fortyPSI Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 That looks great, definitely let us know tomorrow about the price of 4 of these! Would these be already assembled and and ready to go in or would we have to weld in the inner sleeves that hold the actual spherical bearing in place? Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 That looks great, definitely let us know tomorrow about the price of 4 of these! It's going to be Monday before I get a cost. The shop is pretty busy right now. Would these be already assembled and and ready to go in or would we have to weld in the inner sleeves that hold the actual spherical bearing in place? I could tig weld the ends. Let me get mine installed and see how it goes. If I can weld the tubes onto the arms without the bearings installed and the install the bearings/press in the end tubes it would be better overall. If your already welding the tubes to the arms then welding the ends wouldn't be much more work. I'll know this weekend. Josh- 1 Quote Link to comment
fortyPSI Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 It's going to be Monday before I get a cost. The shop is pretty busy right now. I could tig weld the ends. Let me get mine installed and see how it goes. If I can weld the tubes onto the arms without the bearings installed and the install the bearings/press in the end tubes it would be better overall. If your already welding the tubes to the arms then welding the ends wouldn't be much more work. I'll know this weekend. Josh- Definitely waiting for some final photos. and after I thought about it, I think it's better if they come un-assembled since the bearings could get damaged if we welded the bushings on while the bearing was in there. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Tomorrow I'll try welding up the spare arm and see if I can still get the bearing in there... Holy suspension chaos Icehouse brought me a present.... Got the "Byron" brackets all ready to go on. Got one side tacked. Tomorrow I'll finish it and the arms. I couldn't imagine how much bushing would bind seeing the angle my spherical are at..... Quote Link to comment
fuzz's '71 510 Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Are you going to be able to get to the grease zerks after you have everything welded and bolted in? Still a killer car ;) Fuzz Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Are you going to be able to get to the grease zerks after you have everything welded and bolted in? Yes. Quote Link to comment
fortyPSI Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Yes. What front xmember is that in teh the truck bed? Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 S13 240sx.... Quote Link to comment
fortyPSI Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 S13 240sx.... Are you trying to put that in the front or use parts of it for your car? Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm looking into narrowing the crossmember and rack/pinion. Not sure yet but I'm going down that road. Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 A tip for final welding the bearing tubes. Make an aluminum slug that fits into the sleeve in place of the spherical. This will help prevent the sleeve from distorting to much during welding. It will also help by acting as a bit of a heat sink. I have a question about the zerk fittings also. I don't see how they will lubricate the actual spherical bearing. To me it looks like it will just grease the outside of the bearing, and leave the ball totally dry. I don't see this being very helpful in term of bearing life. Project is looking great though. I always enjoy seeing updates. Quote Link to comment
fortyPSI Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 A tip for final welding the bearing tubes. Make an aluminum slug that fits into the sleeve in place of the spherical. This will help prevent the sleeve from distorting to much during welding. It will also help by acting as a bit of a heat sink. I have a question about the zerk fittings also. I don't see how they will lubricate the actual spherical bearing. To me it looks like it will just grease the outside of the bearing, and leave the ball totally dry. I don't see this being very helpful in term of bearing life. Project is looking great though. I always enjoy seeing updates. There is a hole on the outside of the bearing that will let the grease get injected into the bearing itself. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Thanks for the tip Duke. I actually welded the hell out of my spare arm/bushing to see if it distorted. The bearing slipped right in! I actually welded the hole thing at once to get maximum heat.... No issues beside distortion on the spacer side due to the wall thickness, this will be changed on the next Revision. Here's a crappy pic of the bearing hole. fortyPSI is correct. There's a groove around the bearing race and two holes through to the bearing. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Welder ran out of gas today so I started mocking up the S13 front suspension. I'm still on the fence..... I had to shorten the lower control arm 4" It looks doable but I'm not sure the geometry will be right. I might not be able to get the bump steer out, we'll see. I was feeling a little overwhelmed today with so many different areas "in process". Quote Link to comment
datsuntech Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Are you going to be able to get to the grease zerks after you have everything welded and bolted in? Still a killer car ;) Fuzz I am wondering the same thing. How are you going to get a grease gun on those things without disassembling the suspension? Brock Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I plan on notching the cross member for better access. The inner part where the brackets are installed is already notched. I could've also notched the control arm and rotated them back more. Quote Link to comment
datsuntech Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Ahh, so there you have it then. Quote Link to comment
collision and customs Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Welder ran out of gas today so I started mocking up the S13 front suspension. I'm still on the fence..... I had to shorten the lower control arm 4" It looks doable but I'm not sure the geometry will be right. I might not be able to get the bump steer out, we'll see. I was feeling a little overwhelmed today with so many different areas "in process". I'm doing the same S13 mods with a 200sx cross member. I know that the exterior of the 240sx is 6'' wider than a 510. Doing wide body or flares will help. What lower arms are you useing? I was told 200sx arms are shorter Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I cut the s13 arm down. I think I cut it a little too much... I need to find another set of stock arms to play with. Quote Link to comment
fortyPSI Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I cut the s13 arm down. I think I cut it a little too much... I need to find another set of stock arms to play with. Why bother looking for a set... just make your own out of 1" DOM tubing ;) Any price info on the bearing assembly or are you redesigning it? Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I'm going to redesign them tomorrow but it won't affect the cost unless I change the outer spacers to Stainless. I don't like the idea of painting them and causing issues where they become too tight in the mounts. The boss was out today so no quote..... I'll make sure he gets me one tomorrow. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 New Rev. I like this better, more wall thickness, can be clamped together nice and tight and welded around the OD. Quote Link to comment
Josh K. Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Soooo I'm looking at $250 +Shipping for a set of 4. This will include Teflon Bearings or Metal/Metal with grease fittings, same price. The cost savings on the bearings will be offset with the additional labor for drilling/tapping the grease fittings. I will "make to order" the Metal/Metal ones (just drill and tap). I plan on making one set this weekend on the non production machine, then next week I'll pick up the material. Once I get the first set done (This weekend) I'll post a thread in the FS section and link to a website with a paypal shopping cart. ETA is about 30Days out. Our machines are currently booked so I'll have to squeeze them in to the schedule. Feel free to PM me and get on the list, I'll make 12 sets to start. Feel free to comment about anything in this thread, but please don't post "I want a set". just PM me so I can keep this just about the build. Thanks, Josh- Quote Link to comment
ripetomatoes Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 oh, man, i'm drooling over this thing. i gotta admit, i'm jealous. this is gonna be a SWEET ride man. keep it up! Quote Link to comment
Ant-dat Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 fantastic work, keep it up Quote Link to comment
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