I have done it no problem.....A guy just told me that the arms should be not allowed to cool slowly...they should be quenched....I say quenching will make the arm more likely to break.....Yes?
When I bent my 41 Plymouth steering arms, I did them real slow, and cooling them real slow.... Painfully slow.... Days.... I don't know if they are the same, but didn't want them to become brittle...
I have a question kinda along the same lines. I have a pitman arm that the PO reamed out to fit the Ford tie rod end on the drag link. He wayyy overreamed it! Now the tie rod end just kinda flops around in there! My solution to fix it is to cut a piece of round bar stock and grind it down to somewhat fit in the pitman arm hole (I've already done that) and it's kinda sloppy too. Then, weld the bar stock into the hole, redrill the hole and ream the new hole with the appropriate reamer. Should I do that or just weld up the entire hole? My concern is, will I get air pockets in the weld due to the not so tight fitting bar stock and when I drill and ream it will it really make any difference?? Did that make any sense?
It all depends on how sloppy the fit is, you can heat up the end till cherry and let it cool down and hope there is enough shrinkage to ream back or while cherry you could peen the out side in to compress the matrerial to ream back to proper dia. If you have to add material, I would ream it out more till you had at least 1/8" material around for the sleeve.
just got done doing that this AM Had a steering arm on 40 Chrys that had been bent at one time; the holes were not parallel. Not sure how it could have happened; maybe one of the bolts came loose, and the PO wasn't aware of it. Heated with a rose-bud, clamped small end in vise, pushed the long end until 2 long bolts in the holes appeared to be parallel. had a bucket of Oil-Dry at the ready. Left it in there for a coupla hours. I'll take a clean-up cut on the mounting surface side later. I'll probably end up tig-welding a reducing bushing into it for the tapered hole. The existing hole is the wrong size for the R&P and it's going the wrong direction. gatz
Peening is a good idea, you can shrink a hole quite a bit using this method. If you do make a sleeve, definitely follow dreracecars advice and do NOT use mild steel. Use a good material like 4130 Chromoly or better.
I saw a guy who heated one, then quenched it, then put it in a press to bend it. Said it had to be anealed. When he put pressure from the press on it it broke in half.
Here's the guy's complete statement...It's in reference to an old Willys Jeep that usually did have cast steering arms.....Cast should not be heated and bent as far as I know. The guy who bent the arms and quenched them thinks they are forged....
Cast iron will not bend unless heated to near melting temp - 2380 F. It has a fine grain structure and lots of carbon which makes it thermally stable and somewhat rigid. Cast Steel is similar but has a lower melting point. Forged steel does not have to be quenched unless you are trying to harden it. Then it becomes brittle.
" Seems to me that it would be difficult to overload the arms enough to fail them. You would likely end up breaking something else in your steering load path other than your arms if you were to hit something." Do a search on Speedway corvair pitman arms. Yes, they were cast (Speedways), but it shows how easy it is to break steering componants.
I'm not educated metallurgist and don't fully understand metal properties. But I am experienced in "garage" black smithing.I make many parts using traditional forging methods.I have learned how different steels react to heat and or quenching. Take a 4 inch long grade 5 1/4 inch bolt. Bolts are forged, made from decent steel. Chuck it in a large vice and strike the free end with a moderate hammer blow. The bolt will bend.Take the same type bolt,heat the middle section red-orange hot and immediately plunge in water or oil . Put the bolt in the vice and strike the same moderate blow with a hammer. The bolt will snap clean off. Do the same test without quenching,let the bolt cool in air. Then do the hammer blow...it'll bend,not break.If the quenched item reheated red-orange and allowed to cool on it own,it pretty much returns the ductile properties,more or less Who can say what the safety factor is and if there will ever be enough shock load to break a "quenched" forged steering part. Bit I believe the quenching will remove the "overload" safety factor.
I agree with not queching them. If you are unsure take them to a shop that knows what they are doing or someone with good knowledge of metal work and have them help. I know enough to be dangerous so I always get a second opinion or help from others who are smarter than me.
As HAMB metallurgist, don't quench. Steering arm should be forged steel, and is not heat treated. Quenching will form martensite and be brittle. Just heat red hot, bend to desired shape, and then air cool. No forced fan or other, just still air. This will slow cool to prevent the martensite transformation. If you are really concerned about cracks, you can magnaflux (technically magnetic particle inspection) or penetrant for cracks.
In general, when I have heated and shaped metal, forged stuff I let air cool and never had a problem....perhaps some push the envelope too far and have issues? dont know....thanks for the information
Old thread I found while searching for an answer on heating and bending steering arms. Question; can the steering arm on a 32 spindle be heated and bent in situ without hurting the kingpin bushes. The steering arm on my car needs tweaking forward 3/4” ... it has been dropped previously by another owner but has been put back in line with he axle centre line and should be 3/4” ahead of he axle centre line as per Ford geometry. I’m after getting my steering wheel clocked to the correct position... it’s no problem driving it, but I don’t want to have to install new kp bushes and have them reamed etc. if at all avoidable.
I've heated and bent quite a few Ford spindle arms, and have never had a time where I thought the bushing was still good. It usually bakes the grease out so badly that I wouldn't trust any new grease in that bushing to do it's job. It will need a major cleaning at the very least, and then a thorough check for damage to the bushing. Maybe you'll get lucky?
Just a thought since getting the steering wheel to clock is the end goal.......If you have a early Ford steering box with the splined pitman shaft could you hand cut splines with a V file on the 4 localing wide spots? It would allow you to install the pitman ahead,or behind stock so the steering wheel lines up.Would save damage to the spindle bushings from heat.
The purpose of the 90* intersect between the drag link and steering arm is to provide equal steering both right and left. I have not seen an aftermarket steering arm that will give the correct angle. The old style ‘50’s hoop style arm and the flame cut arms shown above will both be perpendicular to the backing plate mounting face and do not lead the centerline of the axle. It may be possible to heat and bend the long arm seen on the far left of the photo but I have never tried. Reclocking the pitman arm will allow the d/l to fit but the steering will still be off.
Unless it's a very tough pitman arm to find, or extremely expensive; I'd toss it and buy a new one. The sleeve idea is fine if the hole is bored, and a sleeve fitted closely, and welded in place too. But if the weld is questionable, and the sleeve is a poor fit, then even welding it isn't great. Most pitman arms aren't so expensive that I'd chance my life on anything less than perfect.
Do NOT quench any of the assorted steering shit everybody continually wants to fuck with........Quenching is for fixing screwed up prick punches .....and yer thirst.
About 30 years ago I was driving my 46 Coupe to work one morning and noticed the car was was wandering a bit. Slowed down a proceeded to stop at our local post office. Got in backed up-- something did not feel right . I got out and the left tire was turned out about 70 degrees the right one straight. The dropped steering arm broke in half. Towed it home and looked at it some rust in the break so it took a bit to completely break off. Moral here is buy a new dropped one---I had just returned from a 300 mile trip and igf it happened then ---disaster!!!!
When I was doing my training I was told to cool down metal slowly after it had been heated up was to bury it in dry sand.
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