Poly Bushings for Transverse Link and Spindle Pin

[HappyZ]

I haven't tried it yet, but by first impressions, It's going to be tight.  The bushing for the transverse link seem very tight, and the spindle pin through the bushing seems really tight too.  When I say tight, I mean I don’t think they’ll fit.  Has anyone successfully done this?

Edited May 3, 2020 by wadelester

[Zed Head]

Resizing the bushing is pretty common.  