Magnum Axle & Dropped Steering Arm Problem

I'm in the middle of a suspension upgrade on my '38. All was going well until I went to put my steering arms on last night & found that they will not allow the spindles to turn when bolted on. They fit in the "straight ahead" position but when you try to turn the spindle they hit the axle.

I'm running a Magnum axle and I believe the steering arms I have are Pete & Jakes parts. You can see in the picture that there isn't much more more than an inch between the bottom of the spindle & the axle.

Anyone run into this problem before? Surely I can't be the first.

Thanks, JH

 

That's a strange one Jim,,,is it in a bind,,,,or will it just not turn at all?

HRP

 

It isn't in a bind & the spindle turns just fine without the steering arm installed.

When the arm is bolted on, the "loop" that goes around the lower part of the spindle is too big. It hits the axle.

Make any sense?

JH

 

had the same problem with a pair of speedway arms and a super bell....and the same with a chassis engineering axle and speedway arms......nothing a little grinder and a sand paper wheel didn't fix.....hand held mini belt sander will work as well.....brandon

 

Is it the new 5" drop axle,,,

I just installed the C.E. axle and used pete and jake steering arms with out a hitch,,,,,

Do you have enough room to take a little of the bolt mounts on the arms,,,HRP

 

It is a 4" axle.

Taking some off the bolt mounts & breaking out the grinder was the first thing I thought of & probably would have done it if the whole family hadn't been upstairs asleep when all this went down. (A 15 month old kid forces me to work late & quietly.)

Modifieddriver has been down this road with a Magnum axle a few times. I've seen pics of one of his & evertyhing fits. I want to hear from him before I start cutting & grinding.

Thanks, JH

 

dumb question. Do you have the spindles mounted upside down? Looking at the pictures, I think they are.

 

No, the spindles are mounted correctly.

Thanks, JH

 

they look upside down to me too

 

The spindles are on there the right way... The long boss goes on top...



JOE

 

looks like it has a lot of positive camber, either the spindles or the axle or both are bored wrong, it has me really wondering now

 

So, does anyone who knows what he's talking about have anything to add?

Modifieddriver where are you?

Thanks, JH

 

Why don't you shoot Mike a pm (side_valve) , since the Hot Rod Company carries all of the magnum line. Maybe you need their arms as well.

 

it might just be the angle of your picture, but it looks like your camber is off, if you put your axle on the floor with both spindles installed do they, the spindles look like the hanging down on the ends?

 

How about simply picking up the damned telephone and talking to the people at Magnum and asking what they can say about this problem?
The FIRST place anyone should ask about solving a problem is the manufacturer or retailer of the part! It may be a simple matter of non-compatible parts.
Interesting that someone mentioned having a problem with a SuperBell (didn't mention whether tube or I-beam). These were made with a selling point that original Ford spindles could be used without having to bend original steering arms as with old Bell axles and dropped I-beams. I would certainly have thought that SuperBell and all makers would have designed in that feature, wouldn't you??

 

WTF! That is insane,,,,HRP

 

You cannot mismatch vendor parts in this type of application. You need the Magnum steering arms or the Chassis Engineering type that loop under the king pin.

The P&J arms are notorious for the type of interference you are experiencing with any axle newer than '36 and even those are a crap shoot anymore.

Lordy mercy, the spindles are on correcty folks! Really!

 

If i remember corectly, I had the same problem with stock spindles on a superbell 4".........

i cut the steering arms off and ordered some superbell dropped arms.....they didn't clear either (the guy on the phone said the shallow ones would clear but the deep drops would be over-kill)......so i heated and bent them.......

 

I think there is going to be a bigger problem than the turning radius. If this is a 5 inch drop axle with a wishbone I don't think anyone makes steering arms that are deep enough to allow the tie rod to run under a wishbone. The intent was to be used with hairpins or 4 bars.

I measured the depth of both a Magnum steering arm and a Super Bell steering arm, while the Super Bell is .100" taller the Magnum has a thicker body. Neither appears to have enough drop to clear the bottom of the wishbone and bending is not an option as it will make the arms too short. The straight Speedway arms may clear the top of the wishbone if the tie rod is oriented to be installed top to bottom. The down side to those arms is that they are even thicker than the other designs so this will limit the turning radius.

Since you posted a picture of the axle spindle combo, just post a picture of the steering arm combo and interference condition , its a lot easier to trouble shoot when you can see all the violators at once.

 

The Spindles Look Like They Are Mounted Upside Down To Me. I Have Used Stock To Mfg. Spindles On Alot Of Different Axles And Have Never Had A Problem. May Have To Bent The Arms Are Use Replacement Arms., But They Always Seem To Work.

 

what about using deep drop arms and bending them? i'm assuming you looked at the "regular" drop arms....

just throwing it out there

just the clarify, the steering arms are hitting the axle, right? have you gotten far enough to see if the tie rod will clear the top of the wishbone, hit it dead on or clear on the underside?

 

I have a 4" axle. Not a 5". I'm pretty sure the drop is fine to get the tie rod under the wishbones. It was looking good in that department when I was messing with it last night

While I run out & mock it up to see if the tie rod end will go under the wishbones..........would one more newbie please jump in here & tell me that the spindles are on wrong.

I'm no expert at anything but I at least know how to install a set of spindles.

JH

 

Hope you got em on right, cause thats the way mine are too

 

1st pic:
Superbell 4" beam.
Superbell steering arms.
Superbell perch bolts
Magnum disc brake adapter for Camaro discs.
Superbell lower shock mount.
Deuce Factory 4 bars.

2nd pic:
Suprbell 4" tube.
Superbell steering arms.
Deuce Factory perch bolts.
Superbell disc brake adapter for Mustang discs.
Deuce Factory lower shock mount.
Home-made radius rods.

 

A little hard to see since this is a four part photo.

The upper right photo shows the spindle angle on the bench-assembled SuperBell 4" axle etc.

 

jim just put 35-48 deep drop steering arms from magnum and be DONE WITH IT.that axle from magnum is designed to fit a 37-41 wishbone with wide perch centers.in saying all that,using parts from other companies that DON'T make that axle,you are looking for clearance problems.i have done a 39 convert.,40 sedan,40 convert.,39 merc.convert.,and 35 coupe.all with magnum axles and magnum deep drop steering arms and had no problems AT ALL.

feel free to call me if you need any info.

-danny

 

I have a Magnum axle for a 40 coupe with Magnum dropped steering arms and they fit without any modifications. I used the stock wishbone that is split for the transmission. Call Fred James or his son Mike at Magnum and they will help you out. They are real helpful in these cases. I have done several of these conversions using Magnum products.

 

OK, who has a number for Magnum?

Thanks guys, JH

(C9, I think yours are on upside down? )