The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop DROPPED 1951 chevy truck

IT's done... I used the 4 inch dropped axle from www.droppedaxles.com thanks SID...
I used 6 leaf springs on each side...
I shortened my pitman arm 4 inches...(SID please make one to sell with the axle... your skills are great and it would look really good)
the truck takes 5.25 turns from lock to lock...
NO loss of turning radius... NO rubbing on the tires... the wheel is EASIER to turn... feels a bit loose..I need an alignment...I will do it after I get my new pitman arm ball...it appears to be a bit worn..
Interior
Drivers Side
Front

It should be much easier to turn because you have sacrificed speed for mechanical advantage by shortening the Pitman arm. The turn radius should have increased unless you didn't run out of sector gear before hitting the stops.

mike i would like to see a picture posted of the shorten pitman arm

I will post a pic of it when I pull it to put the new ball stud on there... I ordered one and it will be here saturday... Basically I just took it to A-1 hotrods and had them take out 4 inches.. they beveled it and welded it back together... it spent the night 12 + hours cooling in a fan box nice and slow... I need to grind the welds a bit for it to be pretty, but it is strong as heck...

i have a 4 inch dropped axle for my 49 suburban, i want it to look old school style (no mustang II)i have not installed it yet, i am also running 16 inch wheels. Are you running the tie rod above or below the steering arms? i hope to get the running board at the rim level (front and rear) just legal no bags

for your info mike the cost of 3.55 rear gear change is not worth it. open drive is the way to go, you could always have a 5 lug axle drilled to six if there is enough room on the flange or use a six bolt rear end. i put a 8.8 lincoln disc brake rear end with 3.27 ratio i bought a pick a part for $100.00 with the drive shaft. i had collins wheels make multi 5 lug steel 16 inch wheels $65 each. the burb appears stock with 4 wheels power disc brakes hidden behind the steel wheels.

my tie rod... runs above the springs
that is why I shortened the pitman arm...
I may try an experiment and get one cut 2.5 inches..
just to see how different the steering is...
it would still clear the tie rod... which was the initial problem..I could not turn left... the tie rod would bind on the drag link

http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=2098
This is the initial thread which spawned the idea of lowering my truck.. Ethan took some great photos of his truck... they may help...
I got to where he was and shortened my pitman arm..
Put it on and started driving...

I guess I should specify that the pitman arm went into a sand bucket for a while then over night it went into a cooling box...

Nice job..looks great!
Just another option instead of shortening the pitman arm.... When I put the 4" dropped axle in my 48, I just flipped the draglink to the underside of the steering arm and then I heat and bent the steering arms down so that the tierod would clear beneath the leaf springs. Just another way to do it...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c13/rsg2506/dcp_0022-1.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c13/rsg2506/dcp_0007.jpg

-Rich

Here's a few pics of mine when I had the dropped axle in it.

yeah i seriously considered that...
The old timers in my neighborhood... we had a debate about that... the pitman was 50 bux to get it welded and general consensus was it would be easier and once welded properly it would be just as strong...
now I need to decide if the rear needs to come down 2 inches..

I'm willing to bet when you lower that rear and thus affect your caster, your steering will become less easy.

do you think 2 inches will change it that much?
Right now it's REALLY easy... I almost thought about making a pitman arm with 2.5 inches taken out to see if I could make it bit tighter..

I'd mess around with the caster shims before I tried a hit-or-miss with pitman arm length. If your pitman arm isn't giving you bumpsteer problems I'd leave that part alone.

nope, no bump steer at all... I know I can clear with a slightly longer one...when I put it all together I rested the truck on jack stands on the axles to simulate the weight when on the tires...
I let it settle for a few days and then went to town on measuring and adjusting..
now to sound stupid... caster shims are the ones between the king pins and the spindle and axle or what? I am good at taking things apart and putting them together and making them work, I just an still learning the correct names for certain parts..
I will get the whole mess aligned when I'm done...
right now I have about an eight of an inch of toe in...

