Looking for some info on drilling radius rods. Does drilling right through weaken the rods at all? Can I just drill the outer surface? I was thinking that this would leave more strength in the rod? The car doesn't get used very much but it gets driven hard when it does get used. Drags, Dirt track and looking at doing some hill climb work.
That car is SO neat just the way it is-drilling the radius rods won't enhance it a bit. And this is from a guy who has drilled (and sleeved) several sets around here.
All depends how big the hole is ,I half agree with Kevin Lee ,There really is no pressure to bend the rods ,In the way your thinking ,I would weld sleeves in it to give a cleaner look and not to trap water inside .....
Got many thousands of miles on my A rods. Drilled straight through. No problems. Wait, let me go to the garage and check!
when you drill them sleeve them it looks better and it is stronger than just having drilled holes.... bottom line... it's your car so you decide.....
I had mine drilled and sleeved...I didn't like the idea of water and dirt collecting on the inside of the bones.
The holes in mine are about eight inches apart, large in front tapering to 3/8 on the small end. They work fine and have not bent.
On water collecting inside: I have owned several high end chromoly bicycle frames. This is a place where the best designs use the absolute minimum of material to get the job done and tubes can be very thin in places. Rust is the enemy and you will never see a builder try to seal a tube completely. I think the key is to just know that water will get where you do not want it... so provide a place for it to escape. An 1/8" or 3/16" hole at the lowest point would do it.
And to add to Kevins tip. You can buy frame wax for steel from JP Weigle or your local bicycle shop. It is sprayed inside to coat fresh sttel and prevent coorosion. The same stuff is sold by auto body suppliers and called auto body cavity wax. Carefull, it is an aresol and can make huge mess! I have used it inside roadster doors and frame rails.
I woldn't suggest not sleaving them, I have seen them bend. Its not worth doing unless you do it right. They won't bend vertically, but disconnect your bones and try to turn your wheel, you will see how much force is on them horizontally, that is what you have to worry about.
But... I don't drive around with my split wishbone disconnected. Sorry, I don't really understand your point. But I'd like to understand what you're trying to say.
The only force applied is front to rear, in a straight line. The stock front wishbones are 156 wall. The rears are much less wall thickness and other things apply.
same as kevin stated , i just put a couple weep holes in mine at the lowest point ! they will get powdercoated inside and out
Dirtbag13, I like the way your radius arms turned out, very nice. What spacing and hole size did you drill? Thanks Tqz
i will have to look to remember ? my friend did them on his cnc mill at work , every 2 taper down to match the taper of the arms ! clamped them to the table on the mill leveled them and punched through both sides to make sure they line up perfect
i HAVE seen broken ones ....a bicycle is not a car .....i drive many miles and hit many potholes ...always error to the safe side
I like the way you've tapered the bone into the Model A Ford tie rod end. Is there a tie rod stub welded inside as well or is the steel bone welded to the forged end only?
The point of drilling wishbones is to lighten them up and reduce overall and unsprung weight for better handling and acceleration, sleeving them defeats that purpose and actually adds weight to your suspension. I'm not arguing one way or the other... but I'm personally not really into spending hours of my labor to DEcrease the performance of my car for the sake of a certain look.
From personal experience, I would not drill, sleeve and chrome plate old stock wishbones. They can/will break. Nuff said......
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