Newbie in Tennessee

Newbie here. I have a 29A highboy coupe with a traditional spring ahead of axel front end with broken bones. It has a very skittish behavior and goes crazy at any and every bump in the road. I have made several obvious repairs including a rack and pinion replacement for a worn out steering box, and new kingpins. After the repairs the problem is still there although not as severe. The next thing I noticed was that as the steering reached its limits the axel moved laterally in the opposite way and a lot of slop in the spring shackles. So now a panhard bar and shackle bushings are required. Checking the castor there is little to no lean back. No castor is probably the main problem, however so much was worn out. Which brings me to the question? How can I easily and safely correct the castor? Section the bones and bend up and re-weld, or just heat and bend? How would I modify the spring mounting to match the changes in aspect of the spring mounts? Your help would be greatly appreciated.
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Gary aka cornbread-red

 

Bump steer? Is your rack mounted to the axle ? Neat car, btw

 

Thanks for the quick reply. No the rack is mounted to the drivers side frame (replaces the cross steer) and attaches to the p***enger side spindle.

Gary aka cornbread-red

 

You need 7 degrees, pie cut and reweld the bones.... what do you have for spring perches.

 

Search "death wobble". Think tires/wheels. Have your tire guy check them. And ya gotta take care of the caster. Pie cut and weld is better than heat and bend.

BTW...intro police are coming.

 

The spring perches or on the front of the bones. Spring is ahead of the axel. What is the intro police??

 

if you read the rules of the forum you're supposed to do and introduction of yourself to everyone, that should have been your first thread. but anyway welcome aboard and nice coupe!!!!! hot rust

 

Welcome to the board. It is customary (some would say mandatory) to post an introduction, you can find the link on the main menu page, prior to posting. Some here can be sticklers about it while others I doubt ever go and read them. Its worth it though as you won't find anywhere near the amount of knowledge and help anywhere else on the net or elsewhere.
Love the ride also.

Chuck

 

Front of the bones, but as you can imagine, the spring will wanna move to that angle too, so either the front crossmember has to be cut/tilted/welded, or wedge(s) installed, or the adjustable spring-perch that Bishop mentioned...I'm not familiar with those.

The intro police are members that ream you when you don't do an introduction before your first post, as dictated by the rules of the HAMB. But God forbid that I would do that. Because then other members come along, and ream the intro police! Good luck with your hot rod. Welcome to the HAMB.

 

Ooops, sorry bout that. My name is Gary, and I live in Jackson, Tn. Been into rods since I could drive. The kids are now grown and gone, so I came home with a 29 A coupe. It needed a lot of work but I got it for cheep. I like'em to look good and driveable any time I want as often as I want and where I want. No trailer queens here.

Gary aka cornbread-red

 

What I was thinking he may need after the camber adjustment. (Adjustable spring perch) But with the spring mounted to the bones, they wont do much good.

Regardless, get the camber corrected first.

 

and the intro police arrived

 

So what. We didn't beat him up.

Corn...actually there's a section for doing your intro, but wtf...no biggy.

Thanks for the pic, BISHOP. I think the OP wasn't saying that the springs are on the bones. He was asking where to cut and bend..."The spring or on the front of the bones."
cornbread-red...correct? You said the spring is ahead of the axle? So I believe all still applies. Modify the bones, and the spring perch. I'm open to being corrected though. cornbread...I suggest you wait for answers from members a lot smarter about this than me.

 

Humm, I don’t understand how an adjustable spring perch would work in my case. I understand that sectioning a piece from the top of the bone then closing it up and wielding would be the best way to add castor. However when I do that the front part of the bone will also be tipped upwards throwing the spring shackles out of whack with the spring, causing a bind. I have enclosed a picture. I hope the picture better describes what I’ve been trying to say.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1557171&stc=1&d=1328580097

 

The first thing I would do is put the proper perches in the wishbone. Just by the size of the head of those bolts (they look too small in diameter) in the picture. There has to be some movement going on between the wishbone and axle.

 

Thanks 31A, When I removed the axle to install new kingpins I installed new grade 8 bolts, 11/16" I believe. Not sure if 3/4" will fit. I did shim the spindles to the axle and the bones to the axle. I will certainly check all that when I install the panhard and add caster. Thanks for the advice.

Gary aka cornbread-red

 

You can use a set of the earlier style spring perches and just cut the top where the shackle mounts off if you can't find the proper ones. It needs to be a tight fit.

 

I found some flat top perch bolts at a speed shop and on-line. A little pricey but worth it to be safe and to insure there is no movement or play at the bones. I can also do a better job of shimming the bones to the axle. I appreciate all your advice. This stuff is basic, but a lesson learned hard is a lesson learned forever.

Thanks again

Gary aka cornbread-red

 

So you are using a spring in front wishbone and the bones are split? That's what it looks like from here....

...The perches at the front that hangs the spring are designed to be in the correct orientation when the bone is unsplit. The spring eye and the shackle eye need to be in the same orientation. If you split the bones it puts the perch at the wrong angle and the shackles are in a twist.

Did you build this car? If not, I'd be checking EVERYTHING.

 

Welcome Cornbread! I hope you get it all cured soon.

 

You are correct Hitchhiker, when I replaced the perch bolts with the correct ones everything tightened up. Measuring caster I actually have 3 degrees negative. I am leaving that as is and will add the panhard and front shocks to correct the bumpsteer. I did not build this car, however it is a homebuilt with at least 2 owners since I bought it. I have completely rewired it, new halogins and LED turn signal and brake lights, installed a rack and pinion, new tilt steering column, tie rod ends, kingpins, turned the rotors, installed new pads. This weekend I installed the panhard and had some misc. welding on the frame, then welded the upper shock mounts to the frame. Welding the shock mounts of course we hit a brake line and blew a hole in it, so I am redoing the front brake lines. I didn't want to do that just now but since I have to replace one section may as will do it all. Yes I am going thru it piece by piece, and enjoy doing it. Nothing better than working in the garage and away from telephones and other distractions.

 

Welcome aboard cornbred-red, sounds good, I could go for a little red beans and rice with some corbread on the side. Nice little hot rod bro, keep up the nice work and enjoy the ride on the worlds finest hot-rod hiway! ~sololobo~