Are some year of wish bones better than others? and how do you split the ends. its getting cold up here and i need to go and find some before its too late eh. thanks guys.
I bought a kit from Posies for my '46 Ford. Cut the back off where the bones meet, per the instructions and welded in the threaded inserts. I kept the front shock mounts, these had to be heated and bent back to the original position. Simple, any body can do this.
Yeah, there are all types of wishbones. Are you talking about fronts or rears? For fronts, you can break them down into a few groups. There are differences inside these groups, but the major changes are: Model A make a V shape with no wide part at the joint. They are fairly thin and short but still usable. '32-'34 Every year is a slightly different length, but they all have a joint with about a 12 inch divider to fit around the oil pan. They are heavier and longer than the model A. '35-'37 First year for the spring in front, so the wishbone mouth that slips over the axle is shaped differently. More meat above the axle, and an arm that extends beyond the axle to mount the spring. They are straight and thicker than the early V8 wishbones. I don't remember if '38 is like the '37 or like the '39 '39-'41 Like the earlier '37 bones but with the larger mouth. Still straight. '46-'48 Like the '41 except they have an "S" curve before the axle. The rears Model A Don't use them unless you are running a stock Model A '32-'34 Early V8 very similar to Model A, but stronger. Mounts to the end of the axle housings. Spring mounts to mounts on top of the axle that are part of the axle housings. '35-'36 These are the ones everyone wants. They mount to a flange about halfway out the axle housing. The bones extend past the axle and the spring mounts to the bones. These bones are the easiest to use when you swap axles. Fairly strong, though I wouldn't want to use slicks and 300hp with them. '37-'48 Very similar to the early V8 bones, but much stronger. Spring mounts to the axle behind the axle.
That's more than any man should know about wishbones. Im impressed! All I can add is, when you go to cut them, get the weld in bungs from Speedway. Old Ford tie rod ends aren't coarse and they arent fine thread. The only place I could find the tap was Speedway. However, it's cheaper just to buy the weld in bung. I would suggest TIG welding them. Mig is probably okay, but might as well go the safe route. Crease Barons So Tex
[ QUOTE ] I bought a kit from Posies for my '46 Ford. Cut the back off where the bones meet, per the instructions and welded in the threaded inserts. I kept the front shock mounts, these had to be heated and bent back to the original position. Simple, any body can do this. [/ QUOTE ] Ditto on my 46 bones. Speedway has the bungs too.
That Modernbeat,he's the man aint he? Jason, sorry didnt get to stop and talk at GG's.You are gonna be at Dennison arent you? Catch you them.
I'd say you want to step up to the next size tie rod end on the split wishbones. Ford passenger car tie rod ends are 11/16-18 which is an odd size, but as stated, taps are available from Speedway. The Ford truck tie rod ends are 3/4", more than likely threaded 3/4-16 which is a common tap-die size. One place you can get the 3/4" tie rod ends is from Chassis Research in Iowa. Their wishbone splitting/trans mount kit comes with this larger tie rod end. Speedway carries 3/4" weld bungs for the larger tie rod end. You may want to look into a new style bushing end. Sort of a cross between the typical polyurethane 4 bar ends and a Heim joint. Pg. 409 of the new Speedway catalog. Looks like the best of both worlds. As far as appearance on the lighter weight cars - highboys etc. - the appearance of the 3/4" tie rod end does not visually overpower the appearance of the wishbone et al.
C9, I disagree about the appearance of the passenger vs. truck tie-rod ends. While I LIKE the larger tie rod ends, and would like to see them on more cars for safetys sake, they always suggest a cartoon look to me. They look like a late '60s to late '70s rod to me, back from the day when a LOT of horse power was being introduced to hot rods but chassis building was still fairly crude and the widespread use of over the counter solutions wasn't the norm. Those are the rods I grew up reading about, and those are the ones I really like, but they aren't the rods that are in vogue these days. I think if you want to build an early to late '50s style rod, then go with the admititly small passenger car tie-rods. I'm using them on my modified. Otherwise, if you are building one of the trendy "broken" low cars, or a super powered '60s ride, or a retro-bodied fendered '70s early street rod, then go with the safer, easier to use larger rod ends.
Good points. I think if I was doing the split wishbone bit - and they are one of the best looking setups around as far as highboys go, at least to my eye - I would use one of the new style quasi Poly/Heim ends. The orange poly bushing can be hidden easily by use of a safety washer.
I have some heims threaded into those speedway bungs....I think I will be replacing them with tie rod ends though....Does anyone know when heims came out? I heard that they had some aircraft aplications during the war. Tim MBL
In addition to the other responses, I use Speedway round shock eyes #916-36502, page 417 in the purple catalog. These eyes have the correct taper for the 5/8" tie rod end. They weld to your wishbone bracket and make for a safe attachment point at the frame (front and rear). You can use these with the 11/16 tie rod ends but you will have to ream the bushing a small amount to allow the tie rod end to seat enough for cotter pin installation. Hope this helps. Sam "Real Hot Rods are Driven"
For more discussion on the subject of "split wish bones"; go to the Tech O'Matic here on the HAMB, under the subject, "Split Wish Bones."
So, it's actually about Model A Suspension, but the discussion centers on splitting bones and the alternatives. Model A Suspension from Techomatic
rolf (and anyone else who has an opinion), what is the tool of choice for cleaning up/rounding off where the spring mount used to be?
elbogrease ! Seriously, I use a bench grinder, and then a belt sander, starting with 40 grit and work down to 80 or so. Then I use a hand held angel grinder with those layered sanding papers for smothing...dirty stuff...
angel grinder...angle grinder ! should check my spelling before posting, oh well...Also, as in the last picture, I use one of those porting kits for inside radious clean up.
I cut it off with a sawzall and then used a angle grinder... I also sculpted the ends of the bones too... im getting mine ready to chrome so i put alot of time in the finishing of them... heres a look at the sculpting: Heres a look at the polishing
Kevin, you gonna use the bones of that '40 ford you left in your message? Should look the same as mine. You can have that axle dropped by Elpolacko in AZ... Some good pics ROLF, the pics i was missing... you made it a better visual. I wish I took pics of the bugs going in the end of the bones and welding... but I got too carried away. Tuck
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