1949 Chevrolet - Back Surgery

Ever since I used a pair of C10 trailing arms with airbags on a customer's car a couple of years ago, and was impressed with the ride quality those long arms offered, I planned on using a pair on my '49 Chevy. I even went so far as to scrounge a pair from my co-worker, Custom Classic Trucks' Cody Wentz, when he upgraded his own truck.

Then, I got to talking with Danny Nix at Classic Performance Products, and a plan was hatched to use my car to prototype a new bolt-in trailing-arm kit for the '49-54 Chevys. This fit perfectly with my bolt-together theme for the car, so I dragged the sorry-looking coupe over to CPP's Anaheim facility. The stock closed drivetrain wasn't part of my plan, so I replaced the stock rearend with a Currie Enterprises custom Ford 8-inch axle featuring 11-inch brakes, big-bearing Torino axle ends, new 28-spline axles, and 3-inch axle tubes. I didn't feel a 9-inch was necessary in what will essentially be a cruiser, albeit hopefully a long-distance one. Plus, space under the car was at a premium, as I'd already C-notched the chassis and altered the floorpan, and the smaller 8-inch pumpkin would offer more clearance. Since I'd already modified the driveshaft tunnel to clear the stock enclosed driveline, which ran down the center of the tunnel, I requested the axle from Currie with the yoke centered and the pumpkin offset, too-another reason for making the most of the space available.

Opting for ShockWaves from Air Ride Technologies to provide suspension, rather than the regular airbags I'd originally envisioned using, meant this part of the install will differ from the production version of CPP's kit (though the lower ShockWave mounts as shown here are available, too), as my car has an additional 4 inches of suspension drop, thanks to the C-notch. 'Bags and another crossmember will replace the ShockWaves on the production kit, since a stock floorpan won't allow the height required to fit 'em.

With all the pieces of the puzzle in one place, here's how the Purple Pig went from having its stock axle swaying around on 6-inch blocks and leaf springs to riding in style with long trailing arms and adjustable air suspension carrying a 3.55:1-equipped live axle with brakes big enough to haul the Chevy down from the speeds at which I usually travel. Hey, they're cars, and I drive 'em like I do my daily.

Here's what I was replacing-the...        read full caption Here's what I was replacing-the stock closed driveline, albeit with lowering blocks and repositioned shocks, as I'd previously C-notched the rear framerails and added a framework to accept airbags at a later date. That date was now, only in the interim, Air Ride Technologies has introduced the ShockWave, which is what I'll now be using. Before the guys at Classic Performance Products removed the stock axle, one of their truck trailing arms was offered up to determine the location of the prototype crossmember.	With the car on the ground...        read full caption With the car on the ground at ride height, CPP's Danny Nix marked the centerline of the axle on a piece of tape on the fender. Yeah, mind the paint, Danny! The measurement from the axle to the fender was also noted as a datum for centering the new axle.	Adjustable stands were placed...        read full caption Adjustable stands were placed under the axle and the pinion yoke before the axle was centered in the car using the measurements previously taken. The pinion angle was set to match the angle of the transmission tailshaft.
Currie Enterprises provided...        read full caption Currie Enterprises provided a Ford 8-inch axle, supplied loosely assembled and without brakes so we could attach the bracketry and return it to them for straightening prior to assembly. CPP's first order of business saw the Currie axle hung in place and the car raised on the rack.	With the trailing arms in...        read full caption With the trailing arms in place and bolted to a second and final prototype crossmember, the axle pads were tack-welded in place.	Back at Currie, which is fortuitously...        read full caption Back at Currie, which is fortuitously only a few miles from CPP, the axle casing was placed in this straightening jig once the axle pads had been fully welded. A length of round stock was passed through the bearing carriers in a third member used for just this purpose. A solid steel tool that takes the place of an outer axle bearing was slid onto the stock, and the press was used to "adjust" the casing at the inner end of the axle tubes until the bearing substitute was a perfect fit.