Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

OK, a couple of posts back I said I still had another step to accomplish to finish these truck arms. In order to taper the arms toward each other at the forward end I need to make a cut just ahead of the axle brackets. Once again I enlist the use of my chop saw. In the picture below you can see that I have disassembled the axle brackets from the arms and made a cut through 3 sides of the arm - inside, top, and bottom. Shortly after taking that photo I made a second cut right next to the first to open the kerf wider.

After cutting, I used a series of clamps and some short pieces of lumber to clamp the arms side-by-side and force the arms to bend at the kerf cuts. The reason I clamped them together was to insure that they were bent to the same degree. (Another method would be to tack-weld them together [top-to-top or bottom-to-bottom], bend, weld the cuts, and then cut them apart.) Once satisfied with the positioning, I welded the cuts.

After welding I ground the top and bottom welds smooth. The side weld was just smoothed enough to allow a gusset plate to be welded over it. I used 1/8 inch thick flat stock cut in a 2 inch square and positioned diagonally. After welding I used a soft wheel to remove any lumps from the welds and touched up the primer. The last pic below shows the finished truck arms together on the floor. With the axle brackets parallel to each other, it is obvious how the arms now taper toward each other at the front end. Next step will be to mock these up in position and fabricate the front brackets.

[40FordDeluxe]

Very nice work! Those truck arms sure do work great!

[Driver50x]

Looking good Jim!

[J. Robinson]

Thanks for the compliments.

It's time to mock things up and verify fitment. First I make sure the rear axle is located correctly. With the snout of the pinion resting on a jackstand and the frame resting on wooden blocks on the rear end, I center the frame between the wheels and measure the wheelbase on both sides. A stock '32 Ford has a wheelbase of 106.5 inches. By pulling the rear axle back .5 inch to center the wheels in the wheel wells and having Clarke Hot Rods move the front crossmember forward 1 inch when they built the frame, I end up with a 108 inch wheelbase. Once I have centered and squared the rear end to the frame I can mock the truck arms in place.

I used a piece of 1/2 inch bar stock under the Heim joints and across the lower flanges of the X-member to support the front of the arms and a floor jack on each side to lift the rear of the arms in place. I set the rear of the arms 30 inches apart and centered on the rear end by measuring from the backing plates to the brackets. I used an angle finder to set the pinion at 3 degrees up. After checking and re-checking all the measurements multiple times, I finally tacked the brackets to the rear axle housing. I just put one substantial tack on each of the 4 bracket plates at the back side (see pic). This way I can easily break them loose if I have to move them. After I have fabricated the front brackets and am sure nothing has moved, I will weld everything solidly and "strap-gusset" the brackets to the axle housing. There is no adjustment to the angle of these arms once they are completely welded to the rear end, so I don't rush the welding process until everything is in place and measurements are verified.

[J. Robinson]

With the rod ends still resting on the half-inch round stock, I jack them into position, centered halfway between top and bottom of the X-member and mark the location with a Sharpie. Then I let them down slightly to get them out of the way. This allowed me to measure and center the marks and cut a 1 1/8 inch hole in the wall of the X-member. Next, I cut two 1 inch long pieces of the 3/4 I.D. tubing (3/4 inch black iron pipe). Using a piece of conduit with masking tape to take up the "slop" in the fit, I put the tubing pieces in place through the holes. The conduit/tape sleeve keeps them aligned with each other. After positioning them the same on each side, I put several hefty tack welds on each one to keep them in position. When I blow the frame apart for finish welding I will weld these all the way around, inside and outside.

To support the other end of the bolts I cut and drilled two plates from 3/16 x 2 flat stock. After some grinding for weld clearance and rounding off the bottom corner, I slip the bolts through the tubing "bosses", washers, Heim ends, and plates. With the nuts holding everything together, I squared everything up and tack-welded the plates in place. As with the tube pieces, these will be welded solidly when I take the frame apart for finish welding. Also, the bolts will be replaced with 1/2 inch longer ones and the nuts with self-locking nuts.

At this point I put another hefty tack-weld on the front side of the axle bracket plates (remember I only welded them at the back side above). Now, with the truck arms in place I need something to keep the rear end centered. My next step will be building and installing a Panhard bar.

[J. Robinson]

For some reason, the first two pics above loaded out of order...

[34_40]

Yeah.. ain't it great?!?

[40FordDeluxe]

Yeah.. ain't it great?!?

At least the site is working today.

