1941 front end play

[corvette8n]

I seem to have too much play in the front end of my ‘41, besides steering box and tie rod ends what else do I need to check?
(King pins and wheel bearings don’t have any play.)

[GB SISSON]

I have dug deep into this lately as my truck was prone to wandering. New kingpins, careful adjustment on steering box including the thin shims by worm gear. Each thing made it better, but it needed more. Best thing I did was adjust caster with wedges and toe-in adjusted to just over 1/8". Now I'm thinking a '41 has a transverse front spring so not sure how you guys adjust caster. I did learn here that a certain amount of play is the norm, but proper caster keeps it from being a problem. I know from experience that switching to radials makes it better still, but on this project I wanted the old time look.

[TJ]

Check to make sure the wishbone ball end has a good rubber bushing on it. If the rubber is gone that wishbone can wiggle some in the cup.

[cadillac512]

Originally Posted by corvette8n

I seem to have too much play in the front end of my ‘41, besides steering box and tie rod ends what else do I need to check?
(King pins and wheel bearings don’t have any play.)

Everything. The '41 is a weirdo...I have one. The 45 degree shackle angle rule from earlier cars does NOT apply to the '41, and the "sway bar" on the front isn't the best at locating the axle side-to- side with the slightly outward angled shackles. New bushings in everything helps, new links for the sway bar, proper toe-in.

Mine was a wandering pig...scary in a crosswind. I adjusted the steering box as much as I could and still it wandered. Then I bought a new Borgeson "525" steering box and modified the column to fit. Now it drives great and is much more fun. The 24:1 box is what I have in the car...with the short shaft.



At the rear I added a panhard bar from a '46...keeps that weirdo shackle angle '41 rear end in position.




Terry

[cadillac512]

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