 is about 27,000 lbs., not to mention what a 1" .188 wall crome moly tube would bring to the equation. All in all, I know others who have used bearings and have been fine. I just wanted to make sure that I dont have to mess with it for some time. Thanks for your feedback. It is nice to know that there are many out there making sure that I am not doing something stupid.

[Fat Mike]

Wow! Maybe I should go back to school to become an engineer so I can keep with the physics of building a truck like you guys. No wondering why I can't even do the simple things. Sure does look bad a$$ thou.

[hotrod1]

I did not know anything. I talked to many people that know stuff and did my homework. Also, Rob at No-Limit is a wealth of information and is a genuinely good guy as well. This forum is also great with knowledge. I appreciate craftsmen here questioning my build as it helps me gain further knowledge.

Thanks for the kudos.

[cajundragger]

I would have run it double shear for the simple advantage of removing the small amount of deflection caused by the moment off the side of the frame.

Thinking about harmonics and not doing any real analysis, the cantilever coilover will never be as sure footed as it would be if mounted directly between the frame and axle. At least you have it mounted far out by the wheel.

a bearing would have a large advantage as its a solid connection. You admit it has limited movement, so as long as the bearing races don't stretch its not going to wear in one spot. You can even account for the small movement by choosing bearings with small barrels. you'll get loose spots in the delrin long before you'd service a set of roller tapers.

It's one of those things you may never notice, or you may chase your tail trying to figure out why the rear end gets loose over repetitive small impacts.

don't take this is me busting your balls, it looks good. I wouldn't redo anything, just food for thought.

[hotrod1]

Cajundragger:

I appreciate the input. It is great to have other very knowledgeable people thinking about the things that I do, just in case I end up doing something stupid or does not make sense.

I thought of that, but I looked at many shock set ups and they frequently run them single shear.

Thanks, we will have to see how it works. Its going to be a while though. I often think that by the time we get it done, technology will have changed so much, we will have to start over. The one beauty of working with these old trucks is that they are classic and will not ever go out of style.

[Fat Mike]

Can you show a wide view of your frame from the cab to where the rear bumper would sit?

[mud.man.rj]

Just saw this thread hotrod1, very very nice build, definetly over the top. It should handle as well or better than any car, what total weight do you think you will end up with.

[hotrod1]

Hey Mike:

Here is a picture from the back to the cab. Could not get all the way back. Sorry about all the misc junk around it. Just a bunch of tools, bolts, and supplies all over the place.

Also are a few pics of the front of the cab cage build. Not easy to get everything lined up and perfect from side to side.

Dont know about the weight yet but took off about 450 pounds removing all the stock junk. Had it all weighed. There is still more that I have not weighed yet. We are going to place the tank in the back as well as the battery. Figured that we do not have to worry much about weight in the back as this would help the distribution anyways. In addition, we will move the engine back 3" and down 3/4" more for distribution as well. In fact, will move the engine towards the passenger side 3/4 of an inch from center for better weigh to offset the drivers weight.

[mud.man.rj]

I like your thinking on engine placement more towards the passenger side.

[hotrod1]

Been working on the mini tubs. Here is how I did it. A little different.

Bought cheap trailer fenders and cut off the lip. Then cut the fender the width that I needed. Took that lip and welded it to the new width fender, but the lip going up. Punched holes in it and after cutting the bed side out, placed them from the outside into the bed. Spot welded them from the outside so the seal looks good. No welding from the inside of the bed.

[Kim57]

Nice job.
Kim

[hotrod1]

OK, made a mistake. I heard that the Miller Dynasty line (tig) of welders is just amazing. I don't know why, but I kept searching for one on Craig's list. Figured that maybe I could find a deal on one as they are crazy expensive. A couple of years went by and I never saw one. All of a sudden, one showed up in my town for a good price, but still a little crazy. I don't know what happened, but it ended up in my garage. Its a mystery because I don't even remember getting it, at least that is the story that I am sticking to. Part of me feels bad because I dont have the descritionary funds for this, but as BAM says, you only live once.

Anyways, everything that everybody says about them is correct. Unbelievable difference in the weld, and it has so many features like pulse welding. And it is only 50Lbs, unlike my 500lb syncrowave.

The syncrowave is going to go on Craig's list!

Started to build a cart for it. We have a 200 or 300 size gas tank, so the cart has to be strong. It seems that we overbuild things, and in doing so you can get into some problems. We have built things that have not come out flat (maybe because they are built on the garage floor or heat warped from welding). So we built the back half of the cart straight and put a pivot for the front half. This way, it will always sit flat. We will see how that works.

[Kim57]

Very nice.
Kim

[55Cameo]

Just read your entire build. Really like what you have going on so far. I am doing a similar build and have the same goals in mind with the suspension/frame/motor/trans.

Gonna keep an eye for progress

[BC Toy chest]

I have been away from here for a while. You have come a long way looking good.