1929 Chevy progress up to 2009

I had to make some kingpin/spindle mounts so I can use the 1 ton hubs on my street rod axle, I used the spindles for a 1-ton 4 wheel drive Dana 60 front axle and I mounted a manual rack on the axle.

Front axle weldments

The lower axle mounts are made from 6 separate steel weldments which hold the axle with the 4 link bars; Lower mount for the air bags; Lower mount for the shocks; and mount the rack and pinion directly to the axle on the back.

 


 

 Mocked up, this is the look I'll be going for

I've machined my "Bud" rims because I decided that the spokes were to big, the video below on the left shows me milling the rims,  the vid on the right shows the air bags doin' their thing.

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I got lazy and didn't document the narrowing of the rear axle, I opted for a Dana 60 (3/4 ton) rather than a Dana 70 (1 ton axle) because parts are more available for the 60's, and I doubt I'll be loading this thing up more than a 3/4 ton axle will handle.
I just made a 1 ton axle out of the 3/4 ton, and added disc brakes in the process.

 Mouse over the thumbs for a small description or click on each for more resolution

Rear frame cut offRear frame section made out of the kick ups for the original frame and some 2" by 4"Centering frame and setting upRear frame ready to start welding inRear frame mostly boxed in to the original frameBoxed rear frame, I put the crossbar in for now but I'll need to notch it later for a driveshaft loopComplete side viewRear frame showing plumb bobs for alignment & centering lines made on floor, precision level was nice to keep track of warpage while welding (weld one side, then the other; repeat)Precision level

Ready to put the 4 link on the rear axle, I wasn't sure which way would be the best; parallel 4 link bars or triangulated bars, in the end it was the triangulated bars that won out because they had the right amount of clearance in the right places, and it was nice not having to make some kind of panhard bar or watts link to control the side to side movement of the axle. The only problem with the triangulated bars was that I was running a Dana 60 and you can't weld on the center part of the housing, so I had to make a bridge to mount the top bars to.

Mouse over the thumbs for a small description or click on each for more resolution

The bottom bars are tacked on, now I'm lining up the top bars and getting ready to start cutting out the brackets.1st bracket cut out and on the top bars, you can also see here the rear mount that I made that bolts to 3 of the top rear cover bolts of the Dana.3 of the top 4 link brackets cut out and tacked to the axle and frame
Starting to build the bridge for the triangulated bars, boy it sure is nice to have a plasma cutter mounted on my CNC mill! Axle bridge welded together, I'm going to grind it smooth to make it look like it was some how stamped from a single piece of steel.

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