Hot Rods Bending steering arms for the second time

I bought a dropped 32 heavy axle with already dropped steering arms , new kingpins and bushings.
I assembled the whole thing but my tie rod ends are hitting my backing plates so i have to re-bend my steering arms a little more.
I got two questions:
Wil the heat destroy the king pin bushings or are they usable when cooled down.
Will it affect the strength of the steering arms when i heat them for the second time ?

 

My concern would be to retain the proper bending and still retain Ackermann angle

 

Short answer is you should be just fine. While your re doing the arms to clear backing plates you should also be bending them to correct accerman not to just clear backing plates. You'll be glad you did.
The Wizzard

 

I took measurements from the original axle and it seems that the steering arms on the dropped axle are about 1/2 inch more to the backing plates than on the original axle.
When i copy that i think the ackerman must be correct ?

 

Best way to be sure is to drop exact points using a plum bob on the shop floor and snap a chalk line. Be sure you start with Zero toe in.
The Wizzard

 

Not so....get a book about Ackerman effect.you will then understand

 

Google Ackerman steering geometry and it brings up explanation with drawings.
The Wizzard

 

I think i got it , because of the drop the hole in the steering arm is closer to the king pin and so must be closer to the backing plates then on the longer non dropped ones to follow the same line to the middle of the rear end.
I wil measure it all to keep the ackerman correct, thanks.

 

in my opinion the heat will affect the bushings, i suggest installing new ones. you will then need to ream them to size

i will also go on record as saying that i would never use and rebend spindles that had been heated and bent in the past....i have no idea if the guy before me did it right

that's just me....your experience may differ

 

Bending arms to work with dropped axle makes them shorter. This effects the steering ratio to some degree. It should not change Acherman angle unless the Axle is also narrowed during drop process. In other words, If the Axle kingpin width is still as stock no change in Ackerman just the leverage to turn tires.
The Wizzard

 

If you use enough heat to bend the steering arms that it effect the bushings you should NOT be doing the job to start with. And I'll go on record saying that, and a little chuckle with it.
The Wizzard

 

It is a stretch dropped axle so it is not a lot narrowed a lot , i will measure the difference with the original one tomorrow.

 

I don't care to put in new bushings , just curious if it will damage them.

 

The steering arm to backing plate distance doesn't change with axle drop. Have the arms been adjusted to clear the drop?

 

With '37-'41 round backs on my '32 I found that when I bent the arms to clear an original Mor-Drop '33-'36 axle the ends of the arms did in fact have to be bent back toward the centerline of the car to correct the Ackerman. With some thought they can be bent with a gentle "S" curve and have a factory appearance.
Sorry, dutchrod, I'm not much of a draftsman but the sketch shows what you want to achieve.
If you only heat the arms to a dull cherry red in the area where the bend is necessary I'm sure your bushings will be fine. Let them slow cool, no water or compressed air to speed up the cool down.

 

Yes they are bent to clear the drop.

I get the picture , thanks.

 

As for your question, if you don't heat too close to the KP bushing, say the last 60% of the arm you should be OK....jmo.

 

I tried to bend them yesterday and it came out good, everything clears , ackerman is good and both sides look the same now.
I used enough heat and cooled slowly.
It looks like the king pin bushings survived but we will see after some miles.

 

Nice work, well done!