I was talking to someone yesterday about my wishbone and he said all I needed to do was to loosen the perch bolts, push bones outward instead of heating them and bending them. Anyone else try this? Sent from my moto z4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Depends on the axle. I have always used the later 40's axles which are spring in front. That keeps you from just loosening them and moving them. You've gotta heat the spring perches and relocate them. I just cut them off. But yeah, if you're splitting the bones, you should be able to loosen the perch bolts and swing them around
Yes, as long as they are not spring-in-front, you can loosen them and swing them out. Before you commit to mounting them, though, assess that you will be able to fully turn the wheels without hitting the bones. Stuffing a tire into one, in-motion, can make for a less-than-desirable situation.
-It is spring in front, it's for my 47 Ford. -Correction they need to move in about two inches. Sent from my moto z4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Heat and bend is the only way. Allow to air cool, as slowly as possible. Never quench a forging (as that end is one).
Some people pie cut them, then weld them back. I thought about doing mine, but decided it was better to just lower the ball end 2". Gave me more caster, car drove smooth down the road and most importantly, the bone cleared the trans pan. The original "builder", I say that loosely because hack might be a better term, had the trans sitting ON the wishbone! And drove it that way, there is nice V dents in the trans pan! That engine and trans is no longer in the car, the new Ford AOD combo has plenty of clearance.
DO NOT...force bend the bars. If they can be rotated (spring !?), fine. You say that they are part of the spring perch, then NO, do not force them. Parts do not like being bound up. Mike
I split and piecut my 'bones. '38 front suspension in the roadster. Gave me plenty of tire clearance lock to lock and no spring binding. The bend is hidden behind the shock and you don't see it.
You friend is thinking 34 or earlier that has the spring on top of the axle. As the others said and showed you can't do that with the spring in front of the axle. There are kits to drop the bones down to clear the pan on a transmission That either don't require splitting the bones or don't require much if any bending of the bones. Check page 20 on this PFD http://www.heinzmanstreetrods.com/catalogsections/Heinzman2018pages/HeinzCat2018_20-24.pdf The AS-2083 Drops the bone at the back without splitting it if you are running a C-4 trans. With the kit above it you can clear most other transmissions.
I asked @dana barlow how he did his on his roadster with the '48 spring in front since I wanted to use something very closely resembling his. His suggestion was to pie cut the wishbone approximately 15" back from the axle and bring it to the outside of the frame. Finish by fishplating the backside of the weld Gives plenty of room for tire clearance. Pic is of the one I did. I used the stock shackles so the stud sticking out the back of the axle is for the panhard bar
That kit Mr48chev linked to was what I based mine on. The Linc was a bit different as the cross member was a solid unit, and not a x member like the Ford has. I used a rectangular piece of thick steel, don't remember how thick it was, and notched it for the ball, and then used a ball socket I got off of eBay for the top of the mount, with the original bottom socket underneath. The whole piece bolts up in the stock holes, and I added angle pieces to the front and back to straddle the crossmember to help keep excess stress on the now longer ball mount bolts, grade 8 of course. I was going to drill the outboard ends for two more mounting bolts, but my wimpy ass drill wouldn't drill the thick plate or the crossmember. It seems to work fine as is though.