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:: The Hot Rod :: Page 5 :: The Frame ::

:: Scott's Rod Garage ::

The Hot Rod gets a new home for the winter, and I couldn't wait any longer, I had to set the engine in place. 400 horses this might
get scary...I mean exciting. I decided to recess the firewall about 2 inches so I could get the shifter back against the seat pan.
Perfect location for slammin' through the gears and I still have more leg room than I expected. I stripped it down to the bare
chassis, Its time to get serious. I positioned my triangulated 4 link rear suspension. Here is a good view of the stock
crossmember, which is goin' bye-bye. I had Bruce at Van Sant Enterprises bend up some 1.25 inch .083 wall tubing with his Trick
Tools to make the new crossmember. Before I could build the crossmember I had to box the rails, then I went tube crazy.

There was a lot of welding to be done and you have to burn it in with a lot of heat, so remember not to wear shorts or you will get
very sunburnt. This was an exciting week, all of my front end parts started showing up, This Magnum 5 inch drop I-beam is
awesome. I decided to go with a 4 bar setup because it keeps the caster angle though out the full suspension travel. My spindles
were back ordered, of course, so I used imaginary ones to estimate my turning radious. Hers is the top view of the 4 bar, I haven't
quite decided what I am going to do with the frame rails up front, they need some serious work. I will probably have to pinch the
frame up front, because the 5 inch drop axle was only offered for a '34 Ford, It's about 3 inches narrower at the spring perches than
a '38

I had the guys over at Zylstra Welding make me a frame table. Now I can mount everything solid to the table to set up the frame and
suspension. I shouldn't even tell you what happens next, but it was a learning experience. I bought an air ride set up for a straight
axle from Cen-Pen. My parts were on back order for a couple months so I talked with the guy who designed the system on the
phone a couple times and got all the dimensions and technical info I could. I wanted to start building the front frame rails to keep
the momentum going. He said that the arms that the bags sat on needed to be level to the ground at ride height. It made since to
me because that is what you would do with conventional control arm front end. NEVER assume that even the designer of a product
has a clue how it works. When I finally got my parts, and my frame rails were all welded in, I figured out that when the arms were
level the bags would be completely compressed. Needless to say I had to cut my frame all apart again. This was in August of 2005,
and pregnant wife was due in a couple of months so I closed the doors to the shop to calm down and come up with a solution.