When I bought my speedster one of the neat parts it had on it was Rajo offset spindles. But the right spindle is bent giving the car a severe camber angle. Have them off the car now. So my question is should I attempt to straighten them or leave it on the shelf as a conversation piece? and if I do straighten it should it be done hot or cold? My big worry is that this repair may weaken the spindle and I may never trust this part again. What are your thoughts?
Mike: Which side do you need? At one time I had some extras of one side. Do not remember which I had. Let me know and I will look. Do yours say Rajo? I have only seen one pair that were marked. Dan
if you can rig up some way to hold it, and some leverage to bend it, and some point to measure it, then bending cold is always best
Dan, Mike stated in his post that his right spindle was bent. Hope that helps.
I would NOT try to straighten any suspension or steering part by heating it. That is Taboo.
Bad enough cold.
Mike
That's a shame, bent old offsets, no need to fix them,.... I'll send you some good std Ford replacements in trade...
did Rajo make spindles for roundy- roundy racing or is camber something that was done in later years?
Dan hatch, Mine don't say Rajo but I heard most did not. I would need the right side if avaliable I would gladly purchase it from you.
Dan Treace, Good one, almost had me. thanks for posting the advertisement
What happened Mike...didja get it airborne hittin' them tracks at 75?
Bob, Sounds like something I would do and have already been airborne at speed in this car but I didn't do it. The spindles were already bent, this may suprise you but sometimes at speed I think of my safety and the possiblity of spindle letting go but I quickly woke up as my passenger tells me its also not too safe to daydream when driving a T As for now I'm running 26-27 spindles not as cool but safe I guess. I will bring then with me and the car on the tour/BBQ/work party saturday. will you be there?
Mike " NO TRAILER QUEENS " ;-)
Jerry, WHAT!!? you should know if anything she's a trailer princess
Before you spend much time on straightening your RAJO spindles I would have them Magnafluxed. Quite a few of the RAJO spindles I have seen are cracked.
if he gives them to me I will straighten and chemical test them. He just owes me so much now,,,, :-)
Sorry Mike,,, Princess not queen.
Look at who's talkin here I cant seem to get the roof done on my own.
Trying to skip out on work Sat. so I can go to this shindig too. Mike I need help today after 5:00 I will owe you the steak dinner.
Steve, Thanks for the insight I will have them tested. If cracked they will be shelf art.
Jerry,I get off at 5 and should be there by 6 tonite.
Steve & Mike,
Best to Magnaflux them AFTER straightening.
If you find the spindle is in good shape and decide to straighten it use SOME heat to take out the "chill" in the steel. Get it boiling point hot and go to it.
Mike SEE ABOVE...
Here are some photos of a left side offset spindle. Not sure whether its a Rajo - couldn't see Rajo written on it. It does have some patent numbers. This belongs to a good buddy. I'd like to present him with the matching right side spindle - anybody got a spare?
Andrew
My spindles are marked RAJO plus they are marked R & L. Bill
So besides being "cool" do they actually accomplish anything??? What is it like to back it off the trailer?
there was a warning some years ago about those offset spindles. They were not strong and not up to Ford standards.
I would get them off my car and put some original Ford spindles on.
Anyone wanting to have their unsafe, not up to Ford standard offset spindles disposed of in a Green way can send them to me. I will be willing to Recycle them for a small fee. Dan
One point about straightening a spindle, if it is not exact, and the bend is in the portion that goes through the wheel, it will put an uneven load on the bearings intentionally causing a premature failure of the bearings.
Best
Gus
If they actually accomplished anything it would not be that difficult to make some new ones. I would probably get them cast from 4340 chrome moly steel just like Ford used for most of his spindles when new. Having just finished a intensive course in investment/lost wax casting I think that would probably be the way to go.
Les,
I've been told that these spindles greatly increase the steering effort. Not sure how that's helpful. As the ad above suggests, "Takes you down the road straight-a-ways, all by itself", further suggesting it would be hard to steer right or left.
I too have heard that these spindles are prone to breakage, let alone difficult to use.
Can't send Mike C a PM so, I just found this on ebay;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Offset-self-centering-spindle-Model-T-Ford-accessory-NOS -/200797987706?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ec07e237a&vxp=mt r
Jerry & Les - I think the way Jerry explained it make sense if you think about it carefully. I'm sure that the main feature of the offset spindles is to make a very light car (read "speedster") more "self-centering" than it would be with standard stock Ford spindles, but a secondary and less desirable feature is that they cause the need for a bit more effort to steer than with the stock Ford spindles. Just my "interpretation" and might be "way out in left field" so as with most anything I say,......"take with a grain of salt"!
(Yeah, I know Mike,.....leaving myself "wide open" with that comment, right?)
Adding a couple degrees to the caster would have basically the same effect. Plus they are known T tough and billions-of-miles-proven spindles. I resurrected my first speedster over 40 years ago. I am working on my 6th and 7th. After a brief idea of "I want those" from reading my old speedster books, I made a decision to stick with T tough.
I do add a bit of caster to most of my Ts and all of my speedsters. I like the way they handle. I was clocked twice in my old center-door at 55mph. 3 of my 5 speedsters I have driven would do somewhat over 65mph. The gray race car would do nearly 80 (not bad for a flathead).
Beware of too much caster. I managed that once. It drove okay under 20mph. But it was an arm killer over that. It has since been fixed and drives very well at about 60 plus.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I'll reluctantly add my 2 cents worth in addition to Wayne's comments. The big advantage to offset spindles or more castor (more castor is my choice on #4) is handling ability. On a straight stretch of road at high speed the car wants to go straight. An example is going across Nevada on highway 50, 2 lanes, no traffic, oncoming or otherwise, lots of loooong straight stretches. I was so bored that I began a fun test, just for something to do. I took both hands off the wheel to see how long I could go without the car wandering off the road. The longest stretch was 16 seconds with no hands on the steering wheel. This was at around 60 MPH. For racing, when you go into a turn it takes more effort but coming out of the turn it wants to spring right back to straight, doesn't want to get squirelly and wander the opposite direction. All in all it's a joy to drive at any speed, you always feel like you have full control.