Axle holes for front spring perch slightly worn

L

Laredo

Member
I'm in the process of rebuilding everything in the front suspension, steering, and front brakes and have come across something I'm not sure about. While test fitting my new parts and checking for wear on the old ones, I noticed that the spring perches have a slight wiggle to them when inserted in the axle holes (nothing is bolted together, but I did put the radius rod ends in place over the axle and inserted the perches through just like the final assembly will be). There is approximately 1/32" (if I had to put a number on it) of side-to-side wiggle that each seated, untightened spring perch has in the axle holes. It isn't a huge amount of slop, but it is noticeable.

Is this any cause for concern? Or will it be a non-issue once everything is tightened and torqued down?

If it IS cause for concern, what can be done to fix it?
 
It is cause for concern. You can tighten it but the axle will fret between the wishbone and wear it. To fix it you could machine it for bushings or get a good axle. Once they are worn,they deteriorate fast.

John
 
Sounds like you haven't replaced the bushings?
Do the new shackle bushings wiggle in the perch or are you saying the new shackles wiggle in the perch with the old bushings still remaining?
If you haven't replaced the bushings you will need to do so.
 
Laredo said:
Does this weaken the axle any significant amount?

What type of metal would the bushing need to be made of?
Click to expand...

I've had a couple done; my friend bored the axle out to 13/16", turned a steel bushing to fit, pressed in the bushing with Loctite, and then bored it out to fit the 11/16" perch bolt.

I would suspect your perch bolt is also worn and in need of replacement.

Not uncommon for the axle to be worn on the top and bottom also and may need to built up with weld and ground down. Should be about 2-1/4" thick.

Wishbones are also subject to be worn; but you can usually get by if not too bad as they will squeeze down when tightened; could be shimmed too.

There is obviously some weakening of the axle; does it matter now-a-days, probably not.

Unless you or your buddy has a mill and lathe; a good used axle is probably cheaper than the charges from a regular machine shop (if you can find one interested).

The axles I had done were old dropped axles where the effort to save them was warranted.
 
bobv said:
Sounds like you haven't replaced the bushings?
Do the new shackle bushings wiggle in the perch or are you saying the new shackles wiggle in the perch with the old bushings still remaining?
If you haven't replaced the bushings you will need to do so.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying any of that. This is referring to the spring perch bolt that goes down through the wishbone and axle that attaches the perches to the axle. There's no bushing in the axle for this originally.
 
rich b said:
I would suspect your perch bolt is also worn and in need of replacement.
Click to expand...

These are new bolts that I'm working with. Just for giggles, I put the old ones in, and they gave the same small amount of wiggle as the new ones. Makes sense now why I was able to easily pull both perches out by hand after removing the nut. I was expecting those to be rusted and frozen in place.
 
Loctite makes compound 660 for setting loose bushings or bearings. You can make dimples in the perches using a center punch and hammer to make it a tight fit in the axle and then use the 660 which will fill up to 0.020 inch gap. Depending on how you intend to drive the car this may be good enough.
 
I managed to luck out and find a used axle for sale just a few miles from me. I picked it up yesterday. I brought my new spring perch to test the holes for wear, and this second axle had very tight perch holes like it should. There are no clubs around me and not many Model As or parts pop up for sale, so I was very fortunate to find this. It does have a couple issues that I will start a new post about in order to not have a few different topics going on in this post. Thanks for everyone's input on what I had going on!
 
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