just a warning before you destroy your floor < dse floaters >

[sacarguy]

Just a warning for you guys..

aparently some of the DSE floaters shipped with instructions that say you can just bolt them on and welding is not needed.

i have a customers 69 vert here and he even brough me the instructions to prove it to me because i found it hard to believe anyone would recomend just bolting on floaters.

Sure enough they said that you can simply bolt the floaters to the axle tube.

THIS IS NOT TRUE you MUST weld them unless your car makes like 150 rwhp.

This customer bolted them and brought us the car to dyno .. his rear end twisted up and slamed the pinion and drive shaft into his floor at 5000 rpm adn abotu 134 mph wheel speed during a full throttle pull tearing it all up and breaking his drive shaft.

So please people always WELD floaters once you have set your pinion angle at ride hieght.

[1969x11]

Dont they come with a bolt that supposed to be threaded through the top of the floater into the axle tube? I bought a set once and ended up not using them.

[67ragtp]

When I did my 67, they came with the bolt and it was pretty clear to either drill and tap through the the top of the axle tube or weld them. That was probably 3 years ago. Not calling anyone a liar, but thats tough to believe. They really are on top of that kind of stuff.

Rich

[Vegas69]

Is it possible that your client didn't install them correctly? Wrong tap size, blah blah blah

[z4me69]

are you talking about the adjustable leaf spring pads ? thats the only thing in the dse catalog that resembles a floater and it flat recomends in the description to weld them

[wiedemab]

This may not even be what you are talking about, but these are the only things that I could think of as being called "floaters".

Here is their description

http://detroitspeed.com/productpages/indproduct/rearsuspensionprod/leaf_spring_pads_prod.htm

ADJUSTABLE LEAF SPRING PADS



These leaf spring pads are used when installing a new rear end housing or when relocating your leaf springs to accommodate a larger rear tire. The steel adjustable leaf spring pads clamp to any 3" axle tube. Simply locate and center the axle housing, set the pinion angle and leaf spring positions, and then clamp the spring pads in place. We recommend you permanently weld the spring pads in place after you set the pinion angle. The spring pads are compatible with 2-1/2" wide leaf springs.



If these aren't what you are talking about - SORRY for the interruption.

[62wagon]

Good afternoon gentlemen!

I thought I would clear up this issue before it gets any worse. I would agree that the part in question is our Adjustable Leaf Spring Pads (p/n: 040201) as that is the only thing that could be considered a floater. Detroit Speed recommends that they be welded to the rear axle housing. They are sold as a bolt-in item only for mock-up purposes. This allows for the rear axle to be centered in the car and the pinion angle set. Once this is done, we recommend that the axle be removed from the vehicle and the pads be permanently welded to the axle housing.

I have personally verified our instructions and they state the exact same thing I previously mentioned. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to call.

Mark Chichester
Sales Manager
Detroit Speed, Inc.

[sacarguy]

This may not even be what you are talking about, but these are the only things that I could think of as being called "floaters".

Here is their description

http://detroitspeed.com/productpages/indproduct/rearsuspensionprod/leaf_spring_pads_prod.htm

ADJUSTABLE LEAF SPRING PADS



These leaf spring pads are used when installing a new rear end housing or when relocating your leaf springs to accommodate a larger rear tire. The steel adjustable leaf spring pads clamp to any 3" axle tube. Simply locate and center the axle housing, set the pinion angle and leaf spring positions, and then clamp the spring pads in place. We recommend you permanently weld the spring pads in place after you set the pinion angle. The spring pads are compatible with 2-1/2" wide leaf springs.



If these aren't what you are talking about - SORRY for the interruption.

Yes that is them and THEY USED to say they could be bolted on .. trust me i can scan the instructions if you like they did say that permanent welding was not required that you could simply torque the four axle tube clamp bolts to 150 foot pounds and have since been changed.

This was a two year + old set the owner had sitting on a shelf for a long time.

I put this warning up for people who might have the old instructions and a old set of them.

[XcYZ]

Other than the driveshaft, how much damage did it do? Did the car get tore up?

[z4me69]

i'm sorry if this pisses anyone off but anyone that would believe that they can bolt these on without welding them and drive the car shouldn't be working on the suspension. just my opinion

[sacarguy]

drive shaft broken the trans tunel was beat to hell needs replacement as teh shaft slaped around while the dyno slowed down.

the current instructions are correct as i said this warning was for people who have the old style