Nice work on the mounts for the truck bars. Are the X member sides made from 1/8" material? Not judging, just curious.

[J. Robinson]

I always worry when the site won't open that all the vast info here will be lost (not just mine, but all the stuff people contribute)...

Yes, the X is made from formed 1/8 inch material. I debated how to do the mounts and finally decided that with the bolt hole tubes welded in place to spread the load stress it should be strong enough. If there is ever any sign of cracking around the tubes I will add additional plating on the sides of the X-member. I could have just mounted the arms below the frame, but I didn't want to compromise the ground clearance any more than it already will be.

At this point I think I will be using coilovers for the rear suspension. Therefore, the panhard bar needs to mount forward of the axle housing. The brackets also need to be mounted low enough that the panhard bar and the bracket on the axle housing won't contact the body's floor. In order to do that the panhard bar needs to "stand off" the axle housing far enough so that it doesn't bind against the front of the "chunk". I fabricated both brackets from some 2 1/2 inch 1/4 wall angle iron. Using my plasma cutter I roughed out the axle bracket, then ground it to shape, drilled it, and finally heated it with my torch so I could bend the end tab up at about 45 degrees. the frame bracket was just a matter of cutting a piece off with the chop saw, drilling it, and grinding to final shape.

[J. Robinson]

Before I could attach the panhard bar bracket to the axle housing I needed to make the strap gussets for the truck arm brackets. So, what are strap gussets? Most of us have probably seen videos online of cars doing a launch and spitting the complete rear axle housing, wheels, and drive shaft out from under the vehicle. In fact, this happened to a friend of mine many years ago. Sometimes it is because of lousy welding, but sometimes it's not the welds but the material around them has fatigued from constant flexing. The rubber bushing installation that I have used on this car (and several others over the years) greatly reduces that possibility, but, to make sure, I make steel straps that go around the housing and weld to the truck arm brackets. In order to throw the rear end out from under my car it would literally have to twist the axle tubes completely off!

The straps in this application are made from 1/8 x 2 flat stock. I put a slight bend in the straps to fit into the point where the axle brackets fit to the axle housing on the front side. I start at that point, put tack-welds there, and then using a series of tack-welds, hammer and C-clamp, I form the strap to fit the axle brackets and around the housing. With the gusset straps in place, I can now put the panhard bar bracket on the left end of the axle housing. All of this will be welded completely all the way around the housing when I take the rear end out from under the frame.

I will attach the frame bracket later when I get the Heim ends to make the panhard bar.

[J. Robinson]

My rod ends from Speedway were delivered Monday, so I was able to build the rear panhard bar. I already have the bracket tack-welded to the axle housing and already have the frame bracket ready to go (see above), so all I needed to do was fabricate the bar.

I clamped the frame bracket on the right frame rail and used a straight edge to locate it where the bar wont hit the front of the "chunk". I want to keep the bar as level as possible with the frame at proposed ride height. After a couple of minor adjustments I got the bracket where I want it. I measured the distance between the holes; this is the finished length I need between rod end centers.

I fabricated the bar in the same manner as the radius rods and panhard bar up front, using fine thread coupling nuts and 1/2 inch black iron pipe. When finished welding and grinding I installed the rod ends and bolted the bar onto the brackets. After re-confirming the location of the frame bracket with the actual bar in place, I tack-welded it to the frame. As viewed from the front the bar is level; as viewed from above the right end (frame end) is a couple of inches ahead of the axle bracket. That was necessary for clearance on the front of the "chunk", but will have no effect on handling or operation.

[40FordDeluxe]

Nice work. Do you have any plans to make those mounts double shear?

[Driver50x]

Looks great Jim. I'm going to use the "strap gussets", and a bunch of your other ideas, on my T Bucket.

[J. Robinson]

40FordDeluxe - No plans for making the brackets double shear. I've been doing these the same way for years and never had a problem. Angle iron is roll-forged so it's pretty tough stuff to begin with and the 1/4 inch wall stuff is really stout. I keep the length of the brackets as short as is practical so there is little to no flex and I use grade-8 bolts for all suspension attachment. I think you could rip the frame in two easier than you could break a 1/2 inch grade-8 bolt...

Driver50x - If you can use any of my ideas and practices on your build, then this thread is worth my efforts. You're building a T-bucket; have you seen my build thread on my Track-T? Also, have you considered doing a build thread here on your T?

[jerry clayton]

I'd have to vote for double shear on any Heim joint used in suspension loaded brackets-------It eliminates the sideways force on the heim outter ring--------