I'm glad they were Magnum arms. If they were Speedway pieces they probably would have snapped. They don't come with the front end kit, I ordered them separately. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Who designed it to have the arms pointing to the front? Thats the guy to talk to. Your akerman is FUTATABAR.
I have been reading this thread and can relate, and I know first hand this is a scary ride. I just went down that rode in my tbucket first death wobble, then tie rod snapped wheel turned sideways and pushed me into the other lane. I haven't touch the car since. glad your ok thats whats most important.
In addition to what others have suggested, I'd be checking king pins and wheel bearings for tightness, and replacing the tie rod and drag ling with larger diameter, thicker wall tubing, which will be much stiffer. After a ride like you've described, might be a good idea to magnaflux the spindles too. I don't mean to be an insulting dick by saying this, but: Any front end kit that pairs a tube axle with hairpin radius rods, especially hair pins with clevises at the front, is not "engineered", it is merely assembled. Think of what happens when you turn a corner- the front end of the hairpins stay at the same height from the road, while the rear ends change- the inside one rises, the outside one drops as the chassis rolls. Since the tube axle can't twist like a beam axle, something has to bend. And there's no compliance at the clevises, like there would be with a spherical rod end or flexible bushing. If I were you, I'd be replacing most of the front end, including the suicide spring mount, friction shocks, and the grade 5 bolts holding the backing plates to the spindles. The fact that guys have been getting away with this for 5 years or 50 years doesn't make it safe. Eventually, you will break something else. Just my concerned opinion.
Half.....I must say that you have been much more successful at putting into words SOME of the apparent engineering deficiencies with this front end AS A PACKAGE, than I was able to muster farther back. I really hope the OP gives some serious re-consideration to his overall front-end package. Again, not trying to poo on the guy's car. DD
I noticed the wheel toeing in and out when I shook the car down after the incident. I rolled about 10-15mph then locked the brakes up. That's when I noticed the wheel wobbling. The door opened up at speed when the front end was bouncing. Have you checked the rims, drums & hubs I'll bet something is bent there as well. jack it up and give it a spin.
Scott Are the king pins and bearings still good? That can cause the wheels to flop around maybe enough for the drum to catch the arm and cause the hopping. Martyn Edit - Also look at the right shock it looks to be a different angle to the other side. The other thing check your brake slave cylinders for leaks As said - a rock between the drum and arm. check the tire for scuffing it could have been bouncing because it was locked up by and jammed against the arm.
Any chance the arm was bent by another vehicle, maybe parking lot bump, prior to your death wobble trip? Could the bent arm and possible other suspension damage be the cause, and not a result, of the wobble incident?
check your front hub . something caused your steering to pile up and I think some of the guys who said the arm hit the drum are right. any force that causes the passenger door to open isn't minor. go for the obvious . also they must have named it a suicide front end for a reason
I agree with this post, and he points out a lot things of what not to do, from the grade of the bolts that were used to the Tube axle is a big one with hairpins and I know others have run that setup but it does not make it correct. This could have turned out a lot worse than a bent arm and some wobble/wheel. glad that you or know one else was hurt
Im guessing and im no expert. Left drum has locked up, or right has failed and steered you left at high speed. So left wheel starts skidding and bouncing whilst both wheels pointing left but car still going forward at high speed. Eventually spring harmonics and bounce make the right wheel bounce and everytime it lands on the ground its pointing left but the cars still going straight. Thats allot of energy and forces being put into that arm. Looks like its been twisted down and in. The bouncing would be like hitting it with a sledge hammer several times in a few seconds(but a few hundread kilo's behind each blow). You dont need to heat steel to bend it. Id be checking the brakes. cheers Julian
Because, 95% of the aftermarket parts available today are Made in CHINA!!! Speedway included. SinglefingerSpeedShop.com
years ago had a tube axle with hair pins rotate under hard braking and bend the arms like that but it also bowed hair pins and twisted shackles a little and the end of the spring went back to a ford axle and split wish bones thought the clevis stye ends were the reason for the rotation under braking....dave
For some reason I was looking at your screen name and it just hit me that you should be running one of these
After reading all of this I think we are missing what really happened. It is very clear to see why the steering arm bent. This is not a suspension issue. It is a failure due to improper use of parts and clearance problems. The steering arm bent because it came in contact with the brake drum. As he rode the car hard. Parts start to flex an come closer together. Secondly the steering arm hit the drum because the "drag link" is not being used properly. The steering arm is on the front side of the axle. Drag links are designed to pull and are weak at pushing. This is why the drag is buckled. Also he must have been making a right turn to force the steering arm into the drum. Drum bends in, axle bends in, drag link forces steering arm into brake drum. That's how shit happens! Glad you are ok. Someone was looking out for you that day. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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