Recently had one of my Split bones actually break on my 40 Coupe. (My fault) I purchased the entire front end used and assumed the previous fab work was good. It obviously wasn’t. When they “kinked" the bone they ground the welds down and painted over the area. The weld had no penetration and basically was ground back down to nothing. Anyway that part was easy to fix. I’ve already re welded them but I noticed this problem(s) when I was taking it apart. First the nut for the perch bolt sits so far up into the concave area on the wishbone. There isn’t enough of the hex part left exposed to get a socket on good enough to really tighten it properly. Second the bone fits a bit too lose on the aftermarket axle leading it to still be loose enough that it was moving and actually wore a flat spot into the perch bolt. The wishbone/axle gap is probably about .025. I assume this can just be shimmed? Would king pin shins work here as well? I think in the stock front end there is a bracket or something for the sway bar that goes under the nut . What can I use to put under the nut here to solve this? I was thinking cutting another nut down and boring the threads out of it to make a spacer and then using a standard aircraft nut, but I can’t be the only one that has run across this issue. Does some make a concave shaped washer to go under the nut? Thanks in advance Mike
Make sure you are using the correct perch bolt nut. Your nut looks incorrect. There is nothing that goes under the nut when using the 40 Ford sway bar. However, the top portion of the perch bolt is configured differently to accommodate the sway bar. I added another hex nut to protect the perch bolt threads if I need to use a jack there. Here's the correct nuts. https://www.ebay.com/i/351250566615?chn=ps&dispItem=1
Yea, check to make sure your nut is the right one first. On my A the perch bolt was cut with a sawzall to get them out, so the bone is a sawzall blade thinner. I milled it flat and bought the right size shim from McMaster. If you still want to run the nut look into jic repair washers.
Thanks, I think I purchased the perch bolt/nut new back then, but its been about 5 years ago so I can't remember for sure. I thought there was some type of dog bone looking link that went under the nut in some applictions.
Here is a better pic of the nut I'm using. the bones dont appear to have been monkeyed with at the axle opening I think is just the aftermarket axle maybe? I'll go out and Mic up the axle to see what it is.
Yeah the axle is right at 2.250 the bone however is 2.310 so some funny business has taken place somewhere along the line. It sure didnt feel like .060 slop when I was under there but thats what it measures so I definitely need some shims. Seems like the king pin/spindle shims would work?
Th Thanks for the help with this, that nut looks like it’s flat on the mating surface. Do you or anyone else for that matter, know if the wishbones are the same for the standard and deluxe? That can’t be how that nut is supposed to be.
In that pictorial (above) it look like the nut for the No Sway bar perch bolt is flat, BUT in reality it is also tapered. Wishbones for DeLuxe and Standard are the same. Only difference is the perch bolts for the sway bar are different from the perch bolts without the sway bar. DeLuxe and Standard axles are also the same. Here's a helpful thread on Fordbarn.https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93223&highlight=front+perch+bolt+nuts Just for the heck of it, post your question on Fordbarn to put your mind at ease. www.fordbarn.com
Thanks fellas, I see the difference, now the important part who sells them? I'll call CE tomorrow and see what they say because I think that's who I bought these from. Thanks again
Make sure that the taper on the nut is the correct angle; came across some repop nuts in the past that had too great of an angle and only seated on their edge in the wishbone taper. Didn't look like it would hold tight very long; been reusing original Ford nuts since. Seem to fit better and can be really torqued without fear of stripping.
Contact this fellow. I bet he can help you. https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155218&highlight=perch+bolts
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