Hey guys,

Anyone on the FTE have experience using aftermarket rear spring hangers?

The midfifty catalog says....."Cast hangers on the market today are not machined straight,and pins may not go in, some mounting holes are incorrect as well, so the frame holes may need to be changed, lock pins are replaced by bolts #83811. We send instructions and bolts to fix but if your originals are useable they may be better than these new ones."

I'm switching the rear of my 54 back to stock leaf springs. I have almost everything I need. I ran a wanted list in craigslist for the rear springs and hanger etc. I lucked out and picked everything up locally. But the rear most hangers have wear on them which would cause some serious slop. I also took a chance on some hangers on ebay but they had the same wear pattern.

I bought everything else I need from midfifty to refurbish the springs and hangers but didn't order the rearmost hangers that they have. I didn't realize how worn mine were at the time. I'm just wondering if anyone has had luck with the aftermarket hangers. I'ts great that midfifty does warn you that there may be some problems with the hangers though.

rustfarmer

 

Try dennis Carpenter in N.C., they make a lot of their parts on site. I'm going to go back to original when I locate anothe stock frame the are located close to me so I'll get all my hard ware from them.
Jaye

 

I bought a full set from Dennis Carpenter for my F1 and had to return all of them, complete junk. Like most repro parts if they would just take the time to put the part in the jig and drill the holes right they would probably sell more. Very frustrating. I used my mig welder and filled in the grooves then spent a lot of time grinding and filing.

 

would be nice if we got the casting, and just drilled them ourselves. My originals may need a little weld and redrill too.

 

Gearhead1952 and Havi,

I have also been contemplating welding and grinding/filing my originals also. I have also been considering having the gouged area machined flat then using some kind of spacer or shim to take up the play. I am a little weary of the aftermarket ones. Even more so since gearhead1952's experience with them.

Gearhead1952,

Was it difficult to weld the originals? I don't have alot of experience welding cast metal.

rustfarmer

 

Since I used a mig welder it was pretty easy to get in there with the tip of the welder. A little bit of a pain getting in there to grind but I got it done with my handheld grinder and a fresh wheel. I don't know if this was the correct thing to do or not as I am not a certified welder but given the alternatives I thought it was worth a try and see what happens. I did remove the hangers from the truck so if I have to work on them again at least I won't have rivets to deal with. I have another truck with the same problem and bought some thrust washers from the hardware store and thought I would try that method. I had thought about having them flame sprayed but never looked into whether or not that was feasible.

 

A friend of mine took his into a machine shop and had them fabricate a new set. They worked really nice. He just gave them his old ones with the pins, etc and told them what he wanted. It's not cheap though...

 

Thanks for the comments and direction guys. I will try to go the weld and grind route. At least I have a spare set now. So I can afford to screw one set up. I sure wish the aftermarket manufacturers had a better part to offer. Seems like it may be a common problem with wear on the rear shackles. If anyone else has any advice before I tackle this I would be glad to hear it.

rustfarmer

 

A tad off topic but can someone explain to me why these old trucks have greased pins for the leaf springs and modern trucks don't. Can our trucks be modified to be low maintenance or??? Which is better? I know TCI sells hangers and springs with non greased pins for the old trucks.

 

No, I can not explain it to you. But, it seems a reasonable supposition that Ford Motor Company had devined that less maintenance was desirable. A marketing decision.

Meanwhile.....50+ years later, our old trucks are still going strong if you throw a little grease at these joints. Granted, we don't have a 50+ year example of the wear you get with that newer vehicle, so, no objective data exists. But, I suspect that by that time, Detroit had also established a life expectancy on the redesign.

The perfect car dies (in every system) symultaneously.

Old iron is ageless because the design mandate was to make it the best you can.

But, I digress.....

(signed: a 30+year design engineer, frustrated with the new age bereaucracy)

 

I'm in the middle of going the weld and grind route with my spring hangers. Can anyone tell me what size drill bit to use for the hole the large pins go thru? I picked up a 3/4" drill bit but it seems kinda tight to me. I want to make sure so I don't screw this up. I'm also worried about the drill bit hanging up on the welded area. Or should I just take my time and file the welds down?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

Rustfarmer,

I bought the rear most hangers for my 54 from Sacramento Vintage Ford a few years ago. Painted the black and installed them. About 6 months later (still with zero miles) I took them off and replaced them with the extended version that lowers the truck further.

I still have. Posted them in the classifieds here quite some time ago, but no bites yet.......

 

ferguson777,

I did a search and couldn't find your ad in the classifieds. The ones that you have, are they the rear most hanger that rivets or bolts to the frame? I have the shackels. I need the hangers. If it is did you have any problems with the aftermarket ones? Like other members mentioned? If they work good and they are the ones I need how much are you asking for them?

rustfarmer

 

Rustyfarmer, I just went through the same thing with my 52 f-2. You are right there are ones that are all off. I found a guy out of Jersey that has NOS and is really good with $. The name is Half Ton Fun and the guys naem is Bob Selzam #(732) 928-9421. I was able to get swing hangers and spring hangers. I didn't end up needing the hangers that attach to the frame only the ones that hangers that are attached to the spring then to the hanger, I get them confused which is which. Give Bob a call and he can fix you up. let me know if you need the extra parts I have. good luck Casey

 

Rust,

Sorry, guess I missunderstood you. Mine are the shackles....