The only guy thats got this right is "revkev6" in post #22. I'm 72 been hotroding n racing scents the mid 50s
split bones act like a pantagragh keeping the king pin angle constant under spring load and acts as a swaybar regardless of any other mods to the suspension.BUCKD
No reason to split wishbones with a flathead engine. Henry made the best suspension ever. Why change it.
In a very old Hot Rod book I had, They suggested splitting wishbones for four reasons,. (No, I can't remember which book out of the abyss of hot rod reading material I have acquired, But if I ever find the article, I'll scan and post it... But don't hold your breath) First of course was to be able to use different engine and transmission combinations, Second was to improve stability,.. The third was to reduce the pressures on the single point "Ball Joint" mounting position and doubling the strength by mounting each side independently. Forth !.... Dropped front ends and jacked up rears were causing havoc with the "Caster" angle,.. A 6 Degree rake can effectively get you close to 0 Degrees of Caster (As Caster works on a constant Horizon Plane, and not using the chassis as a base line), Making your Hot Rod a little unruly to steer. Instead of trying to drop the mounting cup,.. OR ! "V" grooving your wishbones at the wrist and re-welding them and keeping everything tight and centered. It made more sense to split them, Make them adjustable "Fore & Aft" so you could "square it up in the chassis". AND, depending how low you mount the pivot point of the wishbones, You could build more caster back into your front suspension geometry. Some people have said (On this forum) the reason they came up with Hairpins was to be able to facilitate tie rod clearance and to avoid having to bend spindle arms (Which was of course are two very helpful by-products) .... But if you research it, The development was actually due to be able to adjust caster more easily and accurately by adjusting top and bottom clevises accordingly.
Don't ya just hate it when a thread hangs around the the first couple pages for a week,... And after you comment on it,.... It dies .... ?.... I hate it when that happens.
i am going to split the wishbone off my 47 parts car and have a question. is there a preferred way to do this? or just chop saw the knob and cut the bone at the center? or cut both sides a few inches back? never really gave it much thought but want to get it right. thanks for your input. george sdak
I have always tried to cut them as close to the factory weld and forged yoke as possible (usually right on the factory weld) ,.. and when you go to weld the bung in, Cut the weld running lengthways the length the bung.... slides into the end. Also drill a hole from side to side through the rear of the wishbone at the center of the bung's length. ( I hope you can picture this). Bevel the material between the mating surface of the wishbone end and the bung and tack weld it....Then, "Button or stake" weld the bung through the hole you drilled. weld up the cut you made along the factory weld down to the bung,.... Then weld up the mating surface... At least, this is how I've always did it.
thanks a lot Harms Way.....that is very descriptive and is much better than i had thought out. good to have talent like yours. george s.dak
Hey George,... Thanks for the kind words, A lot of us folks here on the HAMB are "Gifted"... To prove it,. Here is a picture of me on the first day of school, When they found out how smart I was.
model A bones also mount on the front of the transmission housing dont they? so if you do a flatty swap theres nothing to mount it to.
Ok, now more fuel on the fire. Opinions and good reasons. Tie rods or flex bushings on ends of wish bones? Pros and cons of either. I believe a tie rod would transfer more road noise and shock, but have better alignment. And flex bushings would stiffen up the anti roll. Ago
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