35-36 Ford rear wishbones...strengthened, drilled and polished!

I have been wanting to do a set of these for awhile and adding a tech thread that may help others is always good thing

I picked up a standard run of the mill trash trailer a couple of weeks ago, this one is a 36 and the bones are in pretty good shape. After removing as much of the trailer that i could, here is what's left. After a couple of hours of WD-40, plenty of cussing and a BFH as well as a cutt-off wheel equiped angle grinder the bones were liberated. Here are the bones, they came with traditional spider eggs

 

I cut both ends off with a grinder and cutt-off wheel. I bounced them on the floor a few times to get all the dirt out. A good majority of this is rust but there is alot of dirt too. It is amazing how much can get inside through the small holes over the years where the brake rod guides attach.

I tack weld a piece of cold rolled bar stock to the forgings and clamp them in the mill vice as i want to add some lightening holes. I drill the first holes with a hole saw and then run the final holes with an end mill bit. The end mill bit leaves a nice clean hole with minimal clean up.

More coming in a few days, all parts are at the blaster.

 

Cant wait to see how these turn out.

 

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <wunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> Me too I have seen harv’s work on several of his different projects he’s like a mad scientist the stuff just looks wicked!! I would have to say that he’s one of the finest fab guys that I have seen to date!!

 

Hold on to your horses, Harvs work will make you salivate!!!

These R Radius Rods are gonna be KILLER!

 

Subcribed! Looking forward to seeing these.

 

are they going to be shortened too? what are you building?

 

The tubes will be shortened about an inch so that tube matches the threaded insert diameter. When they are done with the tie rod ends they will be about a 1/2" shorter than stock.

 

Boy, this waiting is killing me!

 

Lets see what youve got done.

 

Here are some pics of the ends after drilling, i cut off the bar stock that i tacked on to clamp in the mill and ground the edges smooth. I pressed out what was left of one spring bushing as it was worn in half, the other bushing i had to drill out. Before they went to the blaster i dug out the factory slag and told the blaster to shoot down the tubes to get the loose rust/dirt out.

Here they are back from the blaster clean, and ready for mods I went to the steel supplier and picked up some 7/8" cold rolled bar stock that will be inserted down the length of the tubes for strength. I will get some more done tomorrow and do an update Sunday night....stay tuned, more surprizes coming

 

I cut two small pieces of cold rolled bar stock, rounded the edges so they matched the shape of the tubes/ends. I then cut half rounds in each with the mill and a hole saw where the cold rolled round bar will fit and be welded. The slugs were a press fit, i tacked them, checked for square/straightness and fully welded them. I have included a pic of a pair of front bone clevises for a pair of shortened wishbones that i did for another HAMBer, the slug, may be over kill but i like the fact that all three are welded together instead of just a butt weld of the forging and tube...i like safe parts.


More updates in a few days......stay tuned

 

Cool stuff.

 

Nice work so far Harv, I reinforced some bones by adding DOM down the inside as well.

 

Nice fab work.

 

Time to get after the forgings and polish them up, here is how i did it.

I use alot of flap wheels, they have a short life and an order in which i use them. When they are new they have a nice square edge and work great for coves, contours and blending, they don't stay that way for long$$ The new disc fits nice up against the cove/edge of the beam and gives a nice contour where the stantions attach.

The pics show how the stantions have a machine mark that needs to go away as well as the raised circle where the shock ball attaches. I only take enough off to blend, smooth and remove the factory texture. In the middle where i can't get to with a flap disc, i use the die grinder and flap wheels to do the job. These also work to give a nice radius where needed.

Stay tuned...

 

Subscribed. Keep the posts coming.

 

Looks real good.

 

Thanks guys for all the kind words

Here are some more pics, this is just a rough polish, before and after, they will get the final when they are all back together. The area where the tube joins will need some filling and blending and that will be done then. There is a small cupped area machined just below the shock hole, it's for dog bone clearance. The die grinder and small flap bit take care of it too, it looks a little squirrely now but i will blend it in at the final polish. On a side note, polishing the ends is MUCH easier without 5' of tube hanging off them.


More in few days...stay tuned.

 

Nice work. Have you considered filling the dog bone relief with weld and removing the shock mount?

 

The shock mounts will be used like original.

 

Nice work, will be checking to see the progress pics and explanations.

 

Beautiful work!!

 

I started from the threaded insert end and layed out the rosette weld holes in 5 1/4" spacing. I drilled both sides to just under 1/2". One of the tubes had a slight bend in it so i used the press to get it back into shape. I went down to my buddies shop so i could turn the bar stock ends on his lathe to fit inside the threaded inserts. I rounded off the other end to fit into the cope on the slug, i pre assembled all to check fit before welding.

 

Having the bar stock fit into the threaded end keeps all centered and tied together. I drilled a rosette weld hole over where the insert and bar stock join so i can weld both together. I tacked the tube to the forging and after checking for true, i ran a root pass, will go over again during the final welds.


More coming.

 

very nice work

 

Damn nice Harv. These should be plenty strong.

 

Here are some pics of one welded up, i did have to turn down the diameter of the threaded bungs to match the smaller OD. of the tubes. A root pass on the bungs with a final weld to come. All of the factory steel texture and light rust pitting will go away during the polishing which is next.

More to come

 

harv, that rocks, I have done a few of the items on separate occasions but you are tying it all together in fine form!

 

Great tech. Thanks for taking the time to show us.