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Just finished welding my frame, need help with bracket questions

irishluck

irishluck

Member
Hi guys. New to building a tbucket and so far i think im doing a pretty good job. I just finish welding my frame together last night and set the body on it. I inherited the frame peices, all the suspension and the body from my grandpa. And now here I am.

Im having an issue understanding what to do next and finding the brackets I need so that I can weld them on and start attaching my suspension.

I have a 5" drop tube front axle. Ive been looking on speedway motors for parts.
The 3 parts im looking at purchasing right now are shock mounts for the front, the leaf perch and the brackets to attach bars to attach the axle. (idk what there called, they look like giant wishbones, attach to middle of frame then bolt to front axle).

Question is, what shock mount do I choose? there are a bunch of different ones.
I found 2 leaf perch's. Ones a low ride height and one being a standard height, idk how to choose the one I need.
And the brackets to attach those bars, i cant find those so idk if someone can help me with that.

Just need a little guidance! or maybe a manual I can buy
 
Great work, Irishluck. As to sourcing bracketry, Ron Pope (RPM - one of the site sponsors) can make any/all those brackets for you. He does quality work! You need to make some decisions regarding finished ride height, rear axle location/suspension (buggy spring? coil-overs?), engine/transmission placement, etc. since those items will affect suspension mounting points. California Custom Roadsters, Spirit Cars (both tbucketeer sponsors), and Speedway publish plans for building a t-bucket. It would help if you have an example of what you hope to wind up with - someone's car that you really like, or a picture of one. That would give you an idea for your build, a style that suits you. :)

(This is mine.)
Paint.jpg
 
5" drop is low, I Don't Know how low you want to go but keep in mind the scrub line. There are a few T-bucket frame plans on the web Youngster's and CCR are a couple. I would go with loooong front radius rods, try to get them to mount to the frame where the steering box mounts to the frame (traditional steering) or if your doing cross steer, still leave it long, (Ron Pope can make any length you need) or if you are going to use 4 bars, just about any length (~ 20"-30") will do. The spring perch, bat wings and where the spring will be on the axle (above, behind) will more or less dictate where the axle will be going.
Hold off on the shock mounts until you finalize everything else on the front but still keep it in mind while you're installing tie rods and the drag link.

http://www.rutherfordms.com/freedownload/tbucketplans.pdf
California Custom Roadsters T-Bucket Chassis Plans, CCR T-Bucket Plans
 
Spanky said:
Great work, Irishluck. As to sourcing bracketry, Ron Pope (RPM - one of the site sponsors) can make any/all those brackets for you. He does quality work! You need to make some decisions regarding finished ride height, rear axle location/suspension (buggy spring? coil-overs?), engine/transmission placement, etc. since those items will affect suspension mounting points. California Custom Roadsters, Spirit Cars (both tbucketeer sponsors), and Speedway publish plans for building a t-bucket. It would help if you have an example of what you hope to wind up with - someone's car that you really like, or a picture of one. That would give you an idea for your build, a style that suits you. :)

(This is mine.)
View attachment 15924
Click to expand...

Hm guess I havent really thought about all the yet. My grandpa had all the suspension parts already so im not sure what he was going to acheive. I took the parts to Pete and Jakes Hotrod shop located in Peculiar, MO. ( Not sure if anyone here has heard of them) But its were my grandpa bought all the suspension parts at. Id post some pics but I havent made 10 post yet. (may just go post 10 random post so I can post some pics lol)

I know what powertrain im going to be using but I dont have it just yet. My goal was to get the frame done with all the brackets on it, get the motor and mount the motor mount brackets and then get the frame powder coated. But from what it sounds like is I need to get my power train first.

How high does your bucket sit off the ground? I think I want to do mine a little lower. There is a car I really like and want to go off but its not a tbucket lol but im somewhat going off it and another tbucket I like. Again, when I can post some pics is when I will do so. I like more of a slick look, not the traditional look exactly. So what do I do at this piont exactly since I have the frame done?
 
