56 Chevy Truck suspension

[Jbm56]

Hey guys I'm new to this site. I'm building a 56 Chevy Truck and I'm wanting to build it similar to the pro touring/Auto cross style. It seems like these suspension's handle the curves and power best. I want my truck to ride really really nice. I doubt I race it but you never know. I'll be running a sbc 350. I have my stock frame that I can put a IFS suspension on. Or I have another frame that already has the gen2 camaro clip welded onto it. So with your guys expertise what would be the best route to go. If the ifs then what setup and brand do you recommend. If you guys think the camaro clip will work what upgrades do you recommend. Thank you so much hope to get some help.

[Twentyover]

I think a good first question is,what's the budget? If the camaroclipis installed square, it's a great front suspension for the price. You can spend a bunch more for less suspension.

Some suggestions on the Camaro variant would be taller lower ball joints (which change bump steer characteristics and improve the camber curve a little. The second is to move the lower balljoint forward to permit an increase in caster. While I did that with aftermarket A-arms (it was quick,but not all aftermarket arms have this feature),you can also achieve it on the cheap with factory A-arms and offset bushings or changing the angle that the A-arm pivots on.

Just my thinkin'- worth what you paid for it

[Slick68]

https://totalcostinvolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1937-1959-chevy-truck-suspension-chassis.pdf

[Jbm56]

https://totalcostinvolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1937-1959-chevy-truck-suspension-chassis.pdf

Which one would be the better ride. If I update the camaro clip with new parts would that be better then going with a aftermarket ifs. I've looked at No Limit and Scotts, but there are also speedway kit and some other that are a lot less then the Scott's style kits. Would those be acceptable

[dontlifttoshift]

I think a good first question is,what's the budget?

.....and what is your skill level?

The answer for those two questions is different for everyone so the advice doesn't interchange.

If you have five bucks and no welder, run the chassis with the camaro clip on it.

If you have many bucks and no welder, buy a chassis from TCI or No Limit.

If you have moderate bucks, a welder, and time to burn, build a fully boxed chassis with parts from No Limit or TCI.

In between those three options, are many, many, more options.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Hey Jbm- Welcome to the forum. Ditto on everything said, what you want, skill, and budget all factor. If this is a full show build a nice after market complete frame would be a great option. For a street cruiser it may be overkill and unnecessary, unless of course a full new chassis is what you want.

All we can all offer is our opinions here, so my opinion is consider working with what you have, especially since the Pro Touring world sounds new to you. Using that Camaro clip starts you off with decent geometry to begin with. Replacement parts like steering linkage are easy and inexpensive to buy too. That clip will handle just about any drivetrain combination GM made and it also opens up a wide range of options, mild to wild for suspension upgrades. We just recently helped a customer also with a '56 truck, a mild street cruiser build, which had a 2nd gen Camaro subframe swap. He bought our Road Assault package and he was excited to call back and tell us it drove and rode great and was super responsive. we've got a pic of it on our FB page- Click here (https://www.facebook.com/Speedtech-Performance-113050685377479/) and scroll down just a few posts.

Consider what makes a pro touring style suspension work well. The basic answer is an upgrade in geometry and shock valving will do wonders over a stock suspension. Then you add in some spring rate through springs and sway bars and things get better. Add a quick ratio steering box and now we're cooking even more. All of this can be done at once or one at a time, depending on budget and what exactly you want the truck to do.

The 70+ Camaro has a better and taller spindle design over previous cars, that's a big advantage right out of the gate. The right set of tubular arms will also help improve geometry and driving experience through caster improvements and as Speedtech arm cross shafts are offset ground they can give you the advantage of more negative camber to work with. Improved bushings also increase responsiveness, we use Delrin because it doesn't really wear out and they don't deform or squeak like poly. Literally you could simply swap control arms and set a good alignment with more aggressive than stock specs and you'd notice a difference in responsiveness and handling with just that. For an upgrade over the stock spindle, we offer our ATS forged aluminum spindle, not a Corvette copy but a totally redesigned with our exclusive geometry spindle that also has the advantage of stronger 2017 Corvette bearing hubs- which might be good idea for the weight of the truck, relocated steering arms for less bumpsteer, 1" drop, and the brake caliper mounts are designed to bolt on any C5 Corvette option from stock 13" to insane after market kits from all the big companies.

