Bent wishbones, and not the normal way..

I have a front end set-up that came on a frame I am trying to freshen up. I've searched, but unfortunately I keep getting references to late 40's wishbones. Mine was split, and then instead of re-aligning the spring perch it self, they bent the wishbone behind the axle to keep the distance and angle between spring perches. Is this ok? I don't have a giant stash of parts and I'm trying to keep the cost down on this frame so if it will work and not handle like crap, then I'll keep it. I just want some opinions.

I'm not sure what I have and I haven't done much with pre-war fords. so I'm kind of at a loss. It's dark outside, so I've drawn what I have. They don't hit anything, and the tires don't hit. This stuff was on a running driving streetrod, but I have no idea how well it rode.

 

No reason it shouldn't work OK. Probably look Hokey, but that's alright in these parts.

 

it's been done.pete from the "alterboys" out of boston has a set that are bent on his 33 coupe.many race cars back in the day were that way.

 

it will also work as a sway bar!

 

Be sure have full clearance with your tires ,lock to lock ,on your steering system. Your drawing tells me, you will be in trouble, if you don't have the bones closer together.

Good luck with your project, ...........Jack

 

Thats the way they did my 29 roadster car was built in the late 50s ,seems to work fine . There's a pic of the front axle of the 29 in my albums. I would run it .

 

The bones are actually closer together and the tires are able to turn, just a crappy drawing.

Thanks all for the reassurances. There is definitely some questionable stuff done on this frame, so I am just going through and checking things.

 

Could those just have been swapped side for side from the originals? 35 to 40 car-right?

 

Bringing the wishbone ends as close as possible together, would benefit the ride quality. I don't see how bending the wishbone can hurt anything, I would just bring them inward instead of outwards.
I have mine mounted to the framerails, but I wouldn't do that again.

 

Here's a picture of my actual setup.

Choprods - I don't think they are swapped, they look modified to me.

Chris - These are mounted at the rear to a piece of bar stock welded to the side of the frame. I'll be replacing them since they didn't even bother to ream the hole to the correct angle for the tie rod end, but I'm not sure I can move them in without un-bending them.

 

maybe it's just me , but the axle looks bent

 

Yeah it does... In person it looks like a smooth, even curve. I'm not sure if it is aftermarket or what, but it is some sort of tube axle and I haven't found any dents or scrapes like it has been damaged. I had assumed it was intentional, but maybe Its not.

 

Yes, I was going to say the same thing, sure looks like a curve in the axle. But I guess it wouldn't hurt anything, as long as the kingpins are still parallel and camber is OK. You could still adjust toe and caster.

 

This was done on the front spring radius rods when they were slit for tire clearance on lock to lock turns. The tire would rub on the radius rods if not altered for clearance. The spring shackle mount in front of the axle had to be heated and reshaped at the same time to align with the spring when the wish bone was cut and pulled farther apart than Henry had designed. If it was left straight and split the tires rub and you get no turning radius. Notice the clearance in the picture above.

 

V-8 60 axle perchance?

 

Koz here on the hamb did it on a 36 pickup he built. He put slits on the outside of the bone where he needed it to angle in...bent it...and rewelded it. It worked fine and looked good

 

It was pretty normal to heat and bend the wishbones when you split them on that style of front end but those look to be out too far for any normal Ford application.

After looking at the axle and looking on http://www.roadsters.com/axles/ and scrolling down to the V8 60 axle photos it looks like the axle should be straight across when looking at it directly from, the top and have a nice curve to it when looking at it from the front.

 

Am I missing something here? The way the bones flair out look to be a wider stance than the front wheels? So is the frame actually wider than the front wheel track? It didn't work that way on my 32 frame and we used split A bones. Also is there a provision for a pan bar on this?

 

heres mine, it came this way on a frame, looks kinda scary to me.

 

This is on a '36 frame so the frame does get pretty wide. I actually rolled the front suspension under the frame and tires just barely will fit on either side. It was all put together and in one piece a week ago, so I know it all fits, but that doesn't mean it is right.

I think the axle is bent. I looked at it some more, cleaned some grime and something just doesn't look right. It looks like an aftermarket tube axle to me, any thoughts?

 

That axle IS bent! Also looks like aftermarket of some type. Distance between perch pins and king pins is too long to be Ford 60 horse-type axle. I can't see any positive reason to build a car around such an important piece(s) as this (these) and use "bent / questionable" parts like these when known-GOOD stuff is easily attainable and relatively reasonable pricewise. Not tryin' to "poo-poo" your stuff. DD

 

Don't worry, You're not "Poop-pooing" anything of mine. The whole reason I pulled this thing apart is to try and make it right. This frame is ugly, has partial boxing plate stuff done, reinforcement plates on the outside and all kinds of stuff. It is setup for an SBC and TH350. This is just stage one. I have another nice original frame, but When I build it, it will be getting a '59 Caddilac 390, muncie 4spd and more traditional brakes and will be nice, but will require money I just don't have at the moment.

I just want this one to be safe and be able to enjoy the car in the meantime.

 

The axle can be fixed in a press
Them aftermarket tube axles are very thick tubing w forged ends welded on …. I narrowed one once and was surprised how thick the tubing was when I cut it in half …… it should bend back without kinking or dimpling.

Iv seen a bunch of wishbones done like that or pie cut in about the same spot.

 

If you split the bones a spring is mounted on it has to be bent. not so much with a narrower A frame, but still... pics of how I had to do mine

 

Its been a pretty standard practice in the UK on Ford Pops for years, especially ones that were made into "specials" - cut down racers.
In fact the first Lotus 7 cars had a similar set up but split the I-beam as well

 

I've done this many times successfully. My Dad used to do it to get some extra turning radius on the dirt cars and I've never seen one break or bend, (yet!). Like all suspension and steering components make sure they are exactly identical and be sure you trust your welds. The forces at work up there are incredible.

 

On a 40 ford p/u or any spring in front of the axle instead of pie cutting, bending or whatever to spread the wishbones does this axle have an advantage over a "spring over the axle" where the front spring hanger can be heated & bent at OR after the perch or would you not recommended this method ? On mine i would only be spreading a little at the trans mount from Drake.

 

When you tweak the 'bones like that, is it just a matter of heating and bending, or is it recommended to do a little pie-cut and weld it back up? I'm gonna hafta do the same to mine and trying to figure out the best way to do it.

 

I had a friend bend some, he used a section of solid fork lift wheel. He put the chunk of wheel rubber side against the wishbone and used a press, ended up with a nice gradual curve and no crushing or kinking.

 

he did it cold 117harv? that would be preferable..