Rear suspension for '50s rods?

[Richard Bartrop]

I'm building Revell's '29 A Roadster as a late '50s style rod, and I want to convert the rear axle to something more period correct.   Since it has a blown hemi up front,  my thought is something that could do double duty on the drag strip as well a on the street.  I'm thinking a Halibrand quick change differential, and either coils or a transverse leaf spring.  My big question has to do with linking it to the rest of the car.   My first inclination is a 4 link setup, and apparently the Ramchargers started using this setup back in the late 50s, but I'm wondering how accurate this would be for a street rod?   There's the old tried and true Ford torque tube, but would that be up to the task?   There are a few people in the group who have experience with hot rods and dragsters, and I was hoping I could pick their brains for an authentic looking solution for ensuring the power gets to the pavement.

[Ace-Garageguy]

For the '50s, split wishbones and the torque tube are going to be the most prevalent setup.

The forward wishbone ends are "split" away from the front of the tube, and relocated to brackets on the frame rails or a crossmember. The rear ends of the wishbones may be relocated inboard on the axle housing as well, to eliminate interference between the bones and frame rails when lowering the car.

In this instance, both the torque tube and the bones still resist axle torque, as Henry intended, but there's often binding interference between the pivot points of the bones and the front joint of the torque tube.

The quick-change center sections were available with either a "closed" driveline coupling to a torque-tube, or an "open" driveline coupling to a universal joint.

When a universal-equipped driveshaft is used (for example, an engine and gearbox swap from a car that had an open driveline), the wishbones still resist axle torque, but they're not strong enough to do it alone. Breakage was common.

Reinforced or completely redesigned and fabricated wishbones (or trailing arms) were fabricated to cure the problem.

In many instances, the buggy spring and shackle setup is not sufficient to control side-to-side motion when the car is lowered, and "sway bars" or Panhard rods have to be employed to control same.

Parallel quarter-elliptic springs in the rear are another possible solution, for an open driveline.

When you get into swapping rear crossmembers and springs for QC clearance, and the actual suspension itself (including coil springs, which were indeed coming into use) it gets complex, and there's enough to know and consider to easily fill a book.

Have a look at this thread for some more info on a period open driveline with a QC and buggy spring:

 

Edited July 26, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Richard Bartrop]

Thanks!  This is exactly the sort of info I was looking for.-

[Ace-Garageguy]

You're very welcome. Glad to help.