Thread: 51 dodge truck "sally"

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Pictures may not do it justice specifically but The arm thats attached to the hub is not just welded to the backing plate lol, i cut some 1/4 flat strap and drilled it, then its bolted to the flange with the 4 original bolts that hold the hub and spindle on. The steering box has some more reinforcement done to it than the pic shows aswell

Does your steering arm just have a bolt welded to a couple brackets??? Should also have a jam nut on every heim joint and a washer over the bearing portion to keep the arm attached should it pull the bearing center.....

The Bolt on the front part is full penetration welded to the bracket, every bolt has a jam nut and the front part of the long rod has been tac welded for additional safty

Not wanting to sound like I'm putting you down, but that bolt is just in single shear.... Steering arms should have hole through the bracket, with a thru bolt, a washer or retainer of some sort to hold the arm on should the bearing pull out of the heim. I'm sorry, the way you have it put together is just not safe!!!! Not trying to put you down, just hoping you would correct some of the mistakes before a high impact situation (pot hole, curb, etc) could cause the steering system to fail and result in a very, very bad crash, possibly a head on..... It appears the tie rod is bent, also which means it has already been stressed and weakened..... Just don't want to see you and your truck wind up being another fatality.....

Tie rod isnt bent its just a temp one while i finish fabing another simular arm like the one from steering box to front arm. btw the bolt isnt welded to the top of the bars it goes through and is welded.

Well, then it's just lovely!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sure am glad I don't drive in Florida!!!!!!!!
The truck is not safe, take it personal if you want.... Just trying to save you a lot of grief....I've only been building Hot Rods, Drag Cars, and Circle Burners for 45 years, I don't know a thing, right???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Your Sarcasm is a bit off putting. I still say the pics dont do it any justice Every thing thats been used so far in the build is atleast twice as heavy as factory. I have not driven it more than a block so far and im still making changes depending on how things react. Trust me im all for constructive criticism. But even though i like you dave im not going into a id say this but im an idiot and you say that because your an idiot battle.

Nothing against you personally Jeffrey, BUT I hate to say this but I have to agree w/Dave, that thing looks so unsafe in so many ways.
I would also bet IF you had to have it safety inspected it would flunk hands down.
And personally I'm glad I live far enough away for you that I never have to worry about meeting you on any road let alone on a interstate highway...joe

It still hasnt seen more than a mile and i can redo the front mount, its still a work in progress not like im leaving tomorrow and heading from Florida to California, Im currently in the process of changing the front axel from leaf spring to coil spring since the leaf started cracking in the yard (i have 3 acres of bumpy terrain to test it in. So before you call me the hot rod anti-christ have some faith that im not a complete moron.

Nobody called you anything, Jeffrey..... It's an attempt to point out some flaws in your design and materials selection...


Which do you prefer, someone's honest opinion, or some flowery politically correct meaningles drival?????

No one is putting you down, just pointing out some things that we have learned over the years regarding safe and mechanically sound construction techniques.....

Im going to cut the bolt off the arms and drill through the plates (1 1/2 X 1/2 mind you ) and add an additional 1/4 plate too whats already there then drill that aswell to let the 3/4 Grade 8 bolt through. After im happy with everything im going to drill all the jam nuts and pin them. So like i said the truck has only made its maiden voyage around the block, its still not fully road worthy.

I have some washers large enough laying around should do the trick. Id like to also add that the rod running from the box to the front is a adjuster for the back of a tractor. ill post some more pics soon thats more updated.

Originally Posted by jeffrey leonard

Im going to cut the bolt off the arms and drill through the plates (1 1/2 X 1/2 mind you ) and add an additional 1/4 plate too whats already there then drill that aswell to let the 3/4 Grade 8 bolt through. After im happy with everything im going to drill all the jam nuts and pin them. So like i said the truck has only made its maiden voyage around the block, its still not fully road worthy.

Sounds like a good plan!!!! on your bolts, another consideration is to make sure the attached parts are riding on the "shoulder" of the bolt, and not the threads!!!!

If you really wanna get fancy on your rod ends, drill a hole in the edges of the nut and safety wire them!!!! Looks neat, plus is a very secure way of keeping hardware tight!!!!! Make yourself up a little jig to drill bolt heads and nuts, then use some .032 steel safety wire!!!!! Old aircraft methods that work great on Hot Rods...... and everybody will think you have waaaaaaaaay to much spare time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do appologize for yesterday had a rough day and everything that seemed to be coming from you was complete negativity.

So today after feeling less grumpy i took some time to look things over.

Safty wire sounds grand but i have plenty of 1/8th cotter keys and the bolts are plenty big enough to allow that hole.

Originally Posted by jeffrey leonard

I do appologize for yesterday had a rough day and everything that seemed to be coming from you was complete negativity.

So today after feeling less grumpy i took some time to look things over.

Safty wire sounds grand but i have plenty of 1/8th cotter keys and the bolts are plenty big enough to allow that hole.

Safety wire is kewl!!!! Takes a lot of extra time, but really other then the kewliousity, probably not much better then a cotter key.... No problem on yesterday.... I learned a long time ago on this forum that it's ok to say what you want about a car, as long as you can offer a solution to the problem and aren't just bad mouthing it.... Heck, lots of us here have been doing the Hot Rod stuff for 3 or 4 decades!!!! If a day goes by that I don't learn something new it's probably because I wasn't paying attention!!!!!