I myself wouldn't be daily driving our 1915 roadster without one of these installed. There is a good reason Ford changed the front wishbone position from above the front axle to under the front axle.
Is anyone making reproductions of any of these?
The easiest way is to buy the bracket (second down ) from Bill in California and cut the ball off an old nonusable below axle wish bone. Use drive shaft nuts when attaching it to axle. It really beefs one up.
Jack - Are you referring to Lang's part #2598, the special nut that holds the pinion gear to the shaft? See page 24 in Lang's 2010 - 2011 catalog.
Thanks, Keith
Keith, yes that's it and Bill Bohlen makes the clamps. It is a real easy do over,no welding at all. I used original nuts,they look a little thicker.
Jack - I already have a lower brace on my '14 in addition to the above-the-axle wishbone, but the nuts aren't castelated. I'll get those nuts so I can also use cotter pins.
Thanks very much for the tip, Jack.
Keith
Thank Fred Houston,he told it to me.
The only one that looks strong enough to do any good is the third from the top. I have a different original on on my '13 that uses special nut screwed to the bottom of the perches replacing the nuts. It would be OK if the rods didn't have a dog leg at the end which pretty much defeats it
Les - Could you please post a picture of yours since it's different than the ones pictures above?
And thanks to Fred for the tip on using the pinion nut....
Thanks, Keith
What is the contact information for Bill Bohlen?
Jack Daron,
We contacted Bill Bohlen and he does not make the wishbone clamps. Never did. Do you have time to research who it was that you bought your wishbone clamps from? We are interested in purchasing them.
Thanks for you help Jack.
I'm pretty sure I bought it from him ,as he ahd it on Ebay.
I have the same accessory brace as the third one from the bottom (or top -- heck, it's the middle one) on my '17 touring. I have a '14 with the more common "angle iron" braces. I'll tell you one thing; that set I have on the '17 is plenty heavy. The nuts at the ball/socket end are interesting also, involving some sort of self locking mechanism involving a small spring and a slug that engages the threads on the braces. These parts have a VERY home-made look to them as if hand-fitted and not too much time put into the work. I'm relatively sure that it wasn't the work of a previous owner though.
Warren - Since the accessory brace you have appears to be quite strong and the strongest of those pictured above, do you think it could be reproduced reasonably economically and made available for all of us?
Just wondering.....but I think it would be a big safety improvement for those of us with cars that have the above-the-axle wishbone.
Thanks, Keith
Anyone out there know who the person is that's making the brackets mentioned above? We can eliminate Bill Bohlen..... so we've only got a few hundred other people to eliminate that make parts before we figure out who it is!
I have this NOS set, cast in brass. Maybe I should have a few sets made.
The biggest hurdle to making repops of the unit I have would be finding a foundry to cast the clamp parts for the ball joint end and the clamps for the axles. I suspect the bars are solid rather than tubular and modern nuts would suffice where needed.
The biggest hurdle to making repops of the unit I have would be finding a foundry to cast the clamp parts for the ball joint end and the clamps for the axles. I suspect the bars are solid rather than tubular and modern nuts would suffice where needed.
Warren, how strong do they need to be? People like Don Snyder and Glen Chaffin are having items cast all the time. I will say that if Ed's is cast in brass/bronze, and there are some made out of angle iron, it would seem to me someone doesn't feel like that lower strut (wishbone) needs to be that strong to be effective.
Brass might be a little too soft for those clamps. I would be much more comfortable with iron and those parts could be forged instead of cast.