Jim Meyer Racing Products inc.
2795 S.E. 23rd ¤ Lincoln City, OR 97367 ¤ Order (800) 824-1752 ¤ Tech (541) 994-7717 ¤ Fax (541) 994-2397

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TRI-FIVE STRAIGHT AXLE GASSER CHASSIS
WITH 48-INCH LADDER BARS

Our custom chassis (for any car or truck) can be ordered any way you like them with any industry options. Or, any of our component parts are available separately. We offer a standard package that can be modified at every corner. We also offer a complete Straight Axle Gasser front subframe that can be grafted directly onto your existing stock chassis by cutting off the rails just in front of the firewall. If you happen to have the September 2008 issue of SUPER CHEVY MAGAZINE, see our Gasser Subframe Installation story on page 80 titled STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT.

This custom order (shown below) included an under-floor brake system and 48-inch ladder bars for his direct replacement 115-inch wheelbase Tri-Five Straight Axle Gasser chassis. Compare this to other tri-five chassis with shorter 4-link bars and you can see how we modified our 2X4 center X-member to accept the longer 48-inch ladder bars on this chassis. Our chassis can be ordered any wheel base, tubbed any width at the rear, or pinched tread width at the front, and any engine/trans mounts. They come complete with core support, front-and-rear bumper bracket mounts and body mounts in their stock locations.

Unlike the original tri-five chassis, built from 1955-57, that had only 2 crossmembers, this Jim Meyer chassis has 5-crossmembers (not counting the transmission crossmember). All of the Jim Meyer chassis and components are totally jig-built and tig-welded together. The rear frame sections can either be mandrel-bent as shown here or fabricated with sharper angles over the rear suspension. We build it your way.
tr-5 Gasser Chassis with 48 inch ladder bars
 
Tri 5 Gasser Side View
1.) Our factory 115-inch wheelbase chassis is available in right-or-left-hand drive for our International customers. We will make your Ladder bars any length you’d like since all of our chassis are custom orders built in our jig. Notice the 3/4-inch diameter antisway bar goes through the inside of the 1 ¾-inch X .120-inch wall tubular crossmember. This thru-frame crossmember goes completely through the 2X4 frame rails and is tig-welded on both sides of the rails adding additional strength to the rear of the chassis. Also notice the long diagonal link instead of a Panhard bar. This is also your option.  We also offer a special Low Roll Center Panhard bar that runs parallel at the back of the axle housing. This urethane bushed adjustable bar mounts at the same level as the axles inside the housing and increases handling characteristics.
 
tri 5 gasser front spindle Flaming River Vega steering box
2.) Up front, the ‘55-57 Chevy straight-axle gasser chassis features new early Ford spindles and steering arms with Wilwood 4-piston calipers and 10-3/4 -inch diameter rotors (or optional 12.19 rotors with 4-piston calipers) to give you the stock 5-on-4 ¾-inch wheel bolt pattern.These disc brakes will clear nostalgic 15-inch wheels. The pair of springs, rated at 2500 lbs., are 27-inches from center-to-center with shackles at the front and a frame bracket at the rear.The Vega steering box converts to cross steering with the double holes in the right steering arm. The Vega box comes with a 2-inch dropped Pitman arm. Notice, the springs can be mounted on top of the 2-inch diameter X ¼-inch-wall tube axle for an even higher stance if desired. The axle is available any width, however the standard are 56, 58, or 60-inches widths used. Click here to see the disk brake options available. 3.) The Vega box bolts to a 3/8-inch mounting plate welded to the frame rail via 3- 7/16-inch bolts. Since the Sector shaft is splined, lower stock steering column modifications will be necessary or replace the old column with a new ididit tilt column. We have lower steering column modification kits. If you can’t perform this operation at home then send your column to us. We will modify the bottom of your stock column to accept the linkage kit, if a new column is not in your budget! We’ll need to mill two flat sides on the bottom of your old steering shaft, add a shoulder bushing (to keep the shaft centered in the column), add a locking ring, and a double-D U-joint to connect to the new linkage.
Lower steering column u-joints Gasser Cross steering
4.) This is how your new steering linkage kit hooks up to the bottom of your stock column. Either your old stock column modified, new ididit or Flaming River column will need a double "D" U-joint to mate with the standard linkage. Stock column linkage kit shown installed. 5.) Early Ford cross-steering parts including spindles, king pins and tie-rod ends are still available in the market place today. This rear steer set-up will require a rear sump pan. The cross steer linkage will allow you to center your steering wheel without affecting the to-in-or-toe-out.
 
Tri 5 Center Cross member with 48 inch ladder bars Under floor master cylinder
6.) Notice how the computerized mandrel-bent center crossmember ties everything together in the center of the chassis. This 2X4X.120-inch wall crossmember connects the forward half of the main X-member, anchors the forward end of the Ladder bars and holds the adjustable transmission mount. Also, in this view you can see the 1 ½-inch diameter holes in the forward ends of the main X-member where they connect to the frame.  Wiring and brake lines can go through these holes instead of under the rails for a cleaner/safer installation. 8.) If you want to keep your firewall clean this is the way to go! We can put the M/C and booster under the floor on any chassis. It’s a good idea to cut an inspection plate hole in your floor, under the carpet, so you can fill the M/C. A 7-inch diameter booster is about the largest diameter that will comfortably go under the tri-five body.
 
