Customs Super bell steering arms ,forged or cast?

We have on hand a set of super bell steering arms, we would like to know if there is a definitive way of telling if they are cast or forged arms.

 

The wide parting lines on them are always indicative of a forging. Cast pieces will have a knife edge line.

 

Do they ring like a bell?

 

This is how Johnny “broken parts” Law lists theirs?..they don’t even know.

This early Ford steering arm set is Helix™ tough! Cast from heavy grade heat treated forged steel, these 1 3/4” drop steering arms are extremely durable.

 

That copy for the listing sounds as if it was written by one of the guys that likes to say “I’m running steel heads on my engine.”

 

They are forged
I used to work there
I would go to the suppliers in downtown LA to pick them up and the entire building would be moving up and down

 

I have the one that looks like a slingshot and it's forged. It bent really nice with some heat.

 

Down under the powers that be say some were cast and we can not use cast items on steering . The little I know I thought super bell meant quality. How do we prove they are forged arms?

 

They are forged. HRP

 

If the engineer, or official, or whatever they prefer to call them doesn’t recognize them as forged he better have his eyes examined.

 

Metallurgy 101 --

Most people seem to place elemental iron materials into one of two categories; cast or forged. (The more complex forms, low to high alloys like chrome-moly and stainless steel, are excluded from this discussion.) Basically, there is:
• Gray iron (aka cast iron) - generally brittle (breaks but won't bend)
• Ductile iron (aka nodular cast iron) - also a casting, but malleable, weldable, with far better impact and fatigue resistance than gray iron.
Cast Steel - mechanical properties are close or equal to forged steel of similar analysis (e.g., most large valves 3" to 96" [and larger] subjected to 5,000 psi and 750°, are steel castings.) As carbon content increases, steel becomes stronger, but more brittle (which is why broken spring leafs are common).
• Forged Steel - mechanical properties equal to or slightly superior to cast steel of similar analysis.

Within each of the above categories, there are dozens of standardized analyses that are available to enhance one or more properties. Of the four general types listed above, I would only exclude gray cast iron, as unsuitable for front suspension and steering components. Exclusion of cast steel makes no sense at all.

 

Like some of our hotrod vehicle certifiers down here

 

I seem to remember having an old mechanical handbook that showed a "spark test" where a test article was ground slightly on an abrasive wheel of some kind and the spark configuration indicated whether an item was cast iron or various grades of steel. I'm not sure if a test like that would be accepted as evidence for certification but it seems like it might rule out a casting.

 

Yep have seen that test in some pics some time ago, I think the spark spread and colour was different. I would use it myself ,but very much doubt the certifiers would give it credit.

 

If you can prove to yourself they are not cast iron, can you put the onus on them to prove they are?

 

They sure look forged to me.

 

where you buy those ones with the miss truck logo?

 

They are forged straight and then bent in a press to the various drops. I was told they only forge 1 arm and use it for the right and left just by the way they bend it and machine the tapers in the end.

 

Seems like bullshit if the expert inspectors cannot do their own research....

 

^^^^^ I agree . Maybe you need to find a different inspector.

 

Paint "forged" on them.....

 

or maybe a sticker would be better....

 

Another indicator:
Since the letters have been stamped into the
steering arms, it suggests to me that the arms are forged.
Don't think you can "stamp" cast iron like that.
Most castings have raised letters.

 

I've read that many forged steel V8 crankshafts are forged as single plane (180°, flat), and actually twisted into the normal two plane (90°) configuration!

 

Here's more on the "twisted crankshaft" production.
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-a-crankshaft-twisted-after-forging

 

Look up the spark test on the internet. There seems to be several credible websites with info. Pick the most credible one (SAE? NASA?) and talk to your inspector about it. Like someone said, if he's truly qualified he should be able tell from the parting lines, the sound and the sparks that it isn't cast. As far as I know none of the aftermarket steering component manufacturers or retailers provide a metallurgical certification with their parts.
I feel sorry for you guys.

 

Maybe the inspector can do a nice spark test in the middle of the part, using the corner of the wheel.
Then he can condemn the part because it has a sharp notch ground in it.

 

Surely superbell can provide something to show they are forged, simple certificate or a link to their company site showing maybe a certificate of authenticity that their arms are forged
Can't be that difficult

 

I'd cut the eye off that won't be used, and send it down to Justin at LVVTA and ask for it to be tested.
It's around $80 to get their axles tested, so worth a try.

 

And like 19fordy said, their cast axles have the raised lettering/logo