Wheelie bar parameters

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redliner
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Wheelie bar parameters

Post by redliner »

Can anyone help me establish a baseline for some wheelie bars I need to build for my car. First off it looks like I can only fit a 31" bar ( measured from back of axle tube to centerline of wheel. This is so short I dont know if they are worth messin with. It looks so far, if I put the bars in so the bottom of the wheel is only 2" off the surface and only has 3" travel until the top bar hits frame. I have some nice wheelie bars ( 1 1/4 moly) bars I bought used and hoped I could make them work. They are nearly 5" long now and hoped I could use them at that length... not even close. So the bars would be, Bottom bar ( attached at bottom 4-link mount) 1 1/4 moly tube with wheel bracket attached 31" long to center of wheel. Top bar (Also 1 1/4" moly from factory built wheelie bar) mounts just in front of wheelie bar wheel axle to to top 4-link bracket about 10" above bottom bar. I think this would be a very rigid bar but I have no idea if they are even worth (cutting up , fabbing up with new threaded bungs) ,putting on. It is a 42 Stude coupe I back-halved 30 years ago when I was a pup.The rear end sits so far up in the car that I can only get a bar to fit as I tried to describe above ( no one can prolly decipher my gibberish) So if this makes sense to anyone I am open to all suggestions! I have been dragging the back bumper and that is EXACTLY where I need to be but cant get wheels there unless I clip them on like training wheels. Thanks
makin chips
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

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What makes you say you can only fit a 31" bar? What kind of Studebaker? I know that a Studebaker Commander has 110" wheelbase and a Studebaker President has 124.5" wheelbase so either of those should be able use a 60+ inch set of bars with no problems. What do you have? Wheelbase?

Pretty sure most people use bars AT LEAST twice that long. How did you determine that it can only extend 31 inches rearward from the axle? I don't think I've even seen a set for sale that short. 50" is about the shortest I've seen. And there's nothing stopping you from using a 65" set over a 31" set. I'd start with 50 inches and go from there. What kind of wheelbase does this thing have? Cars with 108" are using wheelie bars 60+ inches long. Unless your wheelbase is 54 inches, I'd say there's no reason at at all to think you need bars that short...unless I'm misunderstanding, which is possible lol.


Where did you come up with 31"? Is there a reason you can't have bars sticking out 48" past the rear bumper? Other than that, everything else seems correct. You want at least 10-12" of spread between upper and lower bars.

I don't think they even used bars that short on 70s & 80s funny cars.... And those were SHORT!

On 2nd thought, is it possible for you to modify the rear of the car for more clearance for the bars? Sort of how some people have cut outs in their bumpers/bumper covers? I think maybe I understand why longer bars won't fit. Longer than 31" and they would hit under the car on launch? Pic below for reference. Is it something like this? Where the bars would be hitting on the rearmost 'crossmember" at the end of the frame in this pic from a '51 Studebaker gasser?

Image

Can you post pics of the rear of the car for visual reference? Thanks.
Last edited by makin chips on Tue Apr 02, 2019 4:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by makin chips »

You can also try going over to The HAMB and see what they all recommend since they're(as a community) much more likely to have built Studebaker wheelie bars, one would think. There's also the "Gasser" groups on Facebook that would be a good source of information, I'd bet. Southeast Gassers, etc... Just as an option if you don't find any other info.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

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Redliner: what rear end do you have in the car?
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by af2 »

Guys this is his car, you can see why the short bars are needed.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by redliner »

makin chips wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:18 am What makes you say you can only fit a 31" bar? What kind of Studebaker? I know that a Studebaker Commander has 110" wheelbase and a Studebaker President has 124.5" wheelbase so either of those should be able use a 60+ inch set of bars with no problems. What do you have? Wheelbase?

Pretty sure most people use bars AT LEAST twice that long. How did you determine that it can only extend 31 inches rearward from the axle? I don't think I've even seen a set for sale that short. 50" is about the shortest I've seen. And there's nothing stopping you from using a 65" set over a 31" set. I'd start with 50 inches and go from there. What kind of wheelbase does this thing have? Cars with 108" are using wheelie bars 60+ inches long. Unless your wheelbase is 54 inches, I'd say there's no reason at at all to think you need bars that short...unless I'm misunderstanding, which is possible lol.


Where did you come up with 31"? Is there a reason you can't have bars sticking out 48" past the rear bumper? Other than that, everything else seems correct. You want at least 10-12" of spread between upper and lower bars.

I don't think they even used bars that short on 70s & 80s funny cars.... And those were SHORT!

On 2nd thought, is it possible for you to modify the rear of the car for more clearance for the bars? Sort of how some people have cut outs in their bumpers/bumper covers? I think maybe I understand why longer bars won't fit. Longer than 31" and they would hit under the car on launch? Pic below for reference. Is it something like this? Where the bars would be hitting on the rearmost 'crossmember" at the end of the frame in this pic from a '51 Studebaker gasser?

Image

Can you post pics of the rear of the car for visual reference? Thanks.
I back haived the car30 years ago. It has a narrowed Olds rear and it is way up inside the body. I only have 1 3/4" of travel unless I stay inside frame section. I have a few more ideas that I think will work and maybe ever raise the rear of the car a skosh. I cant post pics here but am on FB as tom hanson. A pic of my Black 42 Stude Coupe ( x-D/G car) is in the avatar. I am going to try it with th 4- link adj I made over winter and hopefully I wont need sissy bars....
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by redliner »

tenxal wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:13 pm Redliner: what rear end do you have in the car?
57 Olds with 35 spline axles/ spool and 4.88 cogs.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by tenxal »

There are some single bars that are pretty low profile. When you're working with the 4 link adjustment, remember that pinion angle has a lot of influence on wheel standing.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by BirdMan »

I bought some 36" long Alston wheelie bars and at that length they would have tripped me so I shortened them to be straight down from rear bumper on my 1965 Ford Falcon. Thinking about the cut off length 7" or so. Worked great and then I figured out how to adjust the ladder bars to not hit so hard which tamed it down a bunch and then I removed the bars entirely as didn't need them any longer.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

Post by redliner »

BirdMan wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:13 pm I bought some 36" long Alston wheelie bars and at that length they would have tripped me so I shortened them to be straight down from rear bumper on my 1965 Ford Falcon. Thinking about the cut off length 7" or so. Worked great and then I figured out how to adjust the ladder bars to not hit so hard which tamed it down a bunch and then I removed the bars entirely as didn't need them any longer.
This is where I am right now. I previously adjusted the 4 link to not hit as hard and only bought these bars cuz they were cheap. I hope I dont need them.
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Re: Wheelie bar parameters

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tenxal wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:53 am There are some single bars that are pretty low profile. When you're working with the 4 link adjustment, remember that pinion angle has a lot of influence on wheel standing.
I didnt realize this. Can you explain?
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