Looking for some 28-34 normal hot rod style spring perches, wondering if anyone knows of any that are forged and American made? Not some Chinese made junk. Can’t seem to find any that actually say where they are made, and there doesn’t look like a big selection on manufacturers making forged perches. I have contacted asking a few but no replies this far. Any suggestions? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If I could buy a NOS set absolutely! When researching and trying to find a quality set of perches, I was surprised by the number of posts of guys with broken ones, aftermarket and used originals. It's one of those things, if I run a 90 year old front end part and it breaks and I roll my car, people will say WTF did you expect? Same if I buy new aftermarket Chinese pieces. Kind of a catch 22.
https://modelastore.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=3231 they appear to sell "original style", but nothing about where its made.
After the Flop built 32 3 window broke a what I believe was a repop perch at speed- totaling that brand new build- I used Ford originals on my car
berts, as noted above. They have a great slection of orginal parts, and new repop stuff. The guys there are super helpful. I wouldnt mess with the website, ( most of them arent web types) Just give em a call
As I recall, most of the broken perch threads are from guys who ran modified (non spring over axle) setups. What are your plans?
My plan is to not have this happen again. 5000 miles, spring over axle tradition setup. Nothing crazy. Was setting my brakes as per my last thread, did a low speed panic stop to try and lock the brakes up. Next morning I had a squeak. After work I checked it over and found this. Went out and found my little black marks and right after the rest of the perch with nut and cotter pin was laying on the road. The torque from braking snapped this shitty casting. So with the next one, want something that won't try to kill me...
Being in the chassis business I'm picky about what I use for parts. I have not found a US made forged spring perch. The only true forged spring perch I've found was sold by So-Cal, (now Roadster Supply) I'm sure they're foreign made. I've used a lot of them with no failures to date.
Tapered, now sure how you would use a flat one? Its stainless not chromed. That is where I think I'm headed, I have asked where they are made, but no answer. Haven't read of failures from them though which is positive.
Hydrogen embrittlement which is the loss of ductility can occur as a result of electroplating (chrome plating) of high strength steels. Hydrogen embrittlement can cause cracking of highly stressed parts. Typically high stressed parts are baked at approximately 300 F for a few hours depending on weight to eliminate hydrogen embrittlement within a few hours of completion of plating. For non stressed chrome plated parts this is not an issue. If I were buying chrome plated suspension/steering parts it would only be from a reputable source or someone who could answer how the parts were processed.
The location of the failure in the pic suggests improper threading, probably a deep thread land with a sharp edge. That causes stress concentration. It can be exacerbated by over-tightening the perch nut. Is that he common point of failure?
If they can’t answer or won’t answer where parts are made they should not be selling parts nor should we be supporting them by buying from them. It’s one thing to buy parts that can put you on the side of the road and quite another that puts you in the hospital or worse.
Ok, so you've had a bad experience with a cast spring perch. I'm not sure why that's crossing over into a hesitation towards a stock Ford forged perch? A stock perch doesn't have to be NOS to be leaps and bounds ahead of a cast one. Personally, I've never hesitated to use good condition used parts made by Ford.
Hesitant because, like I said, since checking into this I've read enough cases of stock unit breaking the same as aftermarket. What is the due diligence I should do before running one? Should it be fully tested for stress cracks and analyzed? Is there any proof that they are stronger than say a readily available new SoCal forged piece? Not against running an original one, I want to know all the options. If I stuck an original one in and it breaks and I roll my car, how many people will be saying WTF did you expect you dummy, 90 year old original parts holding your front end together...
It wouldn't be unreasonable to have used parts magnaflux inspected. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As @treb11 said, wouldn't hurt to magaflux a set. That said, I can't recall a single thread or post in the past few years about stock Ford forged perches breaking in a typical (spring over axle) arrangement. Proof would be in the pudding... Car being on the road for 70, 80, 90 years with no break or damage. If you get T-Boned in an early Ford hotrod and die, I'm sure someone will say 'wtf? Why were you driving a car without side impact air bags, crumple zones, roll bar, abs, etc.'. Won't be this crowd though. Keep in mind that if you search on the internet enough, you're going to find a couple of examples of anything failing. Buildings, airplanes, spring perches or otherwise.
I agree with you Fry. You want the best under your ass. There are threads on here ( hamb) about Magnum axles breaking in different spots also safety reports on Magnum axles . Once is too much.
That I know, internet is full of shit. I'm just trying to wade through it... I'm ok being T-boned and dying in my 90 year old car. I have provisions built for that, I'll take that risk, doesn't bother me. Even if you somehow had a car on the road for 100 years in stock configuration, that really doesn't have anything to do with a split bone hotrod going 80 mph down the road. Apples to oranges. I have a couple people message me with reports of originals breaking in same place, and some saying they've been on cast perches for over 100k miles, is that proof of anything, nope.. Playing devils advocate, not trying to argue. Looking at all the options.. My original post wasn't anything to do with original vs aftermarket, it was trying to see if there are any USA made, forged steel, spring perches available. This is your rabbit hole we are going down.
I am editing the manufacturers name from my post until I'm sure who it is from, my invoice has a magnum part number but they say it doesn't look like their part.
If the bones are split and mounted outboard on the frame rails, any perch is being subjected to forces they weren't intended to take when the axle tries to twist. Those forces don't occur in a wishbone that pivots centrally as stock, or in a parallel 4 bar setup. Of course, the best possible choice would be a forging, but even their limits can be exceeded by the forces in some applications. Bob
I was playing around dummying up a Ford axle/37 split wishbones,and repop perches,and it appeared to me that theres a lot of slop between axle,and bone around the lower hole.I know the tapered nut on the perch should center everything,but when I put it together for good im going to shim/bush any play down there.That perch pin shouldnt have to deal with loading other than straight down spring weight.
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