I was curious if anyone had experience using an adjustable dead perch instead of a panhard bar. Model A project: We're using a reverse-eye spring, 32 Ford axle for a little natural drop, and Vega cross steering. Do they perform about the same, or is there a noticable benefit of one over the other?
I put an adjustable dead perch on my '32 5W four years ago and I'm real happy with it. The car has split bones with a little too much caster creating a slight spring bind - the adjustable dead perch helped the bind and eliminated the bump steer. My '32 roadster has a regular dead perch (installed on the wrong side) and has a very light bump steer but still handles real well. It's not as good as the coupe, though.
My truck has a 4" dropped axle,,,a mono spring w/t the regular spring perchs and split bones,,,I also installed a panhard bar,,,,this setup drives and handles better than the sedan or roadster,,,HRP
i think we are talking TWO different things here..adjustable perches and dead perches..there is a difference dead perches SUCK
Here's the one that SoCal's got: http://www.socalspeedshopla.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=663 The idea sounds good on paper... just wondering how it actually performs, before I go to the trouble and expense of installing one.
Yep---It does look like a true "adjustable deadperch" setup. The perch with the "hood" around it connects directly to the spring with no shackle. Thats what makes it a "dead" perch. The other perch does have a shackle---and both of the perches are 'adjustable" in that they will rotate to negate any spring bind induced by caster settings on the axle. Man, I didn't even know that they made such things!!! Brian
Seems to me that the spring end on the dead side will move thru an arc and also slightly change length as it is compressed, causing the axle to be pushed out slightly, then retracting again as it decompresses. This might contribute to axle movement rather than restrict it. The change might be small but could be enough to notice. IIRC, this is the same reason that using a fixed-end elliptic spring as a locating arm is not always the best solution, as noted on the front of MkI Cobras and the rear of MkI Healey Sprites, among others.
I've run the Deuce Factory dead perches pictured above on 4 '32 cars I've owned and driven A LOT. They work great. Cleaner application than a panard in many cases - but both work great.
Thanks -- that's the kind of feedback I was looking for. No doubt a panard bar works, but yeah, I was thinking that the dead perch would offer a simpler, cleaner setup -- just so long as it actually worked.