Thread: Watt's Link!

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Frank,

Almost all street rod Panhards are built per TCI's illustration. I realize that doesn't make it right, but with limited the limited travel on most street rod suspensions, it works pretty well. It also avoids the problem of welding a bracket on the axle tube and possibly warping it.

FMX---Forget the Watts link. On a truck like yours, it won't do a damn thing for you. It costs a lot, requires twice as many parts as a Panhard rod, and requires a great deal more fabricating skills. Take a look at the attached picture---a panhard rod is pivotted at the drivers side framerail and attached to the passenger side axle tube.---yes, if you have a ford rearend, you can make a bracket which bolts to the front snout of the rearend, using existing bolts, and avoid welding on the axle tube.---either way will work fine. Watts Locator Links are for road handling on high end sportscars. They are a waste of money on a truck. The reason you need any kind of locator mechanism is that on a car or truck with coil springs, the body can move from side to side as the springs bend, and your inner wheelwells will get chewed up by your tires, or vice-versa. If your vehicle has leaf springs, it doesn't need a locator mechanism, because leaf springs won't bend sideways.----don't confuse these locator mechanisms with "sway bars"---thats something else again.

Ok well then Brian, you summed it up, I have leaf springs. No need then huh? I totally forgot to ask that, that was one of my questions since I was wondering how the heck a leaf set up would move side to side..... Now what about something for traction? I asked this before but I think the only answer I really got was 4 link and maybe ladder bars. Should I put ladder bar setup on it? If so then how hard is this to achieve? I am sketchy about welding on my axle tube because I have a friend of mine had his warped on his really nice 56 hardtop Chevy and needed a new rear end. I am thinking though, if I have to weld here then weld about an inch at a time in one section and I'll be fine. I can just weld an inch on one bracket on one side, go to the other bracket, weld and inch, go back weld the other side an inch, etc. Even if it takes forever then it's worth it. I am not sure about adding weight though, not sure what to put back there. I don't have money to add a fuel tank back there, I have my batter up front and it's fine. That is all I can think of. I wanna put a tonnel (sp?) cover on it but that is not adding weight. I am not sure.... maybe add 50 subwoofers? hahaha just messing.

To sum it up, in a half ton there isn't a hell of a lot that you can do, period. You don't need to add anything to your rear-end or springs. Simply put, half tons have lousy traction no matter what you do, because of lack of weight over the rear axle. On my 56 pickup that I built in 1975, I put a 390 Thunderbird engine in it, with a c6 automatic and 12" wide tires.----it was as useless as tits on a chicken. I ended up cutting a 40" length of railroad track and welding it between the framerails, just back of the rearend.----still shitty traction, but I could do the most amazing "smoke-show" that you ever dreamed of, whenever I wanted.

Lol, well that sucks for me. I think drag trucks look so sweet but that is the only problem is traction with these things.

I remember a guy years ago who had a Rod Truck,,and he had a 40 gallon plastic resevoir in the backin brackets,,he would fill it to the top before getting serious about going for it,,,and then emptied it when he wasn't.
It worked for him ok.

Heh, 40 gallons is huge. I guess it would work though... like having a HUUUUUUGE bomb in the back of your truck. I don't think cops would try to pull me over if I had that in the back. I will try to figure something out then. I think when I go to rewire the truck I will put that bed cover (tonel, tonnel sp?) cover on it and then put the battery back there in the center and a mini tool box that you can't see unless you open the top on the bed. I would like to put a small box like that in there to put tools in it just in case.

It's spelled tonneau.

Thanks!