Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Jenkins
I am installing a 5.0 with AOD. I have removed the X frame and split the front wishbone. I am in the process of heating up the wishbone shackle eyes. I removed several of the springs so will I need to bend the eyes down to get the proper caster?
Thanks.
Jack
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Hey Jack ..... I wish you had asked your question before you split the wishbone. I can see where you would think that changing the angle of the spring leaves would change the angle of caster, but the caster (of the AXLE) is actually going to be changed by the UP/DOWN movement of the REAR end of the split wishbones.
Guys normally DO have to bend the shackle eyes after splitting the wishbone, but it's not to adjust for caster. When you split a wishbone, the REAR ends are normally spread apart and mounted in the area of the frame rails. What this does is move the shackle eyes TOWARD each other, which drastically changes the dimension for the length of the main spring leaf. In that case, you need to heat and bend the shackle eyes OUTWARD to maintain the original dimension between the two so that the original main leaf can be utilized.
In the case of what you are doing, the normal approach would be to first measure the distance between the spring eyes on the wishbone. Then, split the wishbone and mock-up your intended situation by setting the axle/wishbones assembly under your chassis rails with the REAR ends of the wishbone now spread to their respective mounting locations. Now you will be able to see how much the FORWARD ends of the wishbone have moved TOWARD each other. At this point, you would heat and massage the two spring eyes apart from each other to approximate that ORIGINAL dimension. You also want to massage and twist the two spring eyes to be PERPENDICULAR to the axle itself.
With the chassis sitting at approximately "ride height", place an angle finder against the front face of the I-beam to give you an approximation of the caster angle. Moving the REAR ends of the split wishbone up or down (to small degrees) will change the caster angle of the axle. If your caster is WAY-off (5º-7º POSITIVE is normal), you'll need to pie-cut the wishbones just behind the axle and adjust the angle before rewelding the two pie-cuts with your new angle. Hope this helps ya.
Coop
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