I have a set of '36 Ford front bones sitting at 117 harv's ready for his love making. He is waiting on me to tell him how far I will be splitting them before blasting, drilling & polishing. I want to say I will be mounting the ends to the side of the '36 frame but come to think of it you don't (or at least I don't) see many full fendered '36 Fords sittin low built that way. Lots of '28-'34 but not to common on the '35-'36? Why? Running a dropped '32 heavy front axle, Buick 45 fin, 12" brakes, no tire or wheels picked out yet. Can anyone foresee a turning problem with the tires hitting the front bones with them split to frame? Thanks!
The main thing is the spring sits in front of the axle and the spring perches need to be parallel with each other and perpendicular to the axle. On my 40 the bones are split about 8 inches apart and I had to heat and bend those perches. I have seen the bones V cut and welded about a foot back from the axle bolt so they could be attached to the outer frame rail. I never cared for that.
I believe Posie's sells diff. length spings for bones that have been split but I want to keep the perches in the stock location thinking longer spring gives a better ride. Maybe 117harv will chime in but I thought he told me he would make the "V" cut at the factory weld directly behind the axle/bones bolt. I agree a "V" cut a foot back would look goofy....................
We have a '36 pickup, when We got it, it had a bend in the bones about a foot back, and their solution to make that fit was to cut gussets off the steering box mount which gave us death wobble and so much flex, the mount almost broke off. I don't know what they were thinking. After removing the bones and fixing the steering box mount, I got a new set of bones. I bent the spring perches in between the shackle and the perch pin, allowing use of the stock length spring, and no need to bend the bones behind the axle perch pin. No problems with turning radius.
To make sure I wasn't full of ****, I just went out and took a peek under the truck. There is a small rub mark on the bone, but there have been no issues with drivability.
Why would I entertain doing this? Running a blown baby Hemi, rear sump, T-5 trans, maybe some under the floor pedals, dual exhaust, going to need all the real estate I can find down under. ******, thanks for look see, where are your ends mounted?
I have seen the tubes bent behind the axle many times over the years, some bent and some cut and welded, most were done poorly. This obviously works and is done to keep tires from rubbing when running the 37 and up axles with the short ends and spliiting the bones. Since you are running a 32 axle as well as the Buick drums rubbing wont be an issue. Heating and bending the out front spring perches so they are back to the factory width and parallel is the right way and the stock spring will work.
I agree ; this is the best way to do your bones. This is my 40 frame with the bones split, the trans mount ( Richmond 5 speed ) , the C.E. plates that replace the stock torque box.
Joel, we talked about doing what you did, just splitting them enough for the needed clearance. Since the car will be very low, they will hit the frame, we think as the car isn't fully mocked up, so that's why they need to come out to the outside of the frame.
"Can anyone foresee a turning problem with the tires hitting the front bones with them split to frame?" .........Yes, I think they will, if you at full lock in tight places... (I prefer not to run the bones out at the frame, as even the 32-36 bones seem to contact a tire if the factory stops are used, and bones split out to the framerail.. I'm against using longer steering stops, and then not be able to park the car in a tighter spot.) Just a thought, ...IF you did want to get bones somewhat under the car.... One way: I used the tube part of later 40s bones with the upwards Z jog. My car is a 32, with 33/36 axle, and the "bone yoke" (up front around the beam), are 35/36 with spring perches trimmed off, and the yokes are flipped upsidedown for tierod clearance. not sure if the later bone jog can give enough clearance without hitting the frame bottom, on a super low front end. One more way to get the split bone "slightly" further away from the tire; my 50s built frame originally had the tapered bungs in the bone anchor plates, welded in reversed, so that the tierod end studs, went through the plate from the back of the plates. So the nut was facing outside. That tucks the bones in a bit more, but still sort of at the rail Don't know if either would work on your build and ride height
Try this. With your wishbones located as close as possible to where you would like them to be mounted, and your axle able to move up and down freely [not attached to spring], move the axle all way to the bump stops [or where you expect them to be] then see if the wishbone hits the frame before it would hit a bump stop. I will bet it hits bump stop first. I don't think it moves as much at the rear of the wishbone as you think.
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