i have a pete and jakes split wishbone kit and a super bell 4" drop axle with a posie super slide spring ,this is all going in my 36 ford p/u i was told that you have to heat and bend the boss's for the spring hanger on the wish bones to bring them in closer to the center to hang the spring and to make the holes for the shackle inline with the spring itself,anbody done this any pics i am concerned with both sides being the same and also whell centering properly in fender,,oh god i said that word fender !!! yes it has fenders all four of them and they are sweeeeet!! any way any help on this from people who have heard of or done this? thanks
Some one on here must have put a dropped axle and split wishbone kit in one of these or something similar.
This is too funny as i think what you are talking about, I just did about 3 hours ago. If yours is like mine, the wishbones have the spring mounted in front of the axle. When you widen the back, it throws the spring eye hole out of alignment so you have to bend them to be 90 degrees to the axle . After I brought my wishbones to the outside of the frame, the eyes would end up intersecting about 7 ft in front of the car. I heated the stem of the perch about 1" above the eyelet cherry red and then used a huge cresent wrench and bent them so they would point straight out and then the spring fit perfect. It didnt seem like rocket science.
If you are using the P&J kit, go ahead and assemble everything on a bench with the axle, wishbones, perch pins, and split bracket. Once assembled you will see that the spring mounts point too far in. Clamp down the whole assembly and begin heating above the spring mount on the wishbone. I used a long bar inserted into the shackle bolt hole to bend them out once heated red hot (keep the torch moving!). Use a square and bend them out until they are at 90 degree w/ the axle. I just got done doing this to my 36 coupe. Superbell 4", '40 split bones, Posie spring, and P&J split kit... was real simple.
Get a couple of 3 foot lengths of threaded rod the same size as the shackel bushing hole and four nuts to thread onto the threaded rod, and you can check that the shackel bosses are parallel. HemiDeuce.
I would install it under the frame where you need it as you may still have the wishbones tapering inwards at the rear as mine does. If you bent them totally straight to the wishbone itself, the eye would actually end up pointing outwards.
Good info. Soon i will be dropping my 35 ford pick up...Though i was thinking of useing a 5 inch drop axle?
Another trick is once you bend them close to where they should be, remove all the leafs from the spring and install just the main leaf. Much easier to work with. This way you can make sure the shackles slide in place and everything is lined up OK. Good luck.
As long as the trans mount is bolted up to the the split bones, along with the axle (you end up with a trapezoid[?]) clamp it all down like mentioned above, or have a bunch of buddies (like I did) to hold it all steady while the heatin' and bendin' takes place, and you'll have your critical data. Mine worked out just fine, also, I used a long prybar instead of a wrench, that way, you don't heat it so much (still cherry red though). When you are sure you're there, check with a t-square to be extra sure. Let's see the truck you're working on.
I've been considering a 5" axle for a '37 PU. The only thing I can see that would need to be remembered is that the 5" axle has lower shock mounts incorporated into it (it's actually a hole predrilled for a shock stud). Using the split bone kit & keeping the spring in the stock location would most likely necessitate the use of a P&J or Chassis Engineering '35-'40 shock mount kit that uses a lower shock mount built into the spring shackle. I don't think using the predrilled hole for a shock stud on the 5" axle & keeping the spring in front of the axle will leave enough room for both to live in the same physical space. ...& FWIW, I'd prefer the CE shock kit. Their upper shock bracket has more bracing built in & bolts in three boles as opposed to less bracing & only two bolt holes in the P&J kit. The axle: http://www.thehotrodcompany.com/shopnow/show_item.asp?product_id=2855p The CE kit: http://www.chassisengineeringinc.com/page56.html The P&J kit: http://www.peteandjakes.com/parts/3548/35_shocks.htm JH
thanks guys for the input i really wanted some tips and thoughts before i started heating and bending,and jeem pics will be coming soon ,the peecup looks sweeeet,cant wait to see it ,thanks again guys
Harrison, I don't have a pic of it, but I bought a Magnum front shock kit several years ago. It was super, made of tubing. Trick deal. So nice that I've never used it. I just like to look at it . AND ....... the shackle boss on the radius rod will not only have to be bent to compensate for the bones being split, but you'll also have to bend it up and down to compensate for caster adjustment. If ya' don't, it'll put the shackle in a bind. AND .............. seems like those pics and tech info I sent ya' a year or so ago paid off. Now YOU'RE answering questions about installing dropped axles. That's great, saves me time here. Now I can spend more time in the 4sale and wanted sections .
Did it on my 40 pickup-same thing. Split the bones and weld the mounts to the chassis. Mount the axle to the bones. Install in vehicle and center axle and check wheelbase. Heat up just above the boss to a dull red-use aout a 3' shaft that fits snug inside boss and twist boss. Use a square against axle, when outside of boss is 90 degrees to axle you are done.
once again thanks for the interest in the topic to all and i also spoke to mike goodman today ,some of you may know him from honest charlies in tenn. he left me a message on my phone saying that the proper center line to centerline width of the spring boss after being bent for my set up would be 35 1/2 inches hope this also helps those doing the same install,
look here and see how Dancollins did his on his 38 pu http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64369
I just bent the part in front of the axle as it may have spread the eye to eye distance maybe 1/2"- 3/4" which in a way is good as it will make the spring spread a bit more and help get my car lower in front. I'll try to get pictures posted tomorrow.
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