I searched and couldn't find out which year/model Ford had the longest wishbones. I wanna stick my suicide axle out front of the radiator pretty far with 1/4 elliptics and I'd don't want dem bones to be mounted too far forward on the frame and look out of proportion. Thanx in advance. C'ya - RAY
That statement seems a little disjointed, but... 32 I believe, but you probably wont want to cut one up after you pay for it. I think the 42-48 ones a pretty long as well, but they have a jog in them that some folks don't care for.
33-34 are the exact same as a '32 minus .5" or something like that. They are the only ones with the built in caster also.
Jeff I think the 33-34 are actually about 2" or 1.5" shorter, the one on my roadster is a 33 that I had to lengthen to fit the stock '32 frame. No I didn't cut up a perfectly good 33 wishbone, it was already split when I got it, but had the yoke with it.
You are the man when it comes to early ford shit. Now that you say that 1.5" sounds right. I was right about the caster at least hahaha ???
THANX for the responses, guys! "Disjointed?"......Yeah, I guesss "suicide axle" and "in proportion" don't exactly go together do they, haha? Soooo.......the '32 bones are rare/expensive? How much longer are they than, say, Model A bones? The "jog" in the '42-'48 versions actually might be kinda interesting on a slammed RPU...........hmmmmmmm. C'ya - RAY
The straight 42-early 47 Ford Passenger Car and dogleg late 47-48 Ford Passenger Car bones are probably the longest. Mercs 42-48 may be a bit longer but harder to find.
Of course your taking into consideration that moving the spring back a long ways behind the axle will greatly increase the leverage acting on the spring and thus increase the bending effect acting on the wishbones...right? Personally...I'd go with the later style...simply because it was designed with enough strength to counteract the rolling effect of having the spring out past the front of the axle. On top of that, the later style bone was being used on the heaviest series of car with the most percentage of total vehicle weight over the front axle of any early Ford, so its tough by design. Always lean towards safety.
I've got some '46 Lincoln Zephyr bones sitting right outside here, they are long and heavy duty, if you want I can measure them for you, they are also made for a spring behind axle and with that big V12 must be pretty long and they were on a very very heavy car.
Thanx for your concern, Bill. Actually, the ends of the 1/4-elliptics will be attached directly to the web of the axle via spring mounts & shackles. The only suspension component attached to the bones will be tube-type shocks, which will also double as safety devices to keep the front end from hitting the ground in the unlikely event of a failed spring. Thanx, Rob! That would be great. C'ya - RAY
Not sure why you ask, fur biscuit.........but, probably about 12-inches past the front of the frame horns - which will terminate approx 3-4 inches in front of the grille shell. The radiator and shell will be between the ends of the frame and I'll probably put a tubular crossmember just behind the fan shroud, for strength. The monoleaf 1/4-elliptic springs (1/2 each of a Pete & Jake's) will be mounted INSIDE the ends of the frame tubing and be made height-adjustable like Posie's. The pivot will be fashioned similar to this one, done by a fellow HAMBer: Shock mounts will be fabbed and welded to the frame on either side of the grille shell and just behind the spring-pivot bolt. They'all also serve to mount the headlights in the usual manner. C'ya - RAY
Just measured some 1946 Lincoln Zephyr bones in the dark covered by a tarp (so I may be off a little), center of the axle mount hole to the center of the pivot ball is ~49 inches.
Top bone is 48 Lincoln, middle is 37-40 Ford, bottom is 46-48 Ford. All cut at the yoke. The Lincoln has more built in caster. Picture show Lincoln bones in my Model T project. Note that they are parallel to the ground.
Man...SOMEHOW I misread your first post to mean you were running a cross spring to the split wishbones! Gotcha...sorry for confusing the issue!!!
sheer curiosity. Either way, you can graft half a model A tierod (with end) into the end of the split bone. looks clean and gives a solid mount, also allows for unlimited lengthening.
WOW - That's very helpful, Bib Overalls......thank you! Are you keeping the '37-'40 bones for a future project.........or, are they available for purchase? I don't suppose you'd happen to know the length of 'em to the perch-bolt hole? Soooo..........perhaps around 42" from the perch bolt hole to the yoke weld? THANX, guys!! C'ya - RAY
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