I'm building a 40 ford dropped axel to swap under my 36 coupe. I need to heat & bend the steering arms for the tie rod to go either over or under the wishbones. It would be easier & less bending to go over than under. The question I have is, is it ok to heat & pull the steering arms to the outside (toward the tires) and then back straight. As it is now the steering arms hit the axel on both insides. If I did this would it stretch & weaken the steering arms at the point that they are formed at the lower bushing boss? See pictures. Thank you. Bill
What I did was to heat close to the spindle as practical, then I had a HUGE adjustable wrench on the tie rod boss, to "rotate" the arm. That rotation moves that tight spot away from the axle, but does not change the length of the arm.... Now the tight spot has clearance, but the tie rod bung is angled....so.. Then let it cool. Then heat somewhat near the tire rod end, to use the wrench to twist the bung back to level, like it was, before you made the first twist. I used a 33-36 axle with custom bones, so I did not have to raise the tie rod like you want. You can plan this out, so that when you do each of the two heats, you can be also adjusting the "rise" that you need, while doing the two twists. I am sure others may have different ways to get it done. I took measures of everything first, with tire on, so I could know where the end used to be, as far as height and length of arm. Also measured how far the tie rod hole was to the tire; that is so you can keep the Ackerman angle correct.
F&J, Thank you. I don't think that I will have to bend the steering arms up very much as they are only about 1/2" from the top of the wishbones now and the tie rod ends might have enough height to clear.them. I am more worried about streaching them rotating them outward. I plan to take measurements to try to keep the ackerman angle correct. I plan to put this assembly together and swap it out with the one under my car. The axel assembly in my 36 is been there for I don't know how long, and is kinda glued together and there isn't enough room under there to beat it apart. I tried to just swap the axels but couldn't get any of the pins to budge., even with heat. I'm doing this outside & it's on the verge of cold out up here. So swaping everything out is the easiest way. I want to take this axel & another outside to have Greg Haynes at Anson Dropped Axels do his thing to them next time I go out.. Bill
I just found my old thread with pics on doing this job. I did not go through it all right now, but in case I did not say : I did make sheet metal heat deflectors to protect some of the things like brakes and tires http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...eering-arms-on-dropped-i-beams-w-pics.492451/ Somebody might post other ways, or better ways, so don't just assume mine is the best way Cold there, eh? We just had winter sneak up in the last 48 hours. Was 60s with 40s at night, saw a few flakes spitting at noon, and tonight forecast is near 20-24
You always have the option of re tapering the hole and running the ends through the other direction if that helps get it closer to whichever way you decide to go. Or go through the wishbone, but the Ackermann needs to be spot on to pull that off.
Pretty much did the same as F&J.. when i got an old time rodder to help do mine he marked on the backing plate by putting a ruler on the steering arm eye and getting a flat line, and a center line.. to know where we started. We dropped it the same as F&J in that we rolled it under first and then heated and rotated the eye to get it back to where it should be. For my axle, it was about an inch drop but the length stayed exactly the same.. distance from the backing plate was the same.. so it's like factory just an inch lower. We also had to retaper one of the holes because 46 - 48 spindles have one of the holes upside down. I can't remember which it was though..
Guy's thanks for the advice. F&J, Yeh we had bout 6" of snow last week, but then a warm front moved in. Warmed up to the mid 40's during the day & low to mid 30's at nite. Been raining since then. I'm hopeing to get this done before it really freezes up. I might have to drag it arround the house & put it in the garage if it snows good, but the wife expects to park in there at nite & the other two cars have to stay inside, so I would have to be quick about swaping the axel out. Bill
If not brought up before this, I heated and dropped both pitman arm and idler link when doing a swap years ago. Get it good and red and SLOWLY bend till you get what you need. Then let it cool by itself. Do not quench in water as this will make it harder, but more brittle.
I suggest you purchase Chassis Engineering dropped spindle arms that bolt to the 2 lower holes on the spindles. You cut the stock Ford arms off, grind the area nice and smooth & bingo safe, engineered arms that clear $130 http://www.chassisengineeringinc.com/steering-arms-1935-1948-ford-drum-brakes/
I've bent several sets with no problem, just get them the right temp. I've always had mine magna fluxed for cracks afterward. I had Sid do my 32 spindles recently to clear my Anson dropped axle with 32 bones.
Please don't cut the steering arms off, if one has to do that buy repro spindles and keep the originals intact.
You may be overthinking this deal. The original Henry material is "killer" heating and carefully bending will get you where you want to be!
I havn't had a chance to do this yet. It will be the weekend before I mess with it. I do not want to cut off the steering arms or ruin the spindles in any way. Thats why I wanted any thoughts & opinions that you guys might have on doing this. On my model a p/u I bought new spindles & used So Cal bolt on dropped arms. On this 36 my intent is to stay as old school as I can with few exceptions. Thank you all ! Hopefully I won't screw this up. Bill
Who sees under a fat fendered car unless you really want to crawl under there? OK I agree on a fenderless car but I opt for safety over looks when it comes to my steering system..JMO
They do that, But bolt on arms are for guys that can't heat and bend. Guys that won't have their parts magma fluxed after wards.
