Bending spindle arms (how far??)

How far can I heat and bend the spindle arms on my ford spindles to clar the wishbone? With the dropped axle I need to go almost 3 inches. Is that too much for steering geometry, metal fatigue............

Thanks

 

Are you going under or over the bone? you pretty much only want to bend them till the tierod clears everything. I have a 3 in dropped A axle. I went over the top. Put the axle in the vise and got it level. Put the spindles and bones on. Heated the spindles and bent them upward to clear and ran a level from one arm to the other so they were the same. dont forget to keep the ackerman in check.

 

I think I'm close to that. Just get it nice and hot and make sure you do both sides identical. Focus the heat away from the eyes when you do your bottom bend so it doesn't warp. Magnaflux when done.

 

For about $175 you can buy a set of dropped steering arms.

 

$175, or so, sounds well worth with all that can possibly go wrong if things are not dialed in just right with all of the heating/cooling/bending.

 

True, but some folks need to have it the old way. Looks 10 times better and really isn't hard to do or get done. If it's beyond you then for 175 you ought to be able to find a shop that knows what they're doing that can drop em, it takes less than an hour.

 

Get it red hot with a rose-bud torch, bend it slowly as much as you want while keeping the flame on the bend, let cool SLOWLY, don't quench it, don't blow air on it, let it cool naturally (or better yet shove under sand and let cool). Just make sure to maintain your Ackerman. Done.

 

I dropped them aLOT to get under the wishbone on my old roadster, it steered great. Go as far as you need to.

 

You have to use some caution when dropping spindle forged steering arms. The issue is not so much the bending but the change in dimension that the drop creates. While most understand the ackerman positioning of the steering arm the biggest problem with deep drop arms is the shortening of the steer arm itself. A deep drop can shorten the steering arm 1" or more depending upon the bend. By doing this you have effectively created a quick steer car by changing the steering arm to pitman arm ratio. While this may be convenient in the parking lot it can produce a very sensitive steer at high speed that requires a hi degree of attention. While this may be how it was done in the olden days doesnt mean it was the best way, it just easily served the purpose.

 

It is so great when guys like this who know what they are talking about help teach the rest of us. Mr. Spadaro's been there...done that.

Bart

 

if you get vern tardels booklet on spindles he explains it quite well, I would think its worth the $$ to have that on hand if your looking at doing this for the first time.

Also why go under the wishbone, why not go over the top therefore not as much bending required.

 

Can't go over since the Y-block is sitting low between the rails. This is forcing me to go under the bones.

 

I couldn't go over... very low spring so there was little room there between the wishbone and bottom of the framerail, plus my brake hose tabs were mounted right in the way there too. That car above steered great and smooth even at 80mph+...

 

bitchin' looking ride...

 

I've seen guys flip their spindles and run the tie-rod in front of the axle, any thoughts? Im in the same pickle, got to drop my arms as well...

 

Your car had more drop in the steering arms than I have ever seen. I wondered how it drove,for the reasons Dick S. outlined above. I go over the top of the bone when possible, and have even been known to modify the front portion of the bones to allow the tie rod and drag link to travel through the bone (like a hairpin). Wish I had taken pictures.

 

35-36 bones have tons more room underneath, so less arm drop needed, but some don't like the look. Mines full fender.

The 35/36 2" perch yokes (the blue part below) can be trimmed/slimmed and retapered like mine below.

And I'm running the bones under the car, so I swapped on some 46-48 bone S-tubing to the slimmed 35 2" perch yokes.

 

Let them cool slow so the metal doesnt become brittle

 

Yea I was a little worried about it myself before I got the car on the road, but I think most early ford steering boxes are such slow steerers to begin with... Maybe if you're using a modern box or sprint car box that's quicker you might have an issue. This car was honestly as stable at any speed as any old car I've driven.

 

Shortening the arms will exaserbate any play in the tie rod ends (can you say wheel wobble), so use new ones.
You can rectify the "quick steer" by adjusting the length of the pitman arm or the upper arm.

 

What about going over top of the wishbone and frame ?

 

Yea but that's gay repop stuff..... and it really is a no brainer to do it right, just heat them up yellow, bend and DONT quench.... They are thick enough that they will be very difficult to overbend without a stupid big cheater or a gigantic rosebud


a for clearance going under, no problem with oil pan ect.... just get a longer tie rod and give it a little bend for clearance, not too much though or it'll flex....

 

No way to get the correct Ackerman angle when you run the tie rod out front.

 

thats what I thunk.