Could you raise the ibeam mounting point?

[MadMaxetc]

I'm no engineer

I am!

If there's one thing that someone really needs to engineer, it's a good set of drop spindles.

I am listening...

I don't know this for sure but I suspect that drop spindles simply will not work efficiently for the I-beam/king pin style setups(twin I-beam or single I-beam). Don't take me wrong - it could probably be done but it would be more than just making a drop spindle with the spindle shaft repositioned higher.

(and the other stuff he said...)

All true, but...

let me state that I have not performed any calculations etc regarding this

Maybe I could do that. I work on CATIA all day and work with some of the best Stress Engineers in the Aircraft Biz. AND I have a set of I-Beams and Spindles just sitting around...

I will talk to them some time about it...

BACK TO THE QUESTION...

You could move the axle pivot up...but you would have to move all related parts with it.

You would have to cut some of the coils out of the spring.
You would have to notch the crossmember to allow clearance with the I's
You would have to change the drop on the pitman arm.
You might also have to notch out the frame above the bumpstops.

Oh and you would have to be sure to clear the oil pan on your engine.

That is a lot of work to keep the I-beams

PS: Engineers went to school for math and physics...not spelling and grammar.

[325hotford]

If I were to start a project as you are talking about, I would Z the frame. This would consist of cutting the front off the frame near the firewall and welding it back with ever how much drop you want in it.The trans tunnel and frame horns [bumper brackets] would have to be rebuilt also.It would be a lot of work, but could be done. The suspension could be stock-stock ride -stock steering- all FORD.

[layedout72]

you would just have to raise the crossmember/arm mounts up, frme horn and rails stay the same. for a Z that is, just plate everything strong and your good to go, this DOES raise the motor obviously though, however much "drop" is how much the motor raises.

[xxxtina63]

YEAH!!! That's what I'm talkin about! An engineer who can make our dreams come true. And he likes the bumps.

[layedout72]

What you could do, to make it a pretty easy thing to do, is welde some 2x2 square tubing to the bottom side of the frame, where it is against the frame horns and frame, so when you cut the x-member out, the tubing holds the horns in place as if nothing was ever cut. Move the crossmember up, plate everything, and your done.... Set it back on the ground and your good to go May have to mess with steering stuff though?

[dablack00]

Yall are talking about some serious drop. I'm only looking for maybe 3 to 4 inches. I think I can do that w/ a pivot point raise and some cut springs. I'm going to look into it. I will take lots of pictures if I do it.

I'm still kicking myself. About two years ago I picked up a 74 lincoln Mark IV for $200. It had a 460/C6 4 wheel disk brakes, hydro-boost brakes and drove like a dream. The only problem w/ the thing was it was about to rust in half. I parted it out, sold the motor/trans for $500, interior bits for $200, exterior bits for $120, and the roller for $65. I should have kept the roller and used the front and rear suspension/frame. It would have been perfect. GRRRRRRRRR!

Austin

[layedout72]

raising the pivots and cutting the springs is going to make you ride on the crossmember, with no suspension travel what so ever. You only have ~6 inches clearance as it is. You move the pivot higher, that not only ruins clearance at the pivot end, but also where the beam goes up into the crossmember. Not to mention the cut springs with make it even worse. If it was a matter of raising the pivot point, it would have been done already.

I have thought about every way possible to get around going IFS I think, and they all have downfalls, and none of them have positives. I would just flip the shackles out back, and cut the springs to match. All that hard work and cutting things up under the front of the truck to have it not work...

Im not trying to be a jerk, but I don't see it working, let alone being safe to drive on.

[dablack00]

Your not being a jerk at all. I only looked it it for a couple of minutes. I see what you are saying. I'm at work now and will go look at it when I get home today. I'm sure you are right. I was just throwing it out there to see if it had been done and what were the downfalls.

thanks
Austin

[AustinTom]

I had a engineer buddy look at the numbers briefly for the drop spindle. The forces on the lower bushing would be reduced slighly, and the forces on the upper would be increased greatly. Of course I lost the paper with all the numbers on it but I could have him do it again if you guys want.

The way he explained it to me was the the lateral load of the stock upper bushing would be transformed into a torsional load (essentially making the upper bushing a pivot point), which would wear extremely fast. After the upper tolerances are gone, the lower would become that pivot point and it, too, would go.

As snake pointed out, the neutral location of the stock spindle setup is the only safe way to go without redesigning the whole suspension.

[theskytoucher]

I am no engineer but what if when you made the new spindle you made bushings farther apart made a "spacer" and longer king pins. This way you could still keep the spindle centered between the bushing and still have whatever drop you wanted which could be changed by just making longer king pins and "spacers"
Any ideas on this one?

[xxxtina63]

I am no engineer but what if when you made the new spindle you made bushings farther apart made a "spacer" and longer king pins. This way you could still keep the spindle centered between the bushing and still have whatever drop you wanted which could be changed by just making longer king pins and "spacers"
Any ideas on this one?

Good idea, but I think that as the length of the kingpin and spacers increase, so would the stress on the parts (kingpins). Having everything really close together keeps stress to a minimum. The farther away they are, the better the chance of them shearing off.

[layedout72]

If someone REALLY REALLY wants them, over on streetsourcemag.com there is a guy that goes by the name of "BioMax" and he says he could get the truck on the ground still using the twin I beam setup. He said for daily driving it may not have the BEST driving characteristics, but it would work.

[snake]

Regarding Skytoucher's idea of the longer kingpin and taller spindle....

That' kinda what I was getting at as an option but I think the I-beam would also have to be taller. If the I-beam stayed stock with a longer kin pin and a taller spindle to keep the spindle shaft centered, the wear issues would be better but you know potentially have a bending issue with the king pin.

The aftermarket drop I-beams are already available so offering another version of those with 'taller' bushing spacings may be a viable option. Drop spindles could be used in conjunction with a modified drop Ibeam. Again, I kinda allluded to this earlier when mentioning that it just snow-balls from one piece to the next and obviously gets more expensive along the way too.......

[marz68]

I need to look for the pictures but I saw a guy who built his own I beams for his 90 ford explorer that put his SUV on the ground. Give me some time and I will find them.