hispanicpanic

Does anyone offer a solid metal bushing for the inboard front bushing on the front LCA?

Can't find anything without rubber. Rubber just won't cut it, neither will polyurethane or any other BS elastomer.

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

Cusco!

03whitegsr

iTrader: (8)

It's pretty easy (and cheap) to build one if you have access to a manual lathe.

hispanicpanic

I do have access to a manual lathe, but I've never designed a press fit before. Does it need to be .001 over? Or just .000 difference in ID/OD?? Also I have no idea what materials would be suitible here.... I'm not sure a 4130 is sufficient from a corrosion point of view. Also, won't I need some sort of a journal bearing to allow the arm to articulate properly? Where would I get one? I looked at aurora's product manual but they don't offer journals, only sphericals. I'd only need something that moves in 1 axis

03whitegsr

iTrader: (8)

You actually don't want a journal bearing for the reason that if you are using something like a PSRS, the front joint axis no longer intercepts the rear axis pivot center since the arm rear section moves out a bit. Also, any deflection in the subframe/arm or slight misalignment (which you guarantee there is both) will cause any kind of journal bearing to eat its self. While using a spherical bearing in this application isn't ideal since you are rotating around the inner bearing axis, it's really the only option to deal with the misalignment issues.

From what I ran into, good luck getting an effective press fit on the bearing on this part. The holes in the arms weren't very round, something like 0.005" out-of-round is what I measured. Machining a bushing that provides the correct breakaway torque but maintains a press-fit is pretty damn difficult because of this. I ended up machining a bushing at a time and it took a couple times of pushing everything together and testing the breakaway characteristics to get them to where the bearing wasn't locked up.

And I got one of two right on because literally, a couple seconds with 220 grit paper is enough to go from the bearing locked up to it falling out. What I learned though, it really doesn't matter. Just get it damn close to falling out and use locktite shaft locker to keep it in. Like a hand press fit is about perfect.

Also, keep in mind, the front joint really doesn't carry any axial load, as the rear joint controls and carries the for/aft loads. The front bearing controls only lateral loads into the chassis. Because of this, having a perfectly mounted bearing is less important, IMO. You'll also need bearing spacers of the correct width to mount the busing into the chassis. These will also control for/aft positioning as well and trying to force the bearing into a specific position for/aft means you'll create axial loads on the bearing.

I used 6061 for the control arm bushing, an Aurora PNB10T bearings, and 303 stainless for the bearing spacers.

hispanicpanic

how about i just throw you a couple hundred and you make me some

killerpenguin21

iTrader: (20)

This looks spherical? But the price seems low...

http://www.buyhardrace.com/product/h...ii-ix_135.html

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

I would go with Cusco. Cheap spherical bearings at a no-no. They don't last.

killerpenguin21

iTrader: (20)

Well honestly hard race is pretty well known for quality stuff that's why it's weird

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

I've never heard of them. But $80, for a pair of bearings, with sleeves and mis-alignment spacers seems really cheap.

03whitegsr

iTrader: (8)

It's more then it would cost to make your own with Aurora bearings and stainless spacers so it's not completely unrealistic.

But yeah, pretty dang good price if they are using good bearings and materials. Definitely not worth your time to make your own at that price.

killerpenguin21

iTrader: (20)

I may just order a set. Even if they last one season, at that price you could replace them 4 times before you reach the cost of the cusco

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

Just the Aurora bearing you used are ~$40 each everywhere I looked. And the mis spacers in the pic from Hardrace look pretty roughly machined.

03whitegsr

iTrader: (8)

I think I paid $10-$15 each on the bearings. Amazon does have them for $40 though so I guess I got a good deal...or the price of bearings has just gone way up since I did them.

Hey, if you can machine parts and care all that much, sure maybe your time isn't worth it and spending $15 extra to get the good materials is worth it to you. Otherwise, spend the $300 for Cusco or be content with a lower quality part that will still probably be just fine. Lets face it, if the spherical bearing sees water at all, it's probably going to self-destruct quickly even if it is an Aurora bearing.

I just killed a spherical bearing in a top mount in 1 year...open bearings don't like daily use, no matter how good they are.

killerpenguin21

iTrader: (20)

Well if I can ever track down a set of evo x lca's, I'll be trying the hard race ones.