Technical '32 tie rod, over or under wishbone?

So, I'm fighting this '32 front axle issue. As I measure this '32 "heavy" drop axle, I get a 5" drop. I have 2 different bolt on lower steering arm sets, plus an original '40 spindle set and none of them get the tie rod in a position that will work. If I go under the wishbone (un-split stock '32) it is lower than the axle and below the wheel, so if I get a flat or lose a wheel I'm dead in the road, or ditch, or pine box!
If I go over the wishbone, it doesn't leave what I think is enough clearance to the Model A crossmember. 2" without the engine, radiator, or sheetmetal. Crank pulley clearance isn't an issue. If I trim the rear shelf off the Model A crossmember the tie rod will clear okay. I'm concerned about weakening that old original crossmember. Buy a Shadow Rods rivet in new one?
I am not against buying a 4" drop forged 2" perch axle from Roadster Supply from Ray and hanging the dropped original '32 axle on the wall if I can't make it work.
Tis is a full fendered '32 Fordor Sedan with a 59ab flathead and '39 trans. Everything is staying early traditional styling.
What would you guys do or recommend?

 

Is your spring a reversed eye? A stock configuration might give you more clearance, Clarence, while still giving you a decent drop.

 

No, eyes are not reversed.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Photos would help

 

Asking about traditional placement of over or under, sometimes it has to be be like this.



Photo borrowed from user -- **DONOTDELETE** -- from a searched post from April 15, 2004.

 

I've seen that done but man it looks scary to me! It is surprising how much front to back travel the tie rod does when turning side to side. I couldn't bring myself to chop up my '32 wishbone.

Thanks,
Dave

 

When NoSurf, was my neighbor, he used the cutting torch to warm up the tie rod mounts of the spindles to reform them for clearance of the tie rod (the traditional way ).

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-help-needed-bending-spindle-arms.114254/

 

Yikes , no way, there has to be a better solution. I

 

I think the issue is the 5” axle I do t think dropped stock arms are going to clear. The two options I can think of is cut the stock steering arms off and use bolt on arms that will go down far enough, or drop the stock steering arms, and then use dropped tie rod ends to get another inch or so of room.

again photos will be lots of help

 

Will cutting a new taper on the top side of the spindle arm for top mounting gain enough clearance? Sometimes using a solid tie rod,and model A ends will gain a bit of clearance compared to a later V8 hollow tube,and standard rod ends. One other thought....Speedway sells offset rod ends that will raise,or lower a tie rod depending on how you mount. They are listed under classic trucks, 48-60.

 

I've done it both ways. On my last 32 pickup with a dropped 32 axle 32 bones and spindles I ended up going over the bones and putting a pair of short rubber bump stops on the spring plate. Didn't effect the ride but didn't let the tie rod hit the frame

 

^^^^ Moderator said
I use the Pete & Jakes long bolt on straight ,
Heated & bent to clear on Non split (over) with stock 32 steering box , 40 Ford brakes .
Took a Little time , set car on blocks all the way around with sheet Metal & engine installed , used cardboard templates then bent arms to shape .
Had around 1/4 inch Clarence when Wheels returned .

 

Going under the wishbone isn't an option with the 5" drop as it will be below the scrub line. I went out and took some pics. Right now I have the CE dropped lower arms on it, which are tapered from the bottom, for a 4" drop axle. I have a '47 tie rod mocked up from the top, non tapered side and the tie rod is just a tiny bit above the wishbone. I could heat the CE arms to bring them up and taper them from the top and that would work as long as I can make it clear the crossmember. The spindles are new and came with the axle, etc. I want to run bolt on arms. There is also a pic of the polished AHR arms that are pretty close to stock drop. They would work with hairpins or 4 bar, neither of those options do I want to use on this. I'm not really up to dropping the stock '40 arms and they also need re bushed and reamed. So, I want to use the new spindles and bolt on arms. The CE arms are forged steel, so they can be heated and bent. That, I can do. Have 7 degree reamer available as well.
Here are some pics. Ignore nuts and bolts and nylocks etc as they are all just mock up. Crossmember will be riveted in for final assembly. A few of the pics from above are wheels centered tie rod location and wheels turned full lock left and right clearances. If I went with a Shadow Rods rivet in crossmember there shouldn't be a clearance problem with tie rod. The other thought was to take a pie cut out of the rear valley of the Model A member and make it come in in front of the center 4cyl engine mount hole, which would also clear the tie rod. I'm concerned about that stock member being weakened by all these mods. I have already cut and filled the ends like Ed LLoyd? does on his '32 frame builds and also V'd out and welded the cracks in the center around the spring seat area.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Oh yeah, the '32 tie rod ends interfere badly with the Lincoln backing plates at this time so later tie rods it is.