Tri 5 Brake Cylinder Closeup Tri 5 Brake Rod through the frame
9.) This customer’s order included an under floor brake-pedal assembly. The double-diaphragm 7-inch diameter booster is about as large a diameter that will go under the floor. The M/C has a 1-inch diameter bore to feed the 4-piston Wilwood calipers and the rear drum brakes. We offer complete -4 brake line kits for all of our tri-five chassis or we can plumb the chassis for you complete with brake line brackets welded to the frame with clips and bulkhead fittings, proportioning valve and stainless steel braided brake lines. 10.) Looking at the bottom of the brake pedal and pushrod, you can see the 1 ½-inch diameter holes in the frame. The one nearest the frame rail is for plumbing, while the pushrod uses the upper hole.
 
Tri 5 Tranny mount Custom Ladder Bars
11.) The center tube diameter on the trans mounting-pad is larger then the tubes going into each end. This is a cut-to-fit situation for the trans you like best. The center pad can be rotated front-to-rear or even turned upside down. The center pad can be removed and attach the trans. The tube ends with brackets attached to the crossmember’s slotted holes can be inserted back into the center mounting pad tube as far as you can and bolt them back on the X-member brackets. When all lines-up, weld the tubes together. We have placed all the correct holes for the most popular GM transmissions like 700R4, 400 and 350 Turbo, PowerGlide in the frame bracket. 12.) This custom order features 48-inch adjustable Ladder bars with 1-inch X .156-inch wall D.O.M. seamless tube (drawn over mandrel). The longer bars will really plant the rear tires to the pavement for a better grip. Your Ladder Bars can be made in any shape or length with your order. Our standard length 4-link with tri-five chassis is 18-1/2-inches and are urethane bushed at both ends. Notice all of the body mounts are in their stock locations
 
Ladder Bar forward 4-link bracket tri 5 rear 4-link bracket
13.) The forward multi-hole 4-link brackets offer some adjustment to get closer to your instant center. These holes can be used for adding more pinion angle as well. Notice how the diagonal link bracket is attached using the main 4-link bolt. Adjustable rod ends were used on all the Ladder bar and diagonal link connecting points front-and-rear. 14.) At the rear of the Ladder Bars, we installed a left-right adjuster on the lower bar. This is used in conjunction with the forward multi-hole bracket when moving the forward end of the Ladder Bar up-or-down. You’ll notice on the top of the axle housing, we always include a vent and you can see we also supply a thirdmember gasket and Nylock nuts for installing your drop-out gears-set in our totally new housing.
 
Currie 9-inch Housing rear view  
15.) We build a completely new narrowed 9-inch housing with every order. We start with a new Currie stamping, which is based on the best looking ’58 Ford round-back original style housing complete with a bottom drain (which was eliminated on the later housings). The housing comes with 3-inch X ¼-inch wall axle tubes and your new Ford flanges on each end. After all the brackets are welded to the housing, it is aligned and straightened if necessary for perfect axle and bearing alignment.  
 
 

3" to 4" REAR STANCE ADJUSTMENT
Street Rod Style or Drag Racing Style Brackets

 
Street Rod Style Bracket Drag Race Style Bracket
16 & 17.) We give you at least 3-inches of stance adjustability at the rear with our multi-hole mounting brackets for either coilover shocks or ShockWave air springs. Both styles of brackets shown: Our 3-hole Standard Street Rod Bracket or our adjustable multi-hole Drag Racing Style Bracket will accept coliovers or ShockWaves. The Drag Racing Bracket offers more adjustment, about 4-5-inches. Both upper brackets have a fixed two-position mounting point. We would normally use this upper outer-hole for the larger diameter ShockWave air springs. Notice how we incorporate “torque struts” between the housing and the coilover shock Drag Racing style brackets. This helps to eliminate housing “wind-up” under torque loads.
 
 
Tri 5 stock body and bumper mounts Front frame horn and bumper mounts
18 & 19.) On the front and the rear frame horns, we have added bumper bracket mounts and holes in their stock locations. The rear holes (shown here) actually have an inner tube tig-welded inside (each hole) to keep the rails from pinching together when installing the bumper brackets real tight.
 
 

OPTIONAL DISK BRAKES
Your Straight Axle Gasser brake options are either 10-3/4-inch Wilwood or the 12.19-inch Wilwood Rotors, both with 4-piston calipers that will fit inside nostalgic 15-inch wheels. Either assembly comes with seals, dust covers, hats and hubs assembled with bearing packed and safety wired so all you have to do is install the spindle assembly between the GM balljoints.
 
Wilwood disk brakes
Wilwood 4-piston caliper with 11-inch diameter rotor drilled and ball-milled Wilwood 4-piston caliper with 12.19-inch diameter rotor drilled and ball-milled
 
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