[bigknowell]

Hey Everyone,
I plan on building a cheap t bucket rat rod and buy cheap i mean that my budget is about 3000$. This will be my first hot rod build and i want to IFS on it but all the Mustang 2 kits are out of my budget so i wounding if anyone had any recomendations for an good IFS from a donar car for my bucket.

[Deuce]

WELCOME TO Hotrodders.com

As a Moderator for the this area ... I want to be the first to WELCOME you ...

Most T-Buckets use a straight axle front end ... not a IFS ... and the good thing about that is they are much less expensive ... and they LOOK so much better ...



This example is pretty much chromed up ... but chrome is not absolutely necessary. Paint and cleanliness goes a long way ...

I would try to find a old axle ... from a 30's to 40's Ford ...
A lot of rodders take them out and go with a IFS kit. I actually prefer the straight axle setup myself ...


This is the axle setup I am using under my new project ... a 32 Ford 3W coupe. Go here for more photos of it under construction ...

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...ge=1&reverse=1

Again WELCOME ...
Deuce ... Moderator

[lakeroadster]

Speedway sells some very affordable I-beam and tube type dropped axle front ends.

[cboy]

I commend you for your effort to build your project on such a tight budget. Deuce is correct that T-buckets look most traditional with a straight axle front suspension. While these are available from Speedway, etc, the brand new front end alone will eat up nearly half of that budget you have. If you are really committed I think you are going to have to spend a great deal of your time searching for bargain basement parts from swap meets or via the grapevine. Another possibility is to keep an eye out for half done projects where the owner has lost interest and just wants to unload what he/she has.

Like the old saying goes...you can build it fast, cheap or top drawer - pick any two.

[cucumber1949]

There is a fellow from Elyria, OH who designed his own IFS for his T-Bucket. I saw the car last year at Cruise-Ins in the area and the car was in primer, this year the car was finished and painted orange. Was actually a quite simple and clean setup - it looks like someone could fabricate it themselves with some minor help from a machine shop. When looking at the car, you would almost miss it if you just gave it a quick glance. He had a VW rack & pinion steering setup on it but I bet other setups would work quite well too. Think his name was Scott. Maybe he'll show up and post more info if he's a member here. His dad also has a T, I believe.

[RPM]

I am building my 3rd T bucket. The cheapest way I have found is to order a tube axle from Total Performance $125.00 and buy some spindles from ebay. You then will have to make all the mounting brackets and radius rods. As for the front suiced front spring get a trailer spring from Tractor Supply about $30.00
Yes you can get a kit from Speedway but I think it is about $450 plus spindles.
Shop ebay there are a lot of good deals on there. There is a guy on there selling the brake brackets also for $10 each. I could not make them myself for that cheap. I bought them theye are good quality.

E mail me if you need more specific help be glad to talk with ya...tbucket@comcast.net

[cboy]

Originally Posted by RPM

I am building my 3rd T bucket.

Hey RPM, how 'bout starting a Project Journal to cover your current t-bucket build. Sounds like you have some good ideas for inexpensive parts and how to put them together. That kind of info is invaluable for us shade tree rodders.

[corenele]

i am also building a bucket.you can build it for 3,000 bucks if you watch what you buy.my most expensive parts were the front end $800.i went down to local steel place bought my tube steel 2x3 for $55 and started to cut and fab for a frame junk yard is my #1 stop now trany $100,rear end 9 inch $75 speedway moter body $400 but i have gone nuts with my motor im up to $3400 now thats with my 142 supercharger.if anybody has any good pictures of there brake lines,wiring,and battery location i would love to see them.figuring this stuff out is all the fun

[godspeed32]

when setting up a rod make sure you money goes to the safety areas like front end and brakes , if you fudge on that and get a real cheap one it is disasterous if it fails on you. speed way motors has great deals on complete packages on there i have it on my 32 . being mostly complete it also takes the guess work out ..

[Arrowhead]

bigknowell,

Glad to hear your starting a T bucket. I documented my build in my journal pretty much from start to finish. I did start with a "kit" from Total Performance though. $3,000 is a pretty ambitious budget, I'm sure you can do it, it will just take more time to find parts. I also listed a brief summary of the total cost for my build in my journal if that is any help.

IFS on a T bucket is pretty trickey. We've had some conversations about this on the forum at the National T bucket Alliance website:

http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.c...l.asp?Id=60635

I guess it depends on your expectations of ride vs looks. Gook Luck!

[cboy]

If you are interested in a low cost alternative for IFS here's an F-150 twin I-beam on my roadster. You can see WAY too much detail and many more pics in my journal. The second pic is the twin I-Beam IFS on my '32 pickup. This one is full fendered, however, and not exposed for all to see.

As you can see, the F-150 is an economical alternative for a low budget car BUT you sacrifice some on the traditional look. They are also a bit more complicated to build. But going this route you could get nearly all your basic components (engine, trans, front axles and rear axles) from one donor vehicle.

I mention this simply as one possible alternative. If you can afford it and want to stay traditional - I'd go with the straight axle as has been recommended in the prior posts.