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Hey. Name is Darren. While I am not building a T Bucket, I am building a Bantam, the cousin of a T Bucket... of sorts. Bought the body a few years ago for a project that never got off the ground. Recently I spoke with someone with a 60's Studebaker gasser. While surfing online, I found pictures of Altered Bantams, both street and race cars. Found new inspiration and began building a frame this week. I will be posting photos and asking questions. Bantams and T Bucket are similar, but each have their own unique difficulties. Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum from Oklahoma. Your build sounds interesting. I have ladder bars on my delivery, shown in avatar. Nothing wrong with them, but in saying that I would much rather have the 4 bar. It seems that what ever the left rear wheel does to the suspension, the right side has to try to copy. That stresses things it seems to me. I used 4 bar twice before and it was smoother and no binding.
Now that I have said that, let the flames start.

 

Welome, Darren. While this is a T-bucket forum, we welcome our "cousins" in the hotrod world, and I think a Bantam qualifies. What is your choice for motivation?

 

After looking at the Bantam in Speedway catalog, you're talking about a roadster, more like the one pictured here . . .

 

Welcome Darren. Always been a fan of the altered bantams. Used to love watching them race.

 

Thanks for the welcome. Spanky, you're correct, though I plan to use a reverse rake to get that gasser look. I met a guy with a Studebaker gasser. Something about it intrigued me. Could not afford his so... What I am planning will be like the photo below, but without the driver roll cage and seating for two. I actually thought about building a lakester style bucket years ago but work/money were not on my side at the time. I have posted a question on the Suspension Thread. Please take a look and comment.

 

Welcome to the forum from Oklahoma x2 !

 

Welcome from Ocala, Florida

 

Welcome home from Oklahoma X4!

 

I appreciate the greetings.

 

No Ranting... Takes to much energy.
The stress you are feeling is torque steer. Think of ladder bars and the rear housing as a big anti-roll bar system which is exactly what it is. On acceleration the right rear corner wants to go down and the left front wants to go up' Since the ladder bars are a trussed tube component they are very stiff. Most bucket frames are usually 3 inches tall and lack much inner structure to resist twisting. The more power you have the worse the reaction you have. Before the Pro Stock cars ran anti- roll bars on the rear suspension the right rear would about bottom out the shock and the left front fender would be climbing for the sky. Ladder bars are really a poor design for street use. Work good for drag racing but the current four links are still the king for tuning the car. We did build a torque Arm Arm system for a pro stock car some years ago but still had issues with torque curve change as car went through the gear. Probably could have worked it out over time but the team owner was still without a sponsor and didn't have the time to keep testing it. I might try posting a few pictures later but this was before the digital camera/cell phone days.

So this bring us to hairpin style tubular front and rear hot rod designs. They see the same kinds of loading. It is my opinion that they survive due to the lower stress levels. I think they probably do twist to some degree and even bow in longer bar at times. Someone here several days ago showed one that appeared to be longer then normal and had no bracing of any kind. The right side lower tube looked like it buckled at the front just before the bend that tied the two tubes together That tube was in compression and trying to lift the car at that point. Most hairpins I have seen are usually are 1.0” diameter and just don't take much to cause failures in poor designs.

So this bring us to hairpin style tubular front and rear hot rod designs. They see the same kinds of loading. It is my opinion that they survive due to the lower stress levels. I think they probably do twist to some degree and even bow in longer bar at times. Someone here several days ago showed one that appeared to be longer then normal and had no bracing of any kind. The right side lower tube looked like it buckled at the front just before the bend that tied the two tubes together That tube was in compression and trying to lift the car at that point. Most hairpins I have seen are usually are 1.0” diameter and just don't take much to cause failures in poor designs.

My aim is not to unload or embarrass anyone here. These observations are just basic design issues that are the same for no matter how big or massive that apply to all such applications across the spectrum. There is no shame in not know but standing over someones grave site is something that no one here would be interested in having to do.


Again, these are just my opinions and I will be glad to discuss it with anyone that wants to. Hopefully I will start laying out the car that I have been thinking about for a number of years later this year. Just have to finish a couple of projects and figure out how to pay for it. Thanks for putting up my ole carcass.


George

 

i'll be watching this thread for sure.