OK guys,.... I am working on a Chassis for a pal of mine,... I have had this old "Maximum drop" 34 axle in the parts pile, that I got from Mor-Drop decades ago,... (and at first glance,.. it just looks like a normal drop) For many years I use to do a 7 degree tapered ream from the bottom of the spindle arm, heat and bend the stock arms so the rod end centers for the tie rod stayed in line to keep ackerman where it belonged. Or if there was enough room for jounce & rebound,... run the tie rod above the wishbones. Well I'm in a bit of a quandary,... I was provided a pair of 42-48 spindles that had the spindle arms whacked off,.. and a set of "max dropped" (so I'm told) P&J spindle arms,....And I'm coming about 3/8" shy of being able to clear the bottom of the split wishbones. After measuring the length of the stock arms,... I don't think I have enough material to use another set of modified spindles to drop that low,.. (Just for reference,.. if you lay the P&J arms up side down on a flat surface, And measure to the bottom mounting surface for the tie rod end,... it's 5" !) I have thought of heating and bending the after market P&J arms but I'm a little "gun shy" to do that. And there is no way the tie rod will fit between the top of the wishbones and the bottom of the frame, and maintain enough jounce. I don't want to notch the bottom of the frame or the wishbones,... So here it goes ! (1.) Who makes the deepest dropped spindle arms ? (2.) Have any of you guys ever re-bent the after market arms ? (3.) Maybe I should just change to a after market dropped axle ? So,... what do ya' think guys ? ... I used to love a challenge like this,... But these days,.. it just gives me a bigger headache (yes actual headache) than I have already had for the last week or two. A picture of ,..."The Culprit !"
Harms Way, I have two sets of deep drop magnum arms. They are for the 5" dropped axle, I can measure one tonight and let you know the amount of drop. Also they would not work on my buddies 39 stock dropped axle there was not enough clearence to mount arms. Need to run a set of under spindle mount arms. Anyway, let me know if you need that measurement. Gordon
Sounds like you want quick and easy at this point, so I would say swap the axle because that's the root of the whole headache. If you wanted to make it work, you could mod some 35/36 bones like i did on my 32. That is some work; as I trimmed the thicker top part of the bone yokes to mimic a 32/34 and then had to re-taper for the perch pins.....but it does gain a lot of room under the bones if you use the 35/36 style.
I've done this too. However, if you don't own a taper it'll cost a pretty penny, especially for a one-time job.
That front crossmember looks like it's the biggest cause of the issue. Between it, and that wicked dropped axle, wow! That sucka's gonna be wicked low!
...but i'm a hack, so I made a tool to do it. It went perfect on the first one, then lost it's cutting edge halfway through the other one... but I pushed on, rather that admit defeat.
I think I saw the tool you made posted here somewhere. I just don't have the cajones to make one. Well, maybe now that I've got a small shop...
You can also use a file and a little arm work to tapper the hole.. Also in the old'in days they use to put a slight bend in the tie rod to gain a little extra room.. And neither idea cost you any money.....
The suspension travel has plenty of jounce and rebound on the front end,.. But if you put the tie rod between the frame & wishbones it will take up 7/8" in between them (in an area there would normally be no interference). According to what I read. That Hemi weighs in at 720 LBS., or there abouts. With enough suspension travel (that it already has) and the tie rod under the wishbones, this should work just fine. I'm really starting to lean toward changing out the axle. But !,.. I am still listening to any other comments. This is my pal's project.
How bout I make a trip up north this weekend and swap you axles? Haha! I have a pair of stainless arms I'll measure tomorrow (its cold and they're in the shed!). I'll let ya know.
F&J's first response may be the best solution. Another soulution could be a sleeved oval slot in the bone for the tie rod to pass through. How much is the taper bit as compared to the longer arms?
Perhaps through the bones is best based on the ride height, but you can get these Ford dropped tie rod ends from Speedway and a few others:
Very cool,.. they kind of look like old Ford or Dodge van tie rod ends,... If memory serves me correctly,.... I wonder if there 11/16" x 18 ?
We've put a little more bend in the forged CE bolt on arms with no problem. I am sure you already know this; but you need more drop at full lock than straight ahead, due to the upward swing of the steering arms as the inclined spindle is turned.
chassis engineering makes great arms for clearance issues.this isn't the deep design but you get the idea.
http://www.yogisinc.com/index.cfm/p...egory_id=114/home_id=-1/mode=prod/prd3340.htm link:love that axle,it's worth the work.
That's a great idea T-man!!! I would hesitate to drop an overseas casting, I had to heat and bend a ductile iron casting (not a car part) that was done in china , and it snapped clean in half, I've never had that happen with the pieces id done from us foundries. The CE arms are forged and nice, I'm sure they would hold up fine to a little clearance adjustment.
Yeah you should just get a new axle and arms ………its to much work to make that old junk work
OK,... yeah I know, but some days you just get a mental block, especially as you get older and you have a lot of other things on your mind,.... Well, I dug through the barn and found another old Mor-Drop,... Switched out the axle,.. and all is right with the world,.... Here is a picture of the Axle I just put in, laying on top of the one I took out,... 13/16" can make all the difference in the world, Guess I'll have to save this one to use with a pair of Hairpin radius rods...... All's well that ends well.
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