Here are a new set of rear spring brackets I used to mock up rear axle. They did not last very long. Cheap cast iron.I was going to look for used Ford clamps,but it was easier to make a pair.Now I wonder about the front one. John
I used 48 ford front brackets on the rear of my modela...There was a tech about 2 months ago adressing this
I made a post about the exact same thing a few years ago. They are just cast crap repos. Mine fell to the floor from about 18 inches and broke. They had zero road miles and were never torqued. Junk.
In Fordspeak the U-bolts are spring clips and the lower bar are spring clip bars. There are many different ones from 28-48, front and rear. The clip bars were originally forged steel. Early reproductions were made of cast steel and served quite well. It appears that the manufacturers in either Taiwan or Red China have opted for the lesser quality cast iron material which is unsuitable for this application. I'm betting that this decision was made unknown to the buyer as it is common in the Orient to change materials is gauge, or base metal, or alloy for bigger profits for the manufacturers. It is dangerous and whoever is selling these should have their stock tested.
I work for ford and the parts that broke on me were officially licensed parts. I contacted the head of the reproduction licensing dept and sent him pics of the broken parts we were putting our name on. Got a responce about quality checking etc. Kinda fell on deaf ears. Bought some real Ford clips off a guy on the Ford Barn. The originals are forgings. You could pitch them out the car window at 80 on the freeway and they would survive. Last reproduction part I ever purchased. Here's a link to my old post: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=709400
I agree with you 100% on repo parts. It is bad enough when something like a headlight switch doesn't work , but a bad structural part is not acceptable. I have put a lot of effort into getting original parts and will continue. John
The Jalopy Journal
