Front suspension and forward frame rail mounting. Your thoughts please.

[SpeedAndViolence]

Currently building the Rev-Mono 69 Dodge Coronet Super Bee. Two of the several prerequisites for this build that I wanted were a:

Lowered stance

Poseable front wheels

The endeavor of achieving these goals, and have them be realistic however, is starting to get a little on the challenging side.

Now that I finally found a set of upper A-arms that I'm happy with, my issue now, is having front frame rails wide enough to accommodate them. See attached photos. 

I had to strengthen the frame rails anyway, but to use these A-arms and have proper overall wheel alignment, I will have to widen the frame rails towards the inside.

 

So here's my question: 

What would be a realistic way to correct this situation? 

I have considered shorting the length of the A-arms, but I did want to have coilovers mounted to the frame rails, and going through the upper A-arms, to the lower, and shortening the -arms may unintentionally eliminate that option. 

Is widening the frame rails an option used in real world situations? (Ive never heard or seen it used.)

If I were to widen the rails, would I widen them all the way back to the forward cross member, or can/ would you widen the rails in the A-arm location, then smooth the transition as it moves toward the rear, eventually terminating to a section of original thickness? 

 

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to post a comment. I look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas. 

 

Edited Saturday at 02:39 AM by SpeedAndViolence

[Ace-Garageguy]

[stitchdup]

theres a nice front suspension for printing that would help you.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/front-suspenson-set-for-1-24-1-25-model-kit

[SpeedAndViolence]

3 hours ago, stitchdup said:

theres a nice front suspension for printing that would help you.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/front-suspenson-set-for-1-24-1-25-model-kit

I'll look around and see if I can find that one. I myself don't have a 3D printer. I appreciate the help. 

If someone here has the above mentioned piece available to purchase, please feel free to PM me. Thanks so much. 

[NOBLNG]

Be careful…if you widen the frame inwards you may create problems for engine and exhaust clearances? If it was me, I would just build mounts inboard for the A-arms at the pivot locations. The motor mounts could double as the forward ones. Just food for thought…I have no clue how it should be done on a 1:1 vehicle and am only somewhat concerned with realism on my builds.

[SpeedAndViolence]

4 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Be careful…if you widen the frame inwards you may create problems for engine and exhaust clearances? If it was me, I would just build mounts inboard for the A-arms at the pivot locations. The motor mounts could double as the forward ones. Just food for thought…I have no clue how it should be done on a 1:1 vehicle and am only somewhat concerned with realism on my builds.

I did consider engine/header clearance, but only briefly. So thanks for the reminder. I have not mocked up the powerplant yet, because I'm on the fence between a Hellephant, or a Magnuson supercharged 426.

Regardless of which engine, it will have header's. Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. Based on the responses, it appears my options are limited. 

Edited Saturday at 06:14 PM by SpeedAndViolence

[Mark]

I'm seeing another problem.  With the outer end of the A-arm (pivot point for the spindles) so close to the frame rail, there won't be much room for the wheels to turn, which will create one heck of a huge turning radius.  

Looks like you want really wide front wheels with a really deep offset.  The thing to do here is to find 1:1 cars of similar size with a similar setup, and copy the setup on those.

[NOBLNG]

I’ve found that every modification requires a counter-modification.🤯

Edited yesterday at 12:27 AM by NOBLNG

[SpeedAndViolence]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

I'm seeing another problem.  With the outer end of the A-arm (pivot point for the spindles) so close to the frame rail, there won't be much room for the wheels to turn, which will create one heck of a huge turning radius.  

Looks like you want really wide front wheels with a really deep offset.  The thing to do here is to find 1:1 cars of similar size with a similar setup, and copy the setup on those.

I actually didn't think that the offset was *that* deep 😁

The original issue was, that the using the kit parts 'as is', put the outside of the tire up against the inside of the fenderwell. So I then opted to carefully pull in and create new spindle pivot point locations.

When I went to replace the original kit supplied A-arms, that I very carefully shaved from the top of the frame rails, they looked woefully inadequate.

 

I want my A-arms like I like my grilled burgers...*much beefier*.  But by doing so, I've ran into this conundrum. 

I went ahead and ordered the Iceman Collections 'Front End Tube Chassis':

 

I'm still open to any ideas to be offered however...  Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

Edited yesterday at 02:26 AM by SpeedAndViolence