HenrysT said:
5" drop is low, I Don't Know how low you want to go but keep in mind the scrub line. There are a few T-bucket frame plans on the web Youngster's and CCR are a couple. I would go with loooong front radius rods, try to get them to mount to the frame where the steering box mounts to the frame (traditional steering) or if your doing cross steer, still leave it long, (Ron Pope can make any length you need) or if you are going to use 4 bars, just about any length (~ 20"-30") will do. The spring perch, bat wings and where the spring will be on the axle (above, behind) will more or less dictate where the axle will be going.
Hold off on the shock mounts until you finalize everything else on the front but still keep it in mind while you're installing tie rods and the drag link.
Click to expand...

What exactly is a scrub line lol Ive actually been building my frame off the CCR plans. but there front axle is different than mine. I wish I could post a picture of it up but im not able to post pictures just yet. Thats what those are called, radius rods lol. I actually already have radius arms that my grandpa had already bought. I can measure them to see how long they are, are they measured just end to end?

I already have the full suspension for this car except shocks/springs and the rear axle.
 
Your scrub line is usually the lowest point on your bucket that would hit if you went over a big bump or hole. I'm sure somebody will explain it better.
 
Be careful, only forged I-beams can be welded on. If you have the Pete & Jakes components, they sell the batwings that go onto an axle with perch bosses and mount the spring behind the axle. This front end went onto a CCR chassis.
Hope this helps.

I-Beam Axle, Spring Behind Front end (1) szd.jpg I-Beam Axle, Spring Behind Front end (4) szd.jpg
 
RESINATOR said:
Be careful, only forged I-beams can be welded on. If you have the Pete & Jakes components, they sell the batwings that go onto an axle with perch bosses and mount the spring behind the axle. This front end went onto a CCR chassis.
Hope this helps.

View attachment 15930 View attachment 15931
Click to expand...

I actually dont need bat wings. My axle has holes through them and i have something that is like a bat wing but just bolts through the frame. Ill attach a picture as soon as I can
 
Sorry about that link posted. Was seeing if I could finally post pictures and I can!
So here is my front suspension and my car so far.

20190114_231526_zpsb9r2bfh9.jpg

20190114_231515_zpsmi2evp6l.jpg
 
You are good to go! Those other brackets are head light/shock brackets. You can use eather a dropped front spring perch or standers perch. With that high arch spring I would use the
Dropped perch. I like the car low. That is the beauty of these cars. What ever you like you can do. You should have a bracket that bolts below the spring perch for the shock somewhere.
 
Good looking hardware there, Irish. I'm with ORF - go with the drop spring perch for a little lower ride height. You have what we call a "spring over-the-axle" front end. Nice!
 
The scrub line is an imaginary line, the bottom of your oil pan is not. My lowest T-bucket pan has 4" of ground clearance and has never been a problem. Your mileage may vary.
 
Thanks for that information guys! Yes I would like a little lower ride height. So ill get that low ride height perch for my bracket for the leaf.
But i cant seem to find these brackets for the radius arms? My front arms are 30" and my rear ones are 32" in length.

But someone was saying that I need to get my engine and see where I am going to put that first before I mount my suspension. I know what im going to use and already have it lined up, just dont have it yet. But Id really like to get as much as the suspension that I can done and then start working on the motor mounts and placement.

Ill prolly get a little backlash from this but I plan on using an LQ4 small block. Its available to me and cheap for me to get from a buddy.
 
old round fart said:
You are good to go! Those other brackets are head light/shock brackets. You can use eather a dropped front spring perch or standers perch. With that high arch spring I would use the
Dropped perch. I like the car low. That is the beauty of these cars. What ever you like you can do. You should have a bracket that bolts below the spring perch for the shock somewhere.
Click to expand...

I like the car low too lol I do have those brackets actually, but unfortunanly I dont have the nuts to bolt them on to the bottom of the spring perch. Maybe someone can piont me to the nuts I need and I can get them purchased? Im going to order that low ride leaf off speedway today. Id like to get those nuts and the brackets to weld onto the frame for the radius arms too.

Thanks!

20190116_122554_zpsulczzsop.jpg

20190116_122559_zpsy7v005d5.jpg
 
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