Running into some issues, hopefully someone else has experienced. The car is a 47 ford Long door coupe. It has: 48"(ish) iirc Chassis engineering drop axle reverse Eye Spring, tube shocks, speedway spindles, droped steering arms. WEEDetr split wishbone kit. Stock box/modified pitman arm. The issue I am encountering is I can get good steering too the passanger side, good clearance on the oilpan/wishbone ect. When turning driverside I get about 2/3rd of the travle before the pitman arm hits the wishbone. The only solution I can think of it too shorten the drag link so it basically splits the difference allowing me too "center" the pitman arm more passanger side allowing more turning too driver before it contacts the wishbone, but in turn this will limit my turning radius to the passanger side. What is the proper way to fix this? Attached are some photos of what is going on.
It looks to me from the out side drivers side shot, IMHO, the steering box needs to be rotated so that the pitman arm is more horizontal and parallel to the axle. That or heat and bend the pitman arm enough to gain some clearance.
Box can not be rotated because it is the stock colum/box. (If swaping to a vega or a 525 box would solve this I am all ears at this point) If I bend the arm up I will run into oilpan/wishbone clearance issues on the passanger side. If I bend the arm down; I will have to bend it HUGELY to clear the wishbone and I am worried that if I do that and I hit a bump turned that direction the wishbone could contact the pitman arm causing binding or worse breaking the pitman arm?.. (I dont know how realistic this worry is)
I believe you are going to have to modify or change the oil pan so the pitman arm can be brought up. Messing with the drag link limit your wheels arc.
That pitman arm looks like it's already been heated and bent? You say you are using split bones? How and where are the back end of them attached to the frame? Your pictures seem to show them mounted to the inside of the frame? More details, please..........
Can you reclock the pitman arm?take a die grinder carefully and cut out out some splines so it can be installed more to the pass side with wheels straight ahead.Looks like that may work.Center the steering box and wheels straight ahead first.Yes you may need to shorten the drag link.Pitman arm looks like it could be a little longer too.would slow the steering a bit but take out some of the bad angle.A certified welder for the drag link and pitman arm would be good.
I would have to drop the drag link off the pitman arm and push the wheels to to the stops too figure out the actual limits' I Will try that this weekend.
Yes I have heated and bent the pitman arm too clear the pass side wishbone and oil pan with the drag link. At this point the pitman arm would pass above the wishbone just barely' there is no way I could have driven like this. Attached is a pic of the with wishbone split.
Hmm. Major mods to get it to clear the wishbone either above or below. I'd probably try to see how much short you are from reaching full lock on that side. If it's about an inch or less, I'd probably cheat the pitman arm to the right by clicking it over a spline or three, and shorten the drag link. Sure you will have slightly different arcs on the left and right, but the length should be available each direction. Would that make steering a bit faster going one direction than the other? Probably not really noticeable.
Thats what I think the plan is' but that brings me too my next question. I am not reinventing the wheel here' why am I going thru this issue but others using very similar parts havent ran into this issue?
Could be if that is the typical CE axle, the perch bolt centers are about 35" as compared to the 40" centers on a stock axle which would move the wishbone a fair amount closer to the left swing of pitman arm.
At the risk of embarrassing myself, I think the problem is your mount for the rear of the wishbones. I think if you install brackets to the frame and swing them out under the outside of the frame it would cure your problem. That should give you plenty of room to clear the steering components. You would need a sway bar if you go that route. Be sure your caster angle is correct if you do this. You may get more oil pan clearance by using a '37 pitman arm.
^^^ Moving the rear of the wishbones wide isn't usually good with tube axle. '47 should already have a Panhard bar; unless it wasn't reinstalled when the axle etc was changed.
they are 40.5'' to the centres at the upper boss EVEN if you are at 38'' perch centres - 37 to 40 the total travel you need from the pitman centre each way to place the spindle on the stops is a smidge over 2.5'' the king pin on a 47 is 50.5'' 37-40 is 48 are the extra drop steering arms the same lengths as 47 or IF a aftermarket steering arm is 5'' and the long eye 7'' is a 47 spindles steering arm the same length?
Alright I think we are onto something here. I hopped under the car before work this morning and infact the perch centers too seem too be about 36" and some change.. That being said' what are the advantages/disadvantages to having the perch width this narrow? Is it worth changing back to an axle with a wider perch width? Or should I just make the steering work with what I have? Concidering I have already heated and bent everytbing to line up with the shackles/springs and have it all painted/installed.
The wider spring should ride softer. Just a thought since I dont know what engine your running.....can you raise the engine say 1/2 inch on the mounts,and trans mount? will that allow clearance on the passenger side so you can heat the pitman,and raise it?
To move the pitman arm over a couple splines you will need to use a sharp triangle file and remove the wide splines in the hole. File them into regular splines. Then you can move it rightward, maybe get all the adjustment (tighten up) out of the drag link, and give it a try. If it doesn't work, put it back. No harm.
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