Ford Wishbone Suspension - Wish List

Splittin' 'Bones
Just how do you go about splitting a wishbone? Using a chop-saw, a grinder with cutoff wheel, or similar, cut through the wishbone as close to the rear mount as possible, or at a length you require, making sure you cut both sides to the same length. Remember, the farther from the rear you cut, the larger the diameter of the tubing will be. This may not appear to matter, but the next step is to weld in a threaded bung to accept a Heim joint, urethane bushing, or to be period correct, a track rod end, and the large-diameter tubing will look odd welded to the bung if the wishbone is cut at some distance from the end.

The next step is to source a mount to attach the new end of the wishbone to the chassis 'rail. You can make your own, which will require a tapered hole if you use track-rod ends (tapered bungs can be sourced to weld into a bracket here) or purchase 'em ready-made from Speedway Motors, Thompson's Garage, and other vendors. If you have a fat-fendered car, Chassis Engineering, Total Cost Involved, and Pete & Jake's sell split-wishbone kits that bolt into the frame and allow the fitment of an automatic transmission, such as a TH350.

New 'Bones
This really is wish-list stuff. How about brand-new wishbones, in either mild steel or stainless steel? Industrial Metal Craft in Las Vegas is manufacturing both, as either a reproduction of an original '32 wishbone with the stock ball joint-but with smaller yoke with a 2-inch inside opening-or as a modified version with a 2-1/41/4-inch opening and a larger front to the tube section to accommodate the unique holes, which allows the tie rods to pass through the wishbone.

The wishbones are also available already split, the steer-through versions of which are direct replacements for SO-CAL Speed Shop hairpins and set with a 7-degree caster, or as original, though they can be supplied for a stock-width axle or a narrower aftermarket axle. The ball joint is investment-cast stainless steel, as are the yokes, while the tubes are either 304 stainless or cold-rolled steel, giving the option of polishing, chrome, or paint. Industrial Metal Craft will even sell the ball joints, stock yokes, or steer-through yokes separately.

New Tricks
Just when you thought you'd seen it all, and there were no new ways to do anything, someone always shakes things up. This time, it's those creative and talented minds at Ionia Hot Rod Shop. Just take a look at how they modify '35-36 wishbones. Ionia's Dennis Lesky admits to loosely copying ideas he gleaned from a '41 Indy car, mounting the rear of the 'bones between the X-member and chassis 'rails, using a section of the original ball joint turned vertically. Of course, this requires a second ball joint from another wishbone, but they've always been discarded up until now. Since Industrial Metal Craft is making new ones, the sky's the limit! They also flip the 'bones upside down for tie-rod clearance, then swiss-cheese 'em for extra cool points. Nice work!