Grafting Two X Frames Together

boxerdog

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
Jim, trust me, I am thoroughly impressed by the way you approached this job; I wish I had that kind of skills. One suggestion I might make is that you could whip up a set of braces similar to the Global West pieces (link attached). It would strengthen the upper mounting points and flimsy stock crossmember, it would also bridge the connection seam. I think it would be a very inexpensive addition and pretty easy to add at this point. Of course I am just an observer on the sidelines, keep up the good work.

https://www.globalwest.net/ts-84l.html
 

Jim Sullivan

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
Jim, trust me, I am thoroughly impressed by the way you approached this job; I wish I had that kind of skills. One suggestion I might make is that you could whip up a set of braces similar to the Global West pieces (link attached). It would strengthen the upper mounting points and flimsy stock crossmember, it would also bridge the connection seam. I think it would be a very inexpensive addition and pretty easy to add at this point. Of course I am just an observer on the sidelines, keep up the good work.

https://www.globalwest.net/ts-84l.html
Thanks for the link Dave. Reinforcing brackets are on my to do list. I'm not sure if I will use a design like you linked to or just some plates that bolt to the upper arm mount and weld to the inside of the frame rail. Decisions decisions.
 

Jim Sullivan

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
I decided to go with 1/8" plate for the crossmember brace. The dom tubing would need to be bent and my bender wouldn't handle it. IMG_20200829_082745.jpgIMG_20200829_115404.jpgIMG_20200829_115412.jpgIMG_20200829_130456.jpgIMG_20200829_130512.jpgIMG_20200829_130508.jpg

IMG_20200829_130502.jpg
One thing I found out was that the driver side upper control arm mounts 1/2" in farther than the passenger side. Can't figure that one out. Now to bolt the rear back in to make it a roller again, then its out of the shop for now. I'll be adding more bracing at a later date.
 

62bubble

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I was thinking about the difference in the distance between the left and right upper control arm mounts. I believe it may have something to do with the location of the brace that is attached to the axle housing for the second upper rear control arm , because of the difference of the length of the rear axles. I believe that brace is located very close to the differential pumpkin for a reason???? Someone here will probably know the right answer...
 

63 dream'n

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 4
I decided to go with 1/8" plate for the crossmember brace. The dom tubing would need to be bent and my bender wouldn't handle it. View attachment 85965View attachment 85966View attachment 85967View attachment 85969View attachment 85970View attachment 85971

View attachment 85968
One thing I found out was that the driver side upper control arm mounts 1/2" in farther than the passenger side. Can't figure that one out. Now to bolt the rear back in to make it a roller again, then its out of the shop for now. I'll be adding more bracing at a later date.

Is the offset of the drive shaft through the tunnel 1/2 inch further One Direction or the other ......???
 

Jim Sullivan

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
Mike and I pulled the rear brakes off before the frame is put back in the "holding" area. Besides the front disc set up, the rear brakes were almost new with new wheel cylinders. Only problem the shoes were installed with both primaries on the driver side and the secondaries on the passenger side. I've seen that several times before. I wondered why the brakes were dragging on the pass
side with the adjuster backed all of the way off.
IMG_20200829_143443.jpgIMG_20200829_143425.jpg
 

Junky

Well Known Member
I had a car (1963 Chrysler New Yorker ambulance) that had a brake job done on it by someone that installed the brakes that way, except that they had done a 4 wheel brake job.. New cylinders all around, and all the primary shoes on the front wheels, and all the secondary shoes on the rear wheels. When the car didn't stop well, they moved onto replacing the master cylinder and the brake booster. Then the car wouldn't stop very well at all. The fire department decided to replace the car, since it had been in service for 20 years, and a member of the fire department purchased it, and stored it for many years, never doing anything with it. I purchased it from him when he retired and sold the property. I quickly found the shoe problem, but the booster problem didn't reveal itself for a few weeks, since the booster checked out OK as to working. Spoke to Booster Dewey, and he suggest that it might have the wrong push rod installed, and he sent me a longer rod. That didn't work either. Only realized what the problem was, when looking at the service manual, and realized that the booster in the picture, wasn't what was on the car. Found a correct booster, and had it rebuilt by Booster Dewey, installed it and the brakes worked again.
Along the way, I had replaced the wheel cylinders with "Made in China" cylinders from the auto parts store, and after bleeding the brakes, the next morning I found that one of the cylinders leaked, and spilled brake fluid on ramp of my lift. Replaced all 4 cylinders with "Made in the USA" nos cylinders found on eBay. When they came, I disassembled them, washed all the parts with brake cleaner, and reassembled with fresh assembly fluid, and installed them. Filled the system with DOT 5 silicone brake fluid, and the car still stops perfectly to this day. Sold the car to a friend, and he still loves to drive it. At over 8000 pounds, it just doesn't stop on a dime, unless that dime is in some pedestrians pocket!

1963-Chrysler-New-Yorker.jpg
 
Top