Suprised at how limited the travel is on my dropped axle??

I cut the bones today and inserted the threaded end I made, installed my heim joint and stuck a bolt through it to have a look.

Up and down with the whole axle is no problem but when I lift just one side it only travels about 4" before binding. This suprised me. I would have thought it could twist much more. The heim is slightly twisting and not close to a bind (I thought), I am a little perplexed.

Here is a couple pictures. Maybe you have experienced this and can tell me whats up.

The bolt through the heim is level and it is perpendicular to the bone. I just dont get why it binds.

 

This is, of course, just my uneducated guess......BUT, I believe your discovery sounds about right. I think the extra articulation will come from introducing the rest of the weight the car will have. Then, it will twist suspension components to give more left and right, independent travel?
Besides, you'll be lucky if that little car will need or use much more twist than you are seeing by hand right now.

Anyway, sounds good to me.....

 

That's what happens when wishbones are split and brought out to the frame rail.
The eternal hotrod compromise between space available and early Ford suspension.

As you probably know, an unsplit wishbone will pivot so radically that foot tall or bigger blocks can actually be placed under diaginally opposing wheels and the chassis and body will remain fairly level AND nothing will be binding in the suspension.
Thank you, Mr. Ford.

That doesn't happen in a front or rear split to the rails situation which is why Chassis Engineering, Pete & Jake's and others have splitting kits which keep the bars closer inboard under the frame for front and rear applications.

 

Can anyone else shed some light on this?

 

Yup, normal.

 

This is exactlly right.......This is why you need to make sure your wishbone mounting points are strong......

 

.........so something else will break. When there is bind, and you push it beyond, something has to give up. As in snap. Or twist. Or crack.

Do a search on "split wishbones" and see what the wise people say about using them on tube axles.

 

so the lack of triangulation pretty much turns them into ladderbars with a different name so they don't sound so 'bad'?

 

yup

 

^ That was funny right there, I don't care who you are....

Not making fun, I have the same set up. The ladder bar, but call it somethinfg else... Funny stuff...