Halibrand Quick-Change Independent Rear Suspension

This has a bunch of different rear ends:

street rod rears technical manual - Winters Performance ...

Quick Change Parts - Hot Rod Works

You beat me to it - Winters goes back a long time, so someone there may be of assistance. Or they may sell a replacement unit.

Or, even a manual:

• Halibrand Champion Owners ManualPrice: $14.99More Info

The units today are vastly superior to those early models, I wouldn't put a lot of money into it, unless it's a period trailer queen....

http://www.wintersperformance.com/

If you can find a unit without an IRS, it'll be a lot cheaper.

There are several subtle differences from IRS to straight axle. Like the half-shaft mounts to turn the outer hubs, on some of these IRS rears they have inboard brakes, straight axles don't that I know of. Not to say some independent genius can't design one. But as a whole they use a lot of the same center-section parts it's just the outer axle parts vs the half-shaft parts that are different. The key here is what parts are broken as most of the parts are still available aftermarket from several manufactures that made upgrade parts like gears for the center section and final drive gears as well as heavier axles and lighter gun-drilled axles for weight savings. At PRI (Performance Racing Industries)this year there were no less than 25 different companies making parts for all of the past and current quick-change rear-ends.

You seem to have a good grasp of the Halibrand Q-C. I remember there was a rear end under a late 40s Ford pick p u that had a similar construction to the Q-C but without the additional pair of quick change gears. All made of steel and cast iron of course, but similar in design with the two funnel like sides bolted to a narrow center section. Does this ring a bell to you, and were any of the Halibrand components interchangeable?

You are thinking of I believe late 1920 to early or late 40's ford rears closed drive trains the drive shaft is also part of it. And there is not any thing that will interchange that I know of. A friend built a street rod using one of those rears and also used an early A flat head to try and keep it as original as he could get for prewar hot rod. I would say he succeeded as a collector tracked him down to buy it the first time he showed it. Back then you could still find a lot of those parts in a few junk yards but today they are picked clean. I think the design of the two different rears are similar just because of the modular construction so you can change the width by swapping the axle's and housing bells, it was also if you had an accident racing you just bolted on a new part and went racing again. but also with the quick-change you could fine tune the gear-set to the track to get the correct engine rev's right where you wanted them to be at the end of the straight away or coming out of the corners on a really short track. Seen many a good racer loose a race to having the wrong gear in a car and scatter a engine from over revving trying to keep up with pack just because they chose the wrong gear set trying to make the car feel faster off a corner and not where it really need to be. The feeling of seat of the pants gives you is not always faster some times you just need to look at the time clocks and the tachometer to get it right. I don't know how many times that I have tried to teach that lesson to younger racers, and until it bites them in the pocket to repair a engine that wasn't necessary do they learn it. Some times we old timers have knowledge to give that does not come from a smart phone or app that is worth listening to (Old age, wisdom, and treachery over youth, agility and apps) old guys win a lot on that strategy. leaving to go to a race in Illinois today and pick up a trailer a friend is giving me since he does not use it any more. I will be back Sunday if you have any other questions. Duke

In 1965 I was building a sports car similar to a Chaparral #1 and I needed a Halibrand QC designed for independent rear suspension and inboard disc brakes. I visited Troutman- Barnes in Culver City, CA and they still had the patterns for castings and I gave them an order. The car was finished and sold around 1969 and the new owner took it to Boston where the car was stolen. Thirteen years later, I saw an ad for a Halibrand QC independent I went to look at it and it was the one I had bought. The fellow said he found it in the basement when he bought the house. He wanted $400 for the assembly and I should have bought it. Good Luck!!!

Wayne Goldman

Here's what it looks like:

The broken part is in the left hub. It appears that the half-shaft terminates in external splines that mate with internal splines on the piece that bolts to the wheel, and there is a retainer assy consisting of a stud, bushing and nut. And the nut is missing, the bushing is badly beaten, and the stud is broken off or chewed. There are no visible ways to disassemble the unit by hand, and I'm guessing that heavy shop eqpt will be needed to get it apart. And since the right side is the same age, I'm going to have it checked too.

