I am rebuilding a 1940 Ford banjo rear axle. The spring mounts which are attached to the ends of the axle housings are pulled towards each other so that the mounting holes for the shackles are not parallel. Has anyone come across this condition before?
i've never seen that on a `40 rear end , they are forged steel and rather beefy so i can't imagine how that happened any pictures?
Attached are a right and left side pictures. I was sent an article which gave a dimension of 48-1/2" on the spring mount width; which is what I measure to the outside of the shackle bosses. They seem to both be tipped in equally.
It is hard to tell from the pic, but if you rotate the housing so the brake backing plate holes are level does that straighten the spring mounts?
Can't tell if they were bent on purpose (no signs of heating with all that rust), but something was changed somewhere in it's life. You'll need to straighten them out. A bit of heat and pressure on the hanger should do it.
Ditto, what alchemy said. Apply the heat with finesse...use only as much as needed. Someone modified those in some past life, for whatever reason. 4TTRUK
Just was thinking about this more and realized, those hangers are bent the wrong way for a '32 spring. I really wonder what the purpose of bending them was?
Did YOU take the rear out of the car or has it been out for a long time? I just put the rear back in my Model A and nothing looked like it was going to line up until I had the spring spread to the point where the shackles were put in almost by hand. Everything lined up perfectly then. The pics aren't showing us much. If you can find someone with a stock '40, ask them if you can take a look at their springs and mounts.
Alchemy, 40Fordguy, Heat and tweek back to parallel will be the plan. It would make more sense if the 48-1/2" dimension was between the shackle bore centers. Thanks to all who responded.
Hello, Was wondering if you had worked out this problem? I am rebuilding the rear axle assembly from a 41 Ford 1/2 ton pickup and am experiencing the same problem. I didn't notice the shackle mount being bowed in when I removed the spring and disassembled the axle assembly, but now that I have the axle assembly back together, the bow-in is quite noticeable. Does any one have a comment? HotRod-1
Possibly a well rusted shackle or a new repro shackle with oversize shell came together with an idiot and a big hammer.... A GOOD spring spreader, like an OTC or Snap-on, might be a way to apply some remedial force.
Maybe someone was trying to install the rear in an earlier car that used a narrower spring. Wasn't the 41 or 42 spring an odd length?
Mine were tweaked too. I wrapped water soaked rags around the bearing surfaces so I wouldn't damage them, then heated and bent them back. A O K!
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