Most folks just getting into this don't realize just how important shocks are until you start playing around with them. We use Viking "Warrior" coilovers with all our packages with a couple other different coilovers as options. We don't sell coil springs and "smooth body" shocks because those really limit the ability to get exactly what you want. The Viking coilovers are double adjustable so you can dial in the exact type of ride and performance you want- Cadillac cruiser up to track day killer. It literally take about 3 seconds per shock to totally change the truck's attitude. Another great advantage to a coilover is it gives you full control of ride height. In a case like yours, it's likely the Camaro clip lowered the truck on it's own. If you buy performance lowered springs for a Camaro it might be too low... or not enough. Coil springs can be like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get until you install them and drive around for a while to get them to settle. With a coilover shock you set the exact ride height you want with the simple turn of a couple wrenches, and they're guaranteed to hold their rate for the life of the shock. Coil springs, at least in my personal experience, tend to sag over time, changing your ride height and geometry. Coilovers also have a more accurate spring rate and right off give you rate options to choose from instead of the box of chocolate get what you get standard style coil springs.

We use large diameter tubular sway bars in our Camaro kits. The advantage there is they're lighter weight, and of course the larger higher rate bar really helps firm up the cornering without affecting the normal drive comfort at all.

Finally, with the Camaro frame you can easily upgrade to a quicker steering box that requires less turning of the wheel to hit the corners. No need to try to make a rack and pinion designed for a compact car to do right in a big 'ol truck, a faster ratio steering box is designed for heavier applications like yours especially where you'll be using a bigger tire than a 185-80/13.

That's my plug for keeping and using the Camaro clip for now to get your feet wet. Unless you're trying to beat Mike DuSold at an autoX event, I can can confidently say the right basic parts on your Camaro frame will give you a great riding, driving, and performing truck with smiles for miles. If later on you decide to get hard core and are serious about whippin' it up on Pro Touring cars we'll have our 50's truck ExtReme full chassis ready by then. ;)

While shopping around, give our parts a look, I believe you'd be real happy with them and our customer support. Here's a link to the 2nd gen Camaro options... Click here. (http://www.speedtechperformance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=36/mode=cat/cat36.htm) Good luck!

[Jbm56]

Well my budget was pretty good, but now I'm back down to square one. My builder which was my best friends brother decided to steal everything from me. So long story short both my motors, wheels, steering column, aluminum tank is all gone. Had to pick the truck up from the tow yard. Bad situation now I'm suing. So for now I would obviously like to do this as cheap as possible but I do want it to drive and ride awesome. There are just so many IFS out there. But I've been told to stay away from the ones that have the top hat style weld ins. Not sure why or if that's true. I know alot of people do the Camaro clip so if you guys think that route will be a excellent driver I'm fine with going with it. So it basically sounds like go with tubular a arms, a coil over and a beefy sway bar and that should be good correct? Do I need tubular A arms or can I just add coil overs to the stock arms? Thanks guys I really appreciate the help.

[Twentyover]

You own what you have you need to buy/swap/deal for what you don't. The second gen F body IFS can be made to ride and handle any way you want it to ride and handle, from Buckboard to Cadillac. It can be made to handle without harsh ride. To me, this is a no brainer (I bought a second gen F body sub for I project I'm not even working on yet.)


On thing to be aware of is that tubular arms in themselves provide no performance benefit, if they do not change the pickup points of the suspension. Many tubular arms do, many do not. If you want tubular arms for the "look", that's fine, if money is a problem, blowoff tubular arms now, spend the money getting the deal driving, then go back and make the change. The stock geometry on the 2nd gen F is not all that bad compared to more modern stuff, with a modern tire and shock valving you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Jbm56]

I appreciate it. If I'm reading right. You need adjustments for more or less camber and toe for the auto cross style. Is that right? So would aftermarket tubular arms give me that or not really? Thank you

[Twentyover]

You need to separate design from adjustment.

The design of the 2nd gen F could use a couple more degrees positive caster. You can get that with adjustment shims (and maybe longer adjustment bolts), but that sets the tire further back in the wheelwell. Some lower control arms relocate the lower ball joint further forward to counter this unhappy condition. This may or may not be the condition with your clip, as the installer may have intentionally placed it forward. Unlikely but possible. Relocating the lower ball joint is the only reason a tubular lower arm might be required, but there are alternatives I listed in post #2. Most upper arms are fixed, only adjustable with shims. Many simply replicate the factory geometry.

After general design, there's adjustment. You refer to an 'autocross style.' I believe you are referring to an autocross adjustment vs a street adjustment. IMO, a street adjustment and an autocross adjustment are different. An autocross adjustment may be a bitch to drive on the street (too much negative camber, with toe out, poor tire life and twitchy steeriring), but be just the deal to optimize autocross time. A corresponding great street alignment will not be optimized for autocross (inadequate negative camber with toe in, inadequate grip on the outside tire and slower turn in.)

Any suspension design can be optimized for street or autocross, but detail design gives some suspensions better grip than others.The detail design of the second gen Camaro gives it better grip than many, including the first gen Camaro and most GM intermediates.