I trust my 50 years of heating metal, slightly more that repro parts made in some unlisted location, made from unknown alloys (perhaps melted down bicycles). I have no issues with stock factory bolt-on arms that were used on certain US made cars over the years. My point is that I do not trust "aftermarket" corporate activity. I am not picking on you, trust me on that. I just get weary of the fact that this website was created to spread the gospel (AKA how things were done, and what was used). I have no interest in hearing about a person that says we have no value in our safety or our dear family members, or innocent bystanders. This is what is wrong with the hamb over the last few years; the certain group of people that assume "any" new part is always safer and wiser than an old part. Our old style cars will never be anywhere near as safe as a new full size Mercedes....no matter what parts we choose. You will die in a certain accident in these body/frame styles, where it may only lead to a slight bruise in the Mercedes.
Ok, I'm wound up again with this whole anti bend-vs-aftermarket bolt on arms... I have no formal engineering education; matter of fact I only have an 11th grade "formal" education....but lets talk reality and common sense for this post. Lets take a good look at that OEM Ford spindle, and look at the 4 backing plate holes and bosses, that were only designed to be strong enough, to work under "rotational shear" conditions, as the brake locks, and tries to rotate the backing plate.. Look at how incredibly thin those bosses have been machined to. Now look at one of the random USA factory built bolt-on steering arm bosses. There is simply no comparison. So, you take a aftermarket arm and bolt it on, not even thinking about how weak those bosses look, or thinking about if they could possibly flex a bit over potholes, and "perhaps" lead to a very gradual loosening. Have a MSME educated automotive engineer look at the differences in the OEM and aftermarket attaching points, and ask for an opinion. One last point on heat. The arms back then, as now, are made from a block of red hot steel, and slammed into a shape by a drop forge. Then continue down the line. Heat and bend
Muhahaha!!!! Touché!!!! I had a brand new Speedway steering arm CRACK on installation, found a used OEM forged one. I will never trust cheap steering or brake parts again. 'enjoy you cheap Chinese parts all you wonton!! do not chow mein when szechuan breaks off and kill bus full of nuns'
I don't distrust any item, just because of where it is made. As I tried to explain, what I do not trust, is our inability to know which parts are as good as OEM going by what little the company says about it. We can't know, especially when some items use very vague terms on what the material is. You also have to wonder about quality when you go to a chain auto parts store, and they may offer 3 price ranges on a critical part. It must mean that the cheapest one, probably is not as good? IDK
Holy Cow guys, I didn't mean to start a war. I just wanted to know if I would screw up my steering arms by heating them the way I was leaning towards. I want to keep it kind o old school as much as I can as long as it doesn't impact safety.
Yes,I believe it is possible to ruin an arm if you concentrate the heat in one spot too long. You will see the surface start to "boil". At that point, Just in my opinion, it is compromised, as that area must be crystalized, or granular ?
Don't sweat it. The only way you can have a thread without starting a war, is if only one person responds and even then, HE might start the war...........
Speaking of new part failure..wasn't there a bad batch of Superbell BRAND NEW axles that broke of at the lower bend from the factory a couple of years ago??. Those are cast and not forged axles btw, I'll trust my 80 year old forged OEM axle anyday over new and shiny.
Heating and bending ok as long as temps are in the red zone not too hot or cold. Good idea to mag them when done. I had to bend a set up like a pretzel to get it to clear a heavily droped axle and go over the top of the bones. I am also leary of cast steering parts. Speedway China's oldest speed shop is all about the bottom line $ over quality
I just bought some original front upper F1 shock mounts to use on a coupe I am working on. I know they repop them but I feel better about the originals because they will most likely need some reworking (heat / weld) That is how I feel on the subject. I spent 40 years working with metal.
Believe me I am not feeling "picked on" In fact my '40 coupe in my Avatar does have heated and bent '40 spindle arms. I don't assume all those that do these modifications are doing it correctly so that is why I said "Just MY opinion" I had used CE arms with thru bolts (grade 8 USA manufactured) that I believe are superior to the arms that Speedway sells that are tapped for 1/2-20 bolts. I have had those arms strip out. so I switched to the CE dropped arms. Bend away but as 55 Willys said heat it correctly and let it cool naturally. No War started, good honest conversations. Don't forget not everyone on the HAMB has the benefit of experience like many here.
Lot of the time a dropped '37-'40 axle like the OP has will be too tight in the bend area for an aftermarket arm to clear. Bent stock arms are the way to go.
Ok I think that I got it right. I ran out of oxygen in the middle of this & had to get some more. How does this look to you guys? Please let me know if you see something not quite right. Eventually I will get these magged. For now this is just to swap axels under my 36 roller. No motor or trans. .Thanks again for any advice & opinions that are given. Bill
We differ on where to bend. But, if the job works, so be it. I would like to know a few things, as I can't answer your question of "how's it look", yet 1-Did you end up with shorter arms, measured out to the tapered holes? 2-Why are the axle "stops" not in place to check "lock to lock" 3 and related to #2, why is the tie rod not on, so we can see if it clears the bones from lock to lock, with the caster you are set at?
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