Dave

 

Just like the dwollam pix says.----Did mine the same way.

 

Don, can you clarify that a bit more? Did you go over the wishbone?

Thanks,
Dave

 

I wish I had a good picture of the front on my 32 pickup. I used 32 spindles with a 4.5 dropped 32 axle with 32-34 tie rod ends on the drag link, tie rod and wishbone ends and my ends cleared the Lincoln brakes, and the bones using a stock 34 pitman and dropped 32 steering arm. Also had the tie rod above the bones using a Posie rolled and tapered super low spring and the tie rod did not hit the frame. Unfortunately the truck has moved on.

 

My set up

 

@krylon32 , frame clearance isn't really a problem, just the crossmember center lower section. That's why I was considering either replacing it with a Shadow Rods unit or trimming mine way back. If I bent the lower arms a little the '32 tie rod would probably be fine. In fact because of the angle the CE ends sit at, just twisting them level should make them clear.

@Andy , looks like your wishbones are modified to drop lower? Dead perch? What is the spring?

Dave

 

The ends were made from solid plate. The tubes are Model A. The spring is a home made fiberglass one I made. The dead perch worked well with that spring. I tried a higher arch spring later and the dead perch did not work well with it.
It worked great as shown for a long time.

 

@dwollam I'm not familiar with the Shadow Rods crossmember... how does it differ from the stocker?

 

The back edges of Model A crossmembers have been trimmed since the beginning of hot rodding. Trim the bare minimum and you should be fine.

 

I ran into a similar issue on my coupe. I have a dropped 32 heavy axle and split 33-34 bones with a reverse eye spring. Not much for suspension movement when above the wishbones. I heated and bent the arms down (42-48) spindles. In order to get the arms down far enough, the tie rods holes ended up too close to the axle. I didn’t really want to go with bolt on arms, but went ahead and used the CE forged from arms. I had to heat and bend them slightly. The tie Rod end is just above the bottom of the wheel so scrub line is fine. I’m going to clearance the bottom of the wishbones slightly by cutting a piece out and welding a small curve above after I measure the full range of motion. On the Lincoln backing plates (MT) I had to space the arms out about an 1/8”. I’m not sure on the amount of drop the axle has.

 

@'28phonebooth , Below is the link to @edwardlloyd 's '32 frame build thread and the mods of '30-'31 crossmember and at the bottom of the 1st page is a pic of the Shadow Rods crossmember. It is made to rivet in and has the end plates made into them. Others I have looked at online are either weld in or have the holes already drilled but those don't show show the ends or describe them fully so I don't know if they have end plates or not.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-build-an-authentic-1932-frame.610718/

Dave

 

@31Apickup , I have to space my CE arms out about the same. I thought of notching the tops of my wishbones but it is amazing how much front to rear travel the tie rod makes in it's path from side to side! I just didn't want to go that route.

Dave

 

Here's mine... 4 inch drop with dropped steering arms....I turn the split wishbone over to give me clearance under it....

 

^^^ and the option of thru,
or above the wishbone.
Hate to snag the tie rod
on anything.

 

I called Ray at Roadster Supply and ordered the 48" with 4" drop and 2" perch So-Cal 70508 forged axle a few minutes ago. I think this will solve my issues.

I called him Thursday or Friday and turns out he was at the GNRS helping set up. Can't believe he answered the phone while there! He posted on his web page he would be closed but I had spaced that out. Super nice guy! For sure on my list of places to buy from again. Thanks Ray, you are a gentleman.

Dave

 

I have bought the parts for dozens of chassis from Ray both when he worked for So-Cal and now that's he's got his own company. Both he and his son Ian are super nice guys.