I have a question, have you heard of anyone running old ford tractor front bones. I havent measured a set yet to see if they will fit car axles. I am asking because I like how they attach to the frame. They attach to the tractor by a small cast ball end similar to a car wishbone mount but smaller and they are already slit so this ball end is on each radius rod. Also being in farm country there are many tractor junkyard in the area. I know I can buy a set and cut the ends off and weld them to car bones but I am sure these will be cheaper than car wishbones and buying rod ends for them. May be tonight I will run buy the John Deere dealer and see if there is an old ford tractor there and measure them. What do you people think?
a buddy of mine is using the ball and socket style setup off of a tractor on his t.....bought 2 new ball ends and he machined the sockets ....looks pretty slick....and they are setup with a grease fitting for a squeek free ride...lol brandon
I have used the I beam ones ,,Speedway has a 7 " spring perch that will work and you need to put spacers on top and bottom of axle and it'll all fit just fine
Tractor parts are not made for the stresses of automobile use, they are made and engineered for tractoring, slow speed, high torque, creeping around with heavy equipment and blades and such dragging through the dirt. This not near the same or equivalent of shotting down a highway with jouncing bouncing everything all the time.
Those i beam wishbones look kick-ass. I've seen a pic of a car running em all drilled out and such and they looked kickass. I would consider the point posed by pasedena though before bolting em on. I 'd really want to understand how they were manufactured and compare/contrast the quality, design with a automotive item. Though to me they actually look a bit beefy-er.
Yeah and the ones on cars are hollow tubes same as used on tractors there is NO difference,,the I beam is stronger..A tractor also weights as much if not more that the car,,and the abuse it will see FAR exceeds that of a car,,if anything the thought may be reversed Think about it the torque of a tractor and the uneven terran of a field?? Hell gotta better chance of bending a radius arm hitting a big rock than you will find anything of the Hiway Tractors are built for MORE stress
I have a set similar to those on the tractor located on the back of the '29 rear end I've got. It's the 1 1/2 ton truck, and these bones are 60" long. They're already split from the factory which basically makes them similar to a torque arm on a 80s-90s model GM Camaro, Firebird, or TA.
ChuckleHead_Al's coupe has these, built by Jason, Evilfordcoupe. Don't know of any problems, Jason drove the car from Austin to Paso and back, thats a good test. Looks good. I have a set of these stuck back for some unknown future project.
I have a couple of Ford tractors with the radius arms in question. I would have to agree that a tractor takes far more abuse than you should ever see on the street. Add to the fact that there is no suspension on the tractor, they would survive much better in an automotive setup. I too have been laying out a set for a future project.
The other important difference between tractors and cars is that tractors don't have brakes on the front and cars do. One of the wishbone's functions in a car is soaking up braking torque. On the other hand, if you were to put those tractor bones next to some model A bones, I think they'd look pretty beefy.
Ever think that just MAYBE,,the tractor was where some rodder way back when got the idead to split the bones?? Whata mess that turned out to be
I've been thinking of building one of these: Probably should reconsider, would probably be A MESS.... Yes that is a flatty in a tractor w/spilt bones....
Mess?? No way thats one bad little tractor. I've seen a couple of the converted flatty tractors. Their neat.
That was just a little scarcasim, I'm still going to build one. They are awesome!!!! Tractor bones are alot stronger than stock model a bones. Have you ever used a tractor and bushhog to clear property, and push down 4 inch or so trees with the front axle....Try that with you hot rod and see which one can't handle the stress...
The Jalopy Journal