Are you saying it has knock off hubs / spinners. not nuts and studs? Most of these types of quick change rears also use a snap ring to help retain the nut, is that missing or did they forget it to begin with, a common problem with people unfamiliar with the assembly of these types of rearends.These components should be replaceable from Speedway Performance. They carry a large array of parts for these types of rearends.Duty calls got to go on a call will check back later if I can think of any other places that might carry parts for your vehicle. Duke

No, the "hub assy" (my term) is the big aluminum piece, driver side:

The half-shaft also functions as the upper control arm. Here's a close-up where the U-joint joins the hub assy:

Comparing it to the passenger side, there is a missing bushing, and the head of the bolt has snapped off. This is the passenger side:

Thanks, Duke. Other IRS units I've seen don't use the half-shaft as a control arm, so I may be out of luck getting parts. Going to take the thing to a local rear end specialist and see if they can disassemble it and then will see what we may need to fab to make it good.

From your pic's it looks like the nut when it came out chipped the drive hub or is that an optical illusion. If so you will need to repair that with a good tig fabricator with high nickle rod or a really good arc welder with cast iron rod. I would start with a good machine shop to fab the parts you will need if you can not source them from Speedway or another source. It looks like all you need is the spacer and a nut and if the bolt is threaded into the outer hub replace the stud or remove the bolt that is left it just may be just a bolt that the head snapped off from too much torque and not a nut as you think. It also looks like the spacer sits in a ledge to keep the spindle from pulling through the hub. From the looks of it you have been missing the spacer for some time. It is a small wonder the hub didn't pull out and send the wheel and tire on a little side trip in another direction then your travels. Duke

Correct me if I'm wrong. There's a socket head screw and spacer/washer that holds the yoke onto the outer shaft. Something like this? If so, those parts should be easy enough to buy/have made if not available. (Surely this isn't all that keeps the bearings, shafts, etc. from coming apart, is it? Like you said, the bolt loosened, the cross broke the head of the bolt, and the washer/bolt got the yoke on the way out.)

Yes, that is the arrangement. I don't know what is inside the upright (thanks, Duke), but sure there is a big bearing and something to retain the hub. I can see splines:

...and imagine that is how the yoke mates to the hub. And, yeah, there must be more than one measly bolt holding this together. The splines may have been pressed together really tight. This IRS was built for racing, most of them went into dirt track cars, so it has to be tough. And the half-shaft is also the upper control arm, so it can't have any slop in it. I need to find a shop to tear it all apart and rebuild as needed.

I have just had a positive response from Halibrand, they say they may have parts! I sent pics and am waiting to hear back.

It doesn't take a lot to keep the hub assembly in place because of the splines. All the bolt and spacer do is keep it from backing out of the upright. And there should not be a bearing in this location it is in the upright with the hub out of sight. Duke

It wouldn't take much to keep the yoke on the shaft, and as the upper suspension arm the normal load is compression pushing the yoke onto the spline, but it just seems to me that under extreme cornering it might be a little weak.

Probably the easiest way to say it is there is if my memory serves me right a snap-ring in behind the hub in the upright to keep it in place and the bearing is pressed on the stub shaft just like 9" fords axles are done. It should make cornering not that much of an issue. Sorry about slow response just got back from out of town. Jobs that sometimes creep up unexpectedly can take longer then they should.

OH yea by the way that part you are calling a hub is actually called an upright. The hub assembly is where you bolt the wheel and tire to.Duke

Update, guys: I've taken the assy to a shop that specializes in drivelines. They are going to pull it apart and I'll post pics of what we find. I'm beginning to think there is little wrong. Theory: the bolt head snapped off and the loose bushing bounced around in the U-joint, causing intermittent jamming that made the rear end thump alarmingly. If the bushing had fallen out, I might never have noticed. But we are going to check all the U-joint bearings and other pieces for wear, and replace as needed. Stay tuned.

Good Grief, I forgot I started this thread until Lockduke reminded me. Here's what the upright goodies looked like:

The hub has external splines and the U-joint terminates in matching internal splines and the two are a press fit. They are supported by two big bearings that are pressed into the hub from either side. After 20 years the bearings were a bit rocky, so I replaced all of them and also all the U-joint crosses and bearings. Put it all back together and it's a nice ride.

Too late to edit my last post, but the big bearings press into the UPRIGHT, not the hub, from either side.

Is there a capture ring or just press fit.

Just the press fit of the big bearings to the upright.

At PRI this last year I was really drooling over winters independent quick-change for my Mark IIIV to handle the torque and horsepower of my mod motor .030 over with comp cams for forced induction, and Two To4E high-flow water cooled housings.If we are successful at making just half of what John Mahovich is making we should be somewhere near 1400 hundred horsepower and hopefully 200-250 mph at Ohio on the old DHL landing strip. But alas it will be at least one more year to get all of it together with this economy. But we will get it done.