Thanks for all the discussion on the dropped axle as I am in the middle of mine on my '47 right now. Just got finshed with the spring cleaning and removing two leafs with six remainaing and installed the spring glide from Speedway and new CB3 spring bolts and 5 degree caster shims from NAPA. Next is the kingpin change over. I have got to get this core back to Sid. He was kind enough to drop it by on his way back from the LA Roadster Show where he had a truck load of axles he had dropped. Good thing is he only lives ten miles from my home. Keep him in mind for other old car parts. His collection is nearing speedy Smith! HA! Thanks again guys for all the info.

I need to put my caster shims back in...
I have 4 degrees negative caster.. kinda sketchy
I am lowering my rear two inches and I also learned from the alignment shop that I need to shorten my tie rod by about an inch...

Mike, thanks for posting the pics, really looks good. All the info has really helped on my project. What sixe tire are you running front and rear? I have front 205-75-15 and rear 235-75-15, wondering if they will rub. I have 4 inch blocks for the rear, but that is next weeks project........too much block? help?

Man oh man! That pitman arm is on there! I got my posilock puller in a serious load and nothing! Will try again tomorrow and may have to break out my little friend, the smoke wrench!

I will look at my tires and let you know, I have no rubbing, though for some reason my passenger side wheel is closer to the fender than the drivers side.. I have to measure, and check on it all..
I know I have a bad shackle... that may cause it...

Finally got the lil bastard off and got a new shaft seal from NAPA, had it in stock, thank you! I am just about done cleaning and ready to go back together this week! Looks like to use the proper caster shims I will need to rosebud the steering arms a little to clear the springs as they now go over the spring pack.

Hey Guys! Looking good!! Glad you all like my axles I dropped for you. Thanks for all your help in putting the word out for me. I owe you all big time! Let me know if you ever need anything. Thanks SID

the whole body is tweaked to the drivers side, I guess after 56 years of drivin the body mounts musta slipped.. when I lowered the truck I noticed it..
I did some cosmetic stuff and rust preventative stuff this week.. $6 rattle can paint on the roof, till I can afford a real paint job... and I started to strip the paint off the grill
the previous owner painted this thing with latex house paint, when I used my paint stripper on it, it started to melt and reattach itself in other spots... So I sanded as best I could and painted over it... it's temporary and will keep my truck from rustin this winter..the fenders will match the roof soon, then the body gets grey primer... the bumpers I am thinkin white
Passenger Front Quarter
Passenger Rear Quarter
Grill

Mike,

Your truck is the epitome of "fun". I find it real interesting that your hot rod shop sectioned and welded your pitman arm. This should let others know that when done properly, this procedure is 100% safe...safe enough to lay your business on the line. Have fun with your slammed AD.

Stuart

I love my truck, it's all I have.
I do 99% of the work myself..
But I am not the best welder, so having a pro do the pitman was the best possible option. I know he beveled the edge and cooled it in sand...
plus he is a member of our car club (the lonely knights) So he does have a rep to maintain..
I will take photos when I do the rear with the lowering blocks.. 2 inches to be exact..
I still need to give credit to sid for making an affordable authentic dropped axle

Mike, when I lowered my truck I got the left side sitting lower too. It wasn't previously.
I have measured alot, disconnected the sway bars, and am going to try the shocks next but they seem to travel ok. Any ideas from anyone?

mine had one more leaf spring on the passenger side...when I removed it I think that caused it to sit a bit lower..( i wanted 6 remaining on each side) springs wear at different rates and over time one side may drop lower..I replaced my shocks,(NAPA has them) my shackles are really bad... I noticed when my axle was off they wiggled...and one of the front ones sat straight up and down and the passenger side one sat at a 45 degree angle forward, that would cause some drop in ride height..
This is now just another thing on the list of parts to upgrade and replace..
but my WHEELS all sit over to the driver's side... front and rear..
I spoke with some some friends who know old cars, they said the bodies were never put on straight from the factory...

About to install my front springs (6 pack) and realized with the 6 degree shims I would have to use 4 SAE flat washers under the CB3 spring pin bolt for the heads to protrude thru the shim. It appears that they understood this as the shims are just perfect for the SAE washers OD. Now to install the axle and start looking at the steering arm geometery.