MTFCA Forum

OK so my engine is in and the motor mounts are bolted as well as the front. My Radius Rod needs to go back about an inch. Someone recommended jacking up the rod and it should pop in. I tried and that didn't work. These are the same parts going back together. Is there a way to shift the front end back as well? I don't like to force things. Any tricks?

connect a ratchet strap to the front and rear axles. tighten the axle strap and the ball will ease right into the socket.

Try loosening the front spring u-bolt/clamp. Then retighten after the ball is in place and the ball cap is on.

With all four wheels on the ground, put wood blocks or chocks in front of the front wheels and have someone shove the car forward.

That will tilt the front axle into a more upright position and the wishbone to move further back causing the ball to line up better with the socket. Then you should be able to push or jack the ball into the socket.

Thanks for the input. I like the idea of two straps on the front and rear axel.

When you put the ratchet straps on the front and rear Axle, be sure to jack up the front axle a little bit to take pressure off of the wheels and not have the ball go sideways. That’s how I did it. Frank

If you decide to strap the two axles, be sure not to tighten too much. Just enough to get the ball in. Otherwise you risk bending the axles.
Another way to get it in would be to add a little weight to the center of the car such as having someone sit in it.
Norm

The car is on roller skates so both ends will move. I'll be careful.

Are the spring perches on the correct side?

They should be. I didn't touch them. All I did was took the ball cap off when I pulled the engine. So nothing else changed. I have moved the car around without the engine in it so i bet that moved the front axel around some.

Braces and brackets are intended to hold pieces that are true to each other. Never should we pull or push a part into place and tighten under pressure. Things will wear prematurely at the shackles or worse, the ball and socket or somewhere else. Like bending metal, we go past and back to neutral. Then tighten.
When we are assembling the suspensions, the springs should be fitted to each cross member first, allowing for rocking freely so we know if the cross member is true to the spring action.
Ken Buhler

Jack up the front of the car and place jack stands under the side frame rails. Let down car onto jack stands, you only need to be high enought to get the front wheels off ground. This will unload the front spring and axle. You should now be able to place your floor jack under the wish bone near the ball end and jack up wish bone. This should allow you to jack wish bone ball into engine pan mounting point. Be sure to safety wire the two wish bone cap studs and nuts after tightening .

Confirm spring perches. Have seen a few run a long time backwards. 4 dip pans are more prone to having the radius rod mount pushed in from a stump strike.

Jack up your car and set jack stands under the frame with wheels off the ground. Take the jack from under the front axle. now you can move the axle back and forwards without forcing something the wishbone ball should go in to place easy.

Good luck.
Andre
Belgium

Before lifting the front end of the car car and placing jack stands under the frame rails, I would simply put blocks in front of the front tires and push the car forward as I posted earlier.

If that doesn't work, then proceed to putting jack stands under the frame rails to relieve the pressure on the front axle.

In other words, try something simple first.

When the wishbone isn't in the socket and the car is resting on all four wheels, the caster of the front axle may increase due to the weight of the car. That's why the ball won't always line up with the socket even if the perches are correctly aligned, the perches and springs have new bushings and the shackles have no wear. Sometimes, merely pushing the car forward with the front wheels chocked will do the trick, at least it has for me.

I'm going to try to push it in place first then go from there.

In my TT the rod was over an inch too short. Now that was interesting. Everything was in the proper holes/ dimension, and even after the above suggested methods we were still an inch out.

That raised the discussion if there were in fact two lengths of wishbone out there?

The problem was solved, the TT now has a different wishbone to 'standard' cars.

(Comment food for thought only)

Well After work I went to try some of your ideas. I took the car off the front roller skates and wouldn't you know it the ball lined up and went right in. I put some grease on and tightened the nuts so the springs had tension on them and the cap was fully seated. Then I safety wired up the two bolts. I didn't have to push or pull. Small victory for me. Ha!!

Sort of like a kid on ice skates. Can't keep their legs close together. Take away the skates, and problem solved.

Ha! That's true.

Jerry's suggestion always worked for me.

Mopar_man wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:20 pm

Well After work I went to try some of your ideas. I took the car off the front roller skates and wouldn't you know it the ball lined up and went right in. I put some grease on and tightened the nuts so the springs had tension on them and the cap was fully seated. Then I safety wired up the two bolts. I didn't have to push or pull. Small victory for me. Ha!!

How much should the springs on the radius rod ball cap be compressed? Partially? Fully? Does it matter? (I checked both the Model T service manual and the MTFCA axle book and couldn’t find a specific answer.)

mbowen wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 15, 2022 9:38 pm

Mopar_man wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:20 pm

Well After work I went to try some of your ideas. I took the car off the front roller skates and wouldn't you know it the ball lined up and went right in. I put some grease on and tightened the nuts so the springs had tension on them and the cap was fully seated. Then I safety wired up the two bolts. I didn't have to push or pull. Small victory for me. Ha!!

How much should the springs on the radius rod ball cap be compressed? Partially? Fully? Does it matter? (I checked both the Model T service manual and the MTFCA axle book and couldn’t find a specific answer.)

Almost fully. So that they can't be further compressed enough to allow the ball to possibly release from the socket.