FRONT SLIDER 3

Last year a fellow in Oregon added thrust bearings to his front sliders of his F Super to reduce the friction and jerking while steering. I contacted him recently to see how they worked out over time. He gave a glowing report on how well the car now drove.

I got a set of these bearings and I'm installing them. Here are the part numbers. These were ordered from WW Grainger here in the USA.

The late F types have inner dust covers and these bearings are a nice fit on the dust cover above the spring.

Here are all the parts laid out along with the threaded rod parts for assembly. The sleeve at the bottom of the 3/8" rod is needed when the whole assembly finally drops into the bottom lug. The locked nuts are exposed so a wrench can hold the rod and allow the top nut to be loosened.

In Nev Lear's new book he suggests to assemble all the parts and stick the rod through the hole in the top lug and run a nut down to compress the springs in situ.

It is a little awkward because the bottom parts want to press against the lower lug and hang up. A bit of pulling makes it work. Then care is needed when the bottom of the dust cover meets the top of the slider. It is always off to one side.

I found that pulling at the bottom would open a gap between the top lug and the flange of the dust shield. I can stick a screwdriver into that gap and then the parts would line up allowing more action on the nut to compress more.

Finally the bottom nut of the 3/8" rod clears the bottom lug and centers over the hole. Done. Just back off the nut and pull the slotted plate out and install the spindle rod.

It is amazing how  much easier it is to turn the slider now. I think it worth trying on a twin car so I may attempt that too. It really needs something to help the steering.