Technical Steering stabilizer mounting question

Now it all makes sense.

 

Sorry. Shock eye welded to shaft ...

 

Hello,
It seems like a steering stabilizer is an add on for trying to correct a handling problem. A lot of old cars did have steering/handling problems whether from over use, not taking care of the car, bad roads and obstacles, etc. Those off-the-road racers add steering stablizers, but look at the terrain they are going to drive over. Something needs to be a little sturdier. Those places and races are not your daily driving scene and the bashing done is not a normal daily driver thing.

An agreement by @Boneyard51 and his post is something to look into, instead of adding to the front end set up. But, the problem will not go away 100% by adding on a Band-Aid over the problem at hand. There is “something going on and you don’t know what it is”… or can pinpoint.


When my wife and I bought this 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with a 327 motor, it was like the hot rod to fill our needs and family situations. It was nice looking, sounded powerful, and had the simplicity of a cool hot rod going down the road. We had plans, instantly with the sight of the sedan delivery sitting in the industrial parking lot upon arrival for a look at our next project.

As cool as it sounded and looked, the test drive was around the industrial neighborhood for several long blocks. The stop and go driving was as good as an old hot rod would get. It was the feeling of an actual cool hot rod driving down the street that allowed us to overcome the small stuff that was somewhat noticeable, but ignored due to the idea of the sedan delivery being our next hot rod.

By the time we got the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery home and my wife and I took it for a drive down the coast, she said that it handled like a tank, did not ride as well as our El Camino and it was hard for her to enjoy the idea of a cool hot rod as OUR daily driver. I notice the same things, but at the time, overlooked them to enjoy the new/old hot rod on the coastal drive.

When we got home, both of us looked at each other and said it was imperative that the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery be road safe and handle well. We had plans on long distance road trips for vacations, photo shoots, use it for our daily drives to run errands, shopping, and to visiting friends/family, etc. We did get a chuckle at a big extended family function one year during the holidays... "what the H@## is that?"

As much repair and replacing of old worn our parts was done by us, there was still a driving/handling problem. We did not add on anything other than replace old worn out parts and used new old stock parts or just new parts. But, as tempting as driving an old powerful hot rod on the So Cal streets, the handling was just not safe for my wife to take the hot rod out on her own errands and visits to friends.

Jnaki

So, we enlisted our friend who owned his own tire/wheel alignment/hot rod business and he was amazed at what needed to be done for the sedan delivery to be a good handling/safe hot rod. I told him what we had done to repair and replace those worn parts. We even mentioned a steering stabilizer. He chuckled and said almost the same thing. If the base is not secure and correct, any addition to the problem will not solve anything other than empty your checkbook.

He was confident that he would look at the problem and correct what was necessary. It took him several weeks of intense designs, measurements, and numbers on the concrete floor. The tires were shaved and trued, the shocks were replaced, the front end was taken apart and aligned correctly on his old methods and rechecked on his elevated machines. He even did several tire balancing methods to see which one would work while driving around and at high freeway speeds.

The weeks turned into months and finally, the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery was ready for the final road test. My wife got in and drove all over the OC coastal area including freeways and it handled perfectly, stopped or slowed down with a feather touch on the brake pedal. There was no shimmy at speed or shaky handling, even on some uneven roadways near the industrial buildings.

Now, it was on to our daily use and enjoyment of what we could not do in our own garage. Was it worth it to do it right? You bet! Correct the basic problem first without any unnecessary items to add to the original, unattended to, handling/braking problem.

If you plan on keeping your hot rod for a long time, or even if you are driving it on short trips, it still pays to do it right and get the full enjoyment out of the old hot rods. No Band-Aid additions, if you are limited in correcting the handling, get it to someone that can help.

The enjoyment of old hot rods is always there, but it still has to handle and be a safe car for daily drivers and long vacation destinations. Otherwise, the ride in a new or near new car with all of the amenities of a modern design in handling or braking is preferrable. YRMV

 

Got it put on today. Had to put it on the drag link instead of the tie rod because I ran out of real estate, it was going to rub the motor mount crossmember. Seems to have steadied the steering a bit, it doesn't wander as much now. Still have just a little play I haven't found yet, may be in the U joint. Not much, but noticeable.

Got it up to about 65-70 MPH, first time I've had it that fast. Old girl just sits there and floats. May need new front shocks. It's getting there!

 

Mine is mounted just opposite the Pete and Jake’s directions . The large end is on the tie rod , small end to lower four bar link . I could not define any difference between having it installed and not having it installed . I have a few Buds tell me “ you’ll never get that installed with out welding and burning paint !” The normal “ never say never “ to me !

 

If it's wandering wouldn't that indicate lack of tow-in? That'd be any easy fix rather than adding on something to compensate for an inaccurate front end adjustment.

 

I tried to measure the toe yesterday but my flimsy tape kept jumping off. Gonna have to get my sometimes helper give me a hand holding it.

 

@BamaMav , take the wheels off and bolt a length of angle steel on to two studs ,make it the same diameter as the tire. Make your own sliding trammel . I feel using a tread line is too unreliable.

 

Sounds like a good way to do it. I've always just put a straight board against each tire and measured it that way with a tape. Tried using a line on the tread a few times, never could do any good like that.

 

I was taught to jack the car up & use a board with a nail in it to scribe the front tires , the
Measure from the scribed line , your correct in assuming the tire tread is not consistent .

 

we installed a steering dampener not because of "death wobble" but to take the shock out of the steering wheel,especially hitting the seams coming off bridges at speed.

 

Ok , naturally the anemic original clamps don’t fit an original 32 beater with stock suspension and wishbones . But we came up with a rough solution, nuttin fancy but believe it works and much more substantial than the pathetic kit clamps. I don’t think we really need it now but it was a birthday gift. Can’t do any harm .

 

Measure toe in chalk line around center of each tire . Adjustable curtain rod and pencil to Mark it . Is the way I always do simple toe in adjustments

 

i know we are drifting OT a little. But yes the 3rd picture shows how far out the alignment really was. 32mm Pigeon toed in .

 

A VW damper on my Logghe altered:


Homemade clamp; the offset bend fit my tie rod location perfectly, by chance.