Ok back at it again. This is about straighting the wishbone that had a "dip" (bend) in it. 117harv, thanks for the advise. I went to work this afternoon & used the big press to straighten out the right side wishbone. I forgot to take my camera, so sorry no pics of that. I bent it back cold, but it took a little playn with to make it work. I would sure like to know what someone hit to bend this. These things are really strong. It would flex back & not wanting to over bend it I wasn't sure how much pressure to put on it. It would keep splitting the 2"x4"s we were using to support it & push against. We had 3 of us holding it in position & holding the wood & running the press as unsplit bones are welded with the tops tipped outward at a angle away from the bottom side & you have to support them with the opposite side held a offset angle to keep the side that you are pushing against vertical. Finaly we used a 2"x4" steel block under the pin boss & a wood block with a 1/2" thick piece of uhmw under the thinner section towards the rear of the wishbone tube. We laid a wide piece of 1/2" thick uhmw on top and pushed down against it. It took quite a bit of pressure but I didn't pay attention to the gauge. I do have pictures of it after we were done & mounted back on the axel. It came out almost perfect. Thanks to all for your comments, suggestions & opinions. Sincerly. Bill PS: I will try to do a follow up after I swap out the axel assembly.
I am following every post of this thread. great stuff. I'll be doing pretty much the same deal next spring, unsplit bone and a 2.5" drop in a '39.
Ok, back in October I started this thread about bending these steering arms. I got the arms done and everything painted. But when I went to swap it under my 36 coupe the spring was about 4 inches too far forward. So I ended using the wishbones that were under the car to begin with. The question that I have is the 40 Ford wishbones that are shown in the above picture measure 44 1/2" from the center of the axel to the center of the ball. From the information that I can find this is correct for 40 fords. The original wishbones that came in the car measure roughly 41" from the center of the axel to the center of the ball. I neglected to take pictures of that as I was doing the swap outside & it was cold, snowy, & I was running out of daylight. Does anyone know what this set of wishbones (the ones that measure 41") might have come out of? They fit under the 36 in the stock mounting location, & I have 3- 1940 axels that match up to both sets of wishbones. I thought that 36 through 40 wishbones were the same legnth but the spread between the wishbone mounting pins was different & I know that the 36 axel is 2" thick at those points & 37-40 is 2 1/4" thick.. Both sets of springs that I have fit both wishbones also. Thanks for any input. Bill
Just my thought: if the front crossmember is not moved forward then the wishbone would have had to be shortened to use the stock wishbone mount because the 36 still used spring over axle mounting? But then the axle would be back by spring off set and wheels would not be centered in fender wheel opening I'm sure some one will know for sure..
What is confusing is that the information that I have been able to find so far indicates that 36 to 41 wishbones are all 44 1/2" from the center of the axel to the center of the ball mount. The wishbones that came mounted under the car measure roughly 41". The only reference that I have found so far close to that is for 33 & 34 wishbones @ 41 1/2". The ball socket looks to be in the stock location, so even if somebody had relocated the mount I havn't been able to find out what these bones came from. I will jack up the car this weekend & hopefully get some useable pictures. Thanks for all the comments so far. Bill
Stuck a set of '36 bones on an axle, measures about 41" from center axle to center ball like Bader2's '40 measurement. Maybe the references to the 44-1/2" length is down the axis of each leg of the wishbones as shown in the picture.
Bill: Regarding your question "What did somebody hit?" For that wishbone to get bent like that was purposely done. Old front end shops used to bend them like that to adjust caster. (axle would conform to the 'twist', making it possible to vary caster side to side. Done it more than a few times.) When performed within parameters, operation was approved by Ford. However, I've seen some that were bent without refrain, exceeding any and all common sense.
The 35 axle/wishbone I have is 40-1/2". The 40 is 41",and I MYSELF took that out of a 40 ford chassis,the mercury is 44-1/2. These are all known axles,no speculation involved!
I've got the same issue with my drag & steering links hitting the bones (on my 29 tudor) , BUT my arms are chrome... Any thoughts?
Mike, I believe that the wishbone was not bent like that on purpose as just the right side had that "arc" in it. The left side is straight as a arrow. Remember I live in Alaska and even today our modern paved roads go to hell a few years after they are built. They have to be rotomilled & overlaid every 4 or 5 years. Who knows how long the car that this set of bones came from had been up here. Could have been before there was even any pavement, & somebody could have been running the car down some trail to a homestead. Bill
Bader2, That makes sense. I hadn't thought to check for Mercury wishbones. I have a set here off of a known 42 Merc, but they are the "dropped" style that were used from 42 thru 48. Bill
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