Issue with my radius rods?!?!?!

[kelseydum]

I think something is wrong here. Are my radius rods supposed to bow like this? If not how can I solve this? I just swapped out my hairpins for the split wishbones for to solve some clearance issues. I noticed that on the hairpins the clevises were sort of bowed like this when they were on there. Do I need a wider spring, longer shackles? Can I just loosen the nut on the spring pivot and put a spacer on there (I have them tightened up all the way right now)?

Somebody help, I'm having withdrawals from being on the road.

Some pics...

 

[ratdog]

I would loosen the nuts on the spring hanger brackets and see if the radius rods straighten out. I am sure they will ,can't see anything else putting that much bow in them. Looks like the mounting plates are right on the outside of the radius rods so the spacing is probably wider then its supposed to be.

 

[dmw56]

Might be binding front to back. Try disconnecting the rear tie rod end and see what happens. You may have to reposition them.

 

[kelseydum]

The end seems like it would move if I pull on it after I loosened the bolt but I think I still need to loosen the spring pivot bolt some.

Also I need to mention that I still have the fame up on jack stands. When I let it down with the full load on it will it push them back out making them not look so bowed?

 

[Lightning]

Are the heim joints locked up or is the head of the bolt not allowing the joint to rotate ? It looks like the bow starts towards the end of the hanger plate. I agree with ratdog , loosen the spring hanger nuts and see how far out the radius arms move outward, or see if there is a way for you to compress the spring and see if the rods straighten out. Maybe there is a way you could switch the radius rods side for side, so as to put the plate on the inside of the rod.

 

[bob w]

Disconnect your spring. The wishbones should straighten, unless they've been permanently deformed. Leave the shackles on the spring pivots and prop them so they are horizontal. Measure the distance between the shackles at the bolts that go through the spring eyes. That is the desired width of the spring with no load on it.

This information is from the Speedway Motors catalog.

 

[kelseydum]

Like DMW mentioned. could they be too long/short? Should I adjust them at the heim joints?

Bobw, I used their info when I first set all this up. The only thing different is I'm using the wishbones. I thought I built them to be the same dimensions (distance from spring pivot to radius rod) I just put the pivot mount on the bottom which will lower my front end a little.

I loosened the pivot nut some and it's flexing back out how it should look. Do they make a longer shackle? I don't want to have to buy a longer spring because of this.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Do you have them on the wrong sides? Looks like the rib where the spring pivot is bolted to is toward the outside of the radius rod, not on center. If you flip flopped them would it move that mounting rib toward the inside?

 

[kelseydum]

The pics don't show it well but the plate on the bottom of the bone is centered making them the same (I could swap them but there would be no difference).

This is what I was trying too figure out. If a straight rod is curved and then straightened the straightened rod is longer than the curved rod. Should I adjust them or is my problem still lying at the spring pivot?

 

[bob w]

Are the perch bolts through the axle tight? If they are, try loosening them enough to let the radius rods relax. Did you have to use a lot of muscle to assemble the front end?

 

[Sam_Fear]

You should be able to tell if they are too long - there would be a huge amount of rearward pressure on the rear bolt to the frame to make them bend like that under compression. Think about the order in which you bolted everything together - was anything hard to get together? Where did it get difficult?

 

[kelseydum]

My wife and I got them on in about an hour. It was kinda tough but just needed a little wiggling to get them on. The hardest part was getting the axle level (with what I had) to get the perch bolts through... but when they started, they went right through. I even put some anti-seize on them this time.

The perch bolts are really tight... maybe too tight? I'll get out there in a second and loosen them a little.

 

[bob w]

The shackles should be at a 45 degree angle with the weight of the vehicle on the spring. In the pic yours are horizontal. That's why I was thinking along the lines of too narrow a spring. or the spring pivots being too wide. Either the spring is too narrow, or the mounts are too wide pulling the radius rods together or the perch bolts were very tight and you had to pry the radius rods out to get them wide enough to bolt on the outside of the frame.

In all my many, many years fooling around with this stuff I've never seen radius rods bowed in like that. Very interested in the cause, cuz I'm never too old to learn...

 

[Unkl Ian]

Spring is too short, but you are luckly because you
have adjustable perches.

Take it apart, add hex nuts on the inside of the perches,
to act as spacers and move the perches in, then reassemble.

Now you can adjust the perches to get the shackles where they belong.

Right now, you have NO suspension.
Eventually, something will break.

 

[donsrods]

I like Unkl Ians solution. I've NEVER seen wishbones deform like that. Your spring seems to be too short and pulling (I mean like REALLY pulling) the bones inward. Very strange.

Don

 

[kelseydum]

I loosened the nuts on the pivots and that straightened them. So your saying it is okay to put a nut on the inside to space it out some?

Here is how it looks since I loosened the nuts. Can't see the first pic too well but the rod is straight. The second pic shows how much they need to space out.

I guess I at least know my welds are strong!

 

[bob w]

Kelsey, they need to space out til the shackles hang at about a 45 degree angle in order for the spring to be effective. It looks like you'll run out of thread before you get there.
Lucky you, you've got two problems but it appears you solved one of them.

 

[Unkl Ian]

You might need a longer main leaf, the shackles
need to be around 45 degrees.

Adding a nut to the inside isn't a problem
as long as everything is tight.

But that might not be enough.

 

[bob w]

Or new brackets on the radius rods, closer together. It's always something.[S

 

[kelseydum]

bobw, you mentioned earlier that the pivots need to be at a 45 degree angle with a full load. I still have them on the jack stands (that's why their horizontal). When I drop the full load on them will they not push down (making approx. a 45 degree angle).

Edited to add if I can just put a nut on the inside of the pivot like is is shown in the last pic, I still have enough thread on the outside to easily put a washer and full nut on. I'm not maxed out on adjustments yet.