Nerd Rods, 55-59 Truck Frame Project 1956, C4 suspension, 5.3L Auto, Kit Frame Design

[Hotrod1]

Very Nice!

What size tires will you be able to run all the way around?

[rat_rod_russell]

Originally Posted by Hotrod1

Very Nice!

What size tires will you be able to run all the way around?

Fronts are an easy 275, 295 with some light mods but I'm going to try and make 305's work for the hard core guys. Back will also probably handle a 275 without much, if any modification but these trucks are 74" wide so 345's are only a few minor modifications away on a step side. And for the pro drag guys just install a stick axle over the Corvette IRS and put your trash can wide tires up under there or get the fiberglass +3" fenders and have all the tires up under there. I want to see dually wheels with 345's.

Later
-Russell @ Nerd Rods

[fleet]

Russell,

Way to...

[rat_rod_russell]

I had to do some modifications to the exhaust on this one that took longer than expected. So with that the chassis is completed and I got a last set of photos before the body goes on one last time.

Easy viewing gallery here.
http://gallery.nerdrods.com/Product/CP5559C4/S3.01/

[rat_rod_russell]

Later
-Russell @ Nerd Rods

[rat_rod_russell]

http://gallery.nerdrods.com/Customers/CP5559C4/0001 - George W/07

Well this has been a long time coming. Sorry for the delay. Customer had some changes, so I had to warp up the projects in front of him before I could continue on this project. Its not fair to the guys who have been waiting when the guy in the middle suddenly goes. "I want to add this"

So! Its got all the sheetmetal on there. Got some good photos outside while we were cleaning the shop the other day. This beast needs its wiring and then its time to drive it!

Gallery link at the top. Highlight photos here.


Later
-Russell

[rat_rod_russell]

Busy busy busy. We're booked out through the summer so I keep forgetting to post updates.

All the photos are here

http://gallery.nerdrods.com/Product/CP5559C4/S4.01/

But here are a few details as well. We shipped two of these out a few weeks back and we're knee deep in a few other projects.





LS3 Connect and Cruise, 480 HP kit, PRC Radiator Core Support, C4 Corvette Suspension, QA1 Double Adjustable Coil Over Shocks, Front and rear swaybars, Stainless Steel 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust, Flow masters delta 50 series mufflers, and my new billet shock mounts and exhaust hangers.

Later
-Russell @ Nerd Rods

[rat_rod_russell]

This worked out much better than the previous one. The customer is trying to get by a cheap as possible but when the intake air temps were the same as the operating temp the engine wouldn't run almost at all. So we made it a real cold air intake this time to solve that problem.

Note two, when it got up to temp the fans didn't come on. If you started with a truck engine that had a mechanical fan then the electric fan controls are disabled in the software. So that was fun to figure out. If you get no ground signal at your fan relay then you know its the tune file.

A few other things to do then its time to blow it apart and make it pretty.









So close to being done!
-Russell

[rat_rod_russell]

Fortunately its highly functional. It was 103°F the other day and the ITA Temp Sensor right by the TB showed 100°F driving around town while the engine was sitting at 195°F with both fans feathering off and on as necessary. So for this project that's missions accomplished.




And so it begins! 100 mile shake down complete! Taking a few things off to look for problems and then install new goodies to test and evaluate. She gets closer to going home with each little bit of work.

Custom Ackerman steering arms are going on with this round and the sway bar modifications and new linkages as well.

Later
-Russell @ Nerd Rods

[rat_rod_russell]

First, I was correct, the inner tie rods on the truck were not correct. They were the 84-87's on an 88-96 rack. That's why I had to cut them. So that will probably be an easy fix. Here are a few shots from another chassis in the shop with the steering arms bolted up.





Down side this only has 14mm of thread engagement on the rod end. While "the diameter of the shaft" in threads worth of engagement is acceptable by most books this just doesn't feel like enough for an almost all tension stress. So I'll probably still replace the end. Go to a male 14mm rod end and have a 14mm threaded sleeve made for the two the both thread in from each end. Cut a little off the rack and pinion's inner tie rod and call it much safer for the kit.


Now the report on the steering and driving feel.

I have put a few miles on the truck around town and on a longer trip to the Austin Cars and Coffee this last Sunday. The verdict at the moment is that it feels much better now that you are not fighting the steering with each turn but the turning radius is only slightly improved. Noticeably improved but not completely. I feel like its good enough for most customers since the "fighting steering wheel" feel is gone but it could be better. I've not gone back to my "test site" because of the local carnival is in town and the ferris wheel is right in the middle of the concrete I use for that particular test. The butt measuring tape says 4-8 feet tighter since the wheels aren't fighting each other any more but I won't say any more till I get an accurate testable metric to confirm.



I'm going to try one more prototype on the red truck with a "drift racer" trick and shorten the arm length to increase the angle of the steering arm. This isn't the best way to get more turning radius since it also creates "Ackerman migration" that exacerbates the farther you turn but if guys have happily been suffering bad Ackerman and bad turning radius this whole time I think Bad Ackerman and an acceptable turning radius are more desirable outcome. We'll see what I can do. I need to fix up a computer to start plugging in numbers to my suspension geometry program and see what I can do with the pivot location to make this workable.

Also find me on Instagram or Facebook for some daily updates user name NerdRods on both.

Later
-Russell @ Nerd Rods