I'm mounting the chrome spring perches used with ford wishbones. I mount the lower shock mount and there is only about 3/8 inch thread coming through underneath. The supplied lock nut won't even lock the thread on the spring perch. These are considered the "long" perches. After all these years, they still can't get it right or what do you guys do? About the only way I could make it work is use a 1/4 thick nut with locktite. Why couldn't they just have added an extra 1/2 inch of thread? Please, your suggestions-Thanks
i'm interested to hear this too. i was looking at buying them but wanted to call and find out before i did because i was'nt sure it they would be long enough to go through the wishbones. i believe they are designed to go with their batwings and not with stock wishbones... do you have a pic of what your dealing with??
Are you sure they sent you the right length? from the looks of the pic the shank is 2 1/2 inches and looks like another 1 1/2-2 inches of threads...
36-3 window is right .. just measured A and '37 bones. The A's are1/2'' and the '37's are 1 1/16''. Looks like you have '37 to '40's.
I have the lower shock mounts with the keyway, but the perches dont have a slot for the key and there were no keys delivered. How does that work? Can anybody help? Its all from speedway.
call speedway and talk to Marty Bassett at ex. 2911 and tell him what you got and what you want and he will fix you up. If yo don't have the key way in perch and key in shock mount your shock mout will move.
My pal ran into a similar deal on his 29 roadster. A jam nut with nylock insert fixed it for him. Jam nuts are thinner than the overly tall nylock nuts supplied with most front ends. If you're using a washer under the nut, you may be able to use a thinner one. AN style washers come in thick and thin. You may be able to use a smaller OD stainless flat washer and drill it to the perch bolt diameter. Stainless washers are usually thinner than standard washers and if you compare several you'll see quite a variance in washer thickness.
Not necessarily... The key way is an added plus but it will work without it.. Ive run a bunch of cars with no key way. They have to be tight like breaker bar fucking tight then they wont move.. Dave oh ya i thought they all had a jam nut ill look at mine tomorrow
Is the supplied nut tapered,to fit in the bottom of the bones ? Any why are the shackles upside down ?
Speedway sells the shock mount with the key slot but doesnt sell the perch for it. Places like the Deuce Factory sell the combo perch/shock mount that have the key made in the mount and the slot on the perch. I will say that most aftermarket perches are designed for the thinner batwing/four-bracket set up. A couple years back, Street Rodder did a photo how-to and ran into the same problems (Winter 2004 issue). They turned down the lock nut .070 and went that route. A Model A pinion nut will work with loctite if you don't have a lathe to turn one down. It's a castle nut with the same thread size. I was thinking as an alternate to loctitie, I might drill a hole thru the perch and snake a cotter pin for the castle nut.
Isn't the bottom of the stock 'Bones countersunk,for the stock tapered nut ? Seems like the aftermarket assumes everybody uses ALL aftermarket parts.
If you have access to a mill and the right tooling you could thin down the top of the wishbone about 1/4" to 3/8" and reset the perch pin. A lot of work. But an elegant solution.
The lower shock mount fits the countersunk bone. On the bottom of the chrome shock mount itself, there is a flat counterbore where you attach the nylon locknut. However, the nylon locking part doesn't even hit the thread. The nut is real tall. Part of the front end was mocked in when I bought the project so I didn't buy the perch although it matches the Mr. roadster from speedway. I will go with a thinner nut and will just have to lock tite it on. Not a real lot of load on it anyway if you think about it. I'll use a thin stainless flat washer too. Someday, maybe they will make one with longer threads. I don't believe the shackles are upside down, but if you could-maybe post a picture of what the shackle should look like? Thanks for the input!
Yes the shackles are upside down. They should help center things if they mount the spring eye below the eye of the perch. I don't have a working camera, but they usually are at about a 45* angle.
I just realised why the shackle appears wrong. The front axle is balancing on a block of wood in the center. I had pushed down on one end of the axle which cocked the shackle making it look wrong. I was really worried that was screwed up until I found out why. Thanks for the posts I appreciate it. Kurt
There are 2 types of shackle bushings. The originals were vulcanized steel cased cylinders that pressed into the perch pin and spring eye. These had studs which stuck out front and back. The studs had square shoulders and the shackles had ssquare holes that indexed on the studs. The bushings had to be rotated into the right position when pressing them in. Today's replacements are "floating" bushings that do not require indexing. If the spring is the correct length, then the shackles should be horizontal with no weight on the spring. When the weight of the car is supported by the axle, the shackles are at a 45 degree down position, that is, the end on the spring is lower than the end on the perch, and the shackles point down at about a 45 degree angle. If the picture was taken when the frame was supported by a lift or jackstands, taking all the weight off of the front end, the shackles may have simply rotated from the 45 degree down position to a 45 degree up position when the spring started to lift the axle up.
Actually the original Model A shackles were U-style shackles which rode in steel bushings in the perch and spring eye. The vulcanized rubber sleeved stud bushings were used from 32-41 on Ford Cars and pickups in the front and rear, and again on the perch end front and rear on 42-48 Ford cars with spring end shackle being straight studs through large rubber bushings.
This is a common issue when using the 28-34 perch pins with 1935 to 1948 wishbones. The perch pins are designed to be used with a 3/4" upper boss spacing. The later wish bones have a wider 1 1/8 "upper boss to for the front spring hanger mount. This additional 3/8" makes a big difference when it comes time to install the nut. Since you are swapping parts, to get the correct fit, mill the top of the later wishbone down to the 3/4" thickness and retapper the upper hole to match the perch. While some people suggest that you make a narrow nut or use a jamb nut, remember fewer threads lessens the thread locking effect and the nut can loosen up.
I just talked to chassis engineering and ordered their "new" longer per pins for lower shock and sway bar mounts. should be good to go on my 40 dropped axle and 40 wishbond assembly now. did somenone have some lower shock mounts ( with tapers) for sale , cheaper than ordering new? Ramb http://www.chassisengineeringinc.com/page74.html
received the longer flat top perch pins from chassis engineering. long enough for my 40 axle and lower spring mounts. BUT. I did not have enought room for my shock sto clear the spring which is ahead of the axle, or behind, with the tie rods, etc. So I made shackles with 3rd holes and all set. but if anyone needs the lower spring mounts I will sell them for my price ($24.99?) and ship for free. let me know. I will be returning them this week to Speedway if no one needs them. they have the taper for teh axle bottom, and a flat counter sink for the nylock nut. plenty of length with the chassis engineering perches thanks Ramb
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