before i did any tear down i measured the wheel base of the truck . i made
a line from center of rear axle to front of frame and made a mark on the frame at 114" ...after i flipped the axle on top of springs and bolted it down on center of spring my wheel base measurement from rear axle to front frame mark was ahead by 1" so i had to move the spring perch back away from front 1 " from center of spring to get the 114"..hope this is right or my rear wheel wont be center in the rear fender
Yes mine is flipped. Dropped my rear about 7 inches. Take a look at my build journal. I am in the end stages of installing a 1981 Firebird sub frame up front. I previously had Posie super slide dual leaf springs up front. Always felt like I was driving a boat.
couple of questions .. did you use threaded rod in place of shocks to bring the sub frame down to ride height before measuring or welding ?
and in this picture of your frame rail the line down center of hole in frame
is my 114" wheel base mark also..did you go 1" forward of that mark to center wheel in fender ?
thanks gave me alot of answers on your build page
I actually rolled the sub frame under the truck frame with my front tires on. I just jacked up the front end of the truck to match level line of the sub frame ends. Not sure what using a threaded rod would have done for me. The centerline mark on the old frame is center of the old front end/wheel center. I did move the new center line 1 inch forward of that line. Top shock hole in the sub frame is wheel center on your Camaro/firebird sub frame.
you don't mention what truck your working on, but the first picture looks like a task force frame 55-59 chevy
my 58 truk is flipped on stock springs and centered on the spring bolt not moved 1''
if that is your truck in the first pic, you really need to c-notch the frame and offset the bump stops outside the frame
If you were to compress the front suspension down to its loaded ride height, you will find that the tire moves rearward due to the angle that the control arm shafts and bushings are mounted on.
That is why everyone is telling you to compress the front springs or else remove them and get the front suspension to its actual fully loaded ride height.
On those 50's trucks you also have to move the tire centerline forward in the wheelwell if the truck is going to be lowered from a stock ride height, otherwise the lowered ride height makes the tire look like it is not correctly located in the tire opening...this is due to the wheel opening shape.
Hey Bob, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I went out and measured from the front of the body mount both sides. It is 11 inches to the mark where you cut the angle. Keep in mind that when you weld all this up that the end gets hammered down some to meet the uneven subframe. I think if you are anywhere in this area you will be pretty close to where you want the wheel to be in the opening. Let me know if you need any photos. I just welded new radiator core brackets on last night using the old ears that I cut off the sides of the sub frame. I lined then up to use the threaded holes in the front ends of the sub frame and used some 1/2 rubber in between. I will pull all the sheet metal off early next week to prep all of it for black under hood paint, then final assembly. Needed a new radiator as my old one was way too big and its on the truck for delivery today 154.00 from DNA on ebay. Same guys I bought my power brake booster from.
thank you kind sir.. i got the cab on and one fender on but its that foolish
shock hole that still wont line up center wheel . i tried up down ..so i think i will go with the 11" mark and flush the subframe to that ..thanks
I would say that yours is at least 1" farther forward than mine.
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