slip joint fed

[wideopen231]

Anyone on site running FED with slipjoint chassis I would love to get aosme info.

Im build 225" fed that at presetn is setup with tow slip joint sctions. One in fornt of motor. one about 2 feet behing front axle centerline.  Both are setup to be slip joint or quick bolt makes them rigid.Top tubes are sleaved at diaganols/upright(20*). Joint infront of motor also has bottom rail bolted in.I can pull 2 or 4 bolts disconnect fuel lines pull 1 bolt from steering and have car in 2 peices.Garage onlt 22' deep car has to go corner to corner.This little feature allows me to store and work on car easier,plus I figured out how to make it into altered with just another front clip or for about cpl hundered bucks I can have shorter fed if wanted(why i would I don't know).
 I have cpl pics in fed section of where Im at and yes donations will be accepted.

[Larry Gocha]

Wide open do you have any close up pic's of the way your doing your slip joints and are you going to run a glide or a clutch.

[wideopen231]

Runniing glide for now,But there are two pedal clutchs on self sitting next to a titainium housing..I plan to mainly bracket and maybe some nostaligia stuff.

 I dont have close up pics. but quick run down.

  Top tube slips where it steps down in front of motor. I basicall sleaved top rail and then also sleaves the step down for about 6 inches. I then drilled thru all 4 and have bolt that I can use to make it ridgid mount. Diaganols are layed back 20* they are welded to 4" sleaves that are rose budded at bottom and the tops are free floating to allow top to slide..The diaganol between at that point also slip(or will). I have stops welded into both top rail and diagonals.  I will be adding limiters soon.

  I was told that Parks has the uprights slipjointed buyt have no called him yet on it. If need be I can easily make  them so. Great part about top rail floating Is I can pull it out and rework the uprights if needed. Im setting everything so I can make the slipjoints rigid if I want in few seconds.
  I'll try to get some pics tomorrow if I can get all the detail in them.

  I had to try them lasty week so I broke all the clamps loose except front. I pulled top of chassis bottom bowed up 2" and top moved out 3/8 " I thought man this cool as he11.Then it took me 2 hrs to get it rejigged and dbl check every measurement and square it back up perfect.dang kid inside just will not stay away..

Might get pics by tomorrow after noon.

[rooman]

Most front motor cars are shallow enough between the upper and lower rails to not require slip joints in the rails themselves. Frank and Scott Parks usually mount their uprights (ahead of the motor) on sleeves that are restrained by stop rings. The cross members are connected in the same manner and that allows the car to be a little more flexible in torsion.

Roo

[Magic Mike Denton]

I make slip joint cars. The reason I do it is so I can control the amount of upward movement by how far I slip one tube inside another. I can make the car stiff in some spots and more flexy in others. .058 is the wall thickness I use for doing slip joint cars. Make sure you rosette weld the tubes that slip into one another. Randy Wilson's "Cox and Wilson" Top Fueler is done the same way and it works perfect. Understanding how a chassis works gives you all the advantages you need to make the chassis work. Also the angle of uprights and where they are placed is the key to a car that works. Slip jointing the tubing gives the chassis some style. Also the attachment of the front axle receptacle looks better with 1 1/4" than a bigger piece that really doesn't fit right. Alot of dorks hammer the ends of the tubes to make them fit on to the receptacle, ignorant!
I've been doin slip joint cars for 22yrs and have never had any problems.

[Blind Mule]

Just for kicks some of the Rear Eng. cars have front suspension would that work on a Fed also? Not talking about torsion A solid axle with the rocker or shock deal! Any of you chassis guys done it?

 Thanks
  Randy!

[wideopen231]

You mean like this
.

 Its on Tom Hannas car a piece of art work.

[Blind Mule]

Yea I guess but this is more what I was refering too> http://www.diamondracecars.com/dragster_gallery.html

[rooman]

Alot of dorks hammer the ends of the tubes to make them fit on to the receptacle, ignorant!

I guess that Don Long is a dork then as that is how he did his front motor cars and they were probably the best engineered and constructed front motor frames on the planet. This is the front of Ernie Broughton's Commanche which is a Long clone but I used my real 69 Long as a template. Doing it this way gives the frame a little more vertical spread at the torsion bar and also wraps the rails around the torsion bar tube/ front cross member a little more.



Roo

[Magic Mike Denton]

You can still wrap the upper and lower tubes around the front axle without hammering the tubes down. My way takes more time and effort. Excuses

[Totally T]

DORKS!!

[Blind Mule]

Troy you made it I see

[Totally T]

Been here for a few days....creeper mode.

[wideopen231]

Magic Mike,

 Sounds like we are talking about two different things. Im talking about joint where inner tube is not welded and therefore allowed to slip. 

  From your statment about welding them with rosebud weld it sounds more like stepdown. JMO

[slingshot383]

Blind Mule, in a FED you will have a small weight box with the fuel tank right behind it as close to the torsion bar or front axle as you can get it for weight balance.  That subframe system that you referenced, while nice in operation, would force you to have no weight up front, a bad thing for balance in a fed.