Tractor radius rods? Wishbones? Anyone tried it?

Yeah, I said it. Tractor radius rods or wishbones. With the talk about radius rods breaking/bending (no proof yet) has anyone used a tractor radius rod? I googled and ebayed and there are lots of them, and cheap. They gotta be strong as heck, and they are not ugly. Any tractor guys here with first hand knowledge? And rat rodders, I know, you use the grilles but not the radius rods.....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/M***ey-Ferg...925?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cfd985b0d

 

I plan to use the I beam pair I have .... drilled

 

I often wondered about that also.... we have an old ford 601 workmaster that i thought they might work on my project....

 

i cant see why they wouldnt. i've worked on my fair share of tractors and i've never seen one damaged, even on one that got away from the owner on a steep WV hill and went nose first into the woods. not sure what the wall thickness is but they arent light.

 

I considered them at one time myself. They are hellaciously strong and readily available. All they do is hold your axle in one spot - not a highly technical duty, and tractor steering is under much more stress than automotive, so there is no reason why they shouldn't work.

There: you have my official endor*****t to use them!

Let us know if you do...

 

Ran the 8-n radius rod ball ends in their 3-bolt ball sockets on a 'T' Bucket (rear radius rods) in the mid-60s......no problem! The radius rods and rear axle housings were '35/'36 Ford with a '47 Ford P/U center section.

 

I'm not a fan of this setup but at least one guy I know, Alvin Adam from Hamburg has a ratted out '48 Ford pickup with this setup on the front, Allis-Chalmers if I'm correct. I know he bought it out in Western Pa. somewhere and it seems to run pretty nice. He has a ton of miles on it with no bad results that I know of. I think he's on here but I'm not sure ofhis HAMB name.

 

What you talkin 'bout willis?

I haven't used one but I don't doubt that someone has. Looks like a doable solution, a lot depends on the throat of the yolk on the fronts. What makes the rears crack is that they are a rigid mount as a rule. If one is going to fail it is going to be in the mount 9 out of 10 times.

 

The front axle on a Ford or m***y tractor is allot bigger that a car axle.