air over axle ?"?

[52bombshell]

well ive been told to do an air over axle system of bags to see it it will work on the front of my 52 f100. i was thinking of taking all the leafs out but two and running the bag on a bracket off the side of the leaf pack under a cross member now with the two leafs left do you think it will drop it enough ?? i want low i would love to lay frame but i know with this setup it wont happen unless i zed the frame out?? i just want a low stance for driving and really low when i park is this obtainable?? if any one has pics of a setup like this id like to see it

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

Why not just put a dropped axle on it and drive it? Then you aren't worrying about all this airbag mess...

 

[hotrod preacher]

have you considered a camaro front frame section--"subframe"--it will put it low and give better driving/stopping power.....and if you HAD to bag it, the camaro subframe would accept camaro bags.......just another thing to consider[S

 

[Gregster]

I am very close to posting a build thread on this very thing . I have a '53 chevy truck that I put a '75 nova front sub in ( very similar to the camaro ) along with custom rear rails . It also has air ride along with the disc brakes and power steering , of course this will be a full fender build .

 

[Sam_Fear]

Dropped axle with bags would really get you low. And for layin frame, is that a straight frame rail to the front? As in, you'd have to Z it anyhow to get the frame below the axle....

Might be better to start thinking along the lines of hairpins intead of full leafs? Just a thought. Since your basically using the leafs only for position - and only the back half for that matter.

Don't forget to think about scrub line if you plan to drive it over 30mph.


Oohhh.....shiny thing.....

 

[Sam_Fear]

Now what was I saying? Oh yeah, I'm thinking if you use the entire leaf spring as a hairpin and let the truck drop all the way till the frame is on the axle, it'll really stress that spring - over time where is it gonna break? You might be better off cutting right in front of the axle and only using the back 1/2 of the spring like a hairpin. Not sure how safe that is since it may tend to change the axle caster through the arc.

 

[52bombshell]

thanks for the info funny you should bring up the camaro subframe great idea bad mate for a 52. the 48-52 had a different frame then the 53-57 which causes a problem for this swap. the camaro subframe is too dame wide to mate nicely with the frame of a 52 not sure bout a nova clip but near impossible around here to find. was going to go with a valare clip but lowering it down causes bad ride. the bagging is something im interested in due to around where im from there is some **** roads and ive driving lowered cars here no fun so adjustability is key. i may as well just tear it apart and zed it im just scared of lineing the front fenders and grill back up after words ill have to look at it. thanks for the imput...its warming up this week ill have a gander and check it out further for ever option

 

[Sam_Fear]

How about a Dakota front clip? Some of the 60's F100 guys like 'em - beefier than a MII. Not sure on the width though...

 

[52bombshell]

see thats the tricky part damn frame is so skinny but i just found a guy that will sell me a valare clip for dirt cheap on trade for a 1928 model a tudor i have sitting around so might as well go that way

 

[PA41]

I've seen the Volare front suspension in an early 50s Ford truck--looked great- the width was real good I believe, where the Camero is a little wide, I believe.-I don't think they would be worth as much as an A body though..

I could'nt find any shots of my sons leaf/bag setups--Its been a few years since he did that--he's into IRS/bags now.

Heres a pic of the general idea though--just remove a leaf or two.

(Its 18 degrees in my shop!!!!)

PA41

 

[Sam_Fear]

PA - Did he set up like that on the front axle too? That's a rear axle helper spring set up pictured. Any idea how much travel he got?

 

[52bombshell]

well now im on a mission finding how im gonna back a valare front end lol

 

[PA41]

PA - Did he set up like that on the front axle too? That's a rear axle helper spring set up pictured. Any idea how much travel he got?

He did that to the rear when he first started--say 10 years back--I was thinking the same sort of thing should work if the stock front straight axle was kept on an early Ford PU. I sure would keep it simple if I were bagging a car. They seem to be a little unreliable if you get to fancy.

After that simple stuff was'nt low enough my son started cutting big frame notches, then he went into using Nissan 280-300Z rear swing arm axles and bagging them. The front twin A frame suspensions were always problematic because of clearance problems--He rubbed holes in quite a few bags, or had lines break or compressors fail--I've had to haul him home a few times.

PA41

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

BAGS

You could go this route. Not as hard as it looks and I made everthing for about 300.00 and that included the bags as well.

 

[night-crawler]

Best bet would to subframe...lay it out...i will post some pics of my 51 pickup and doing at the moment.....hope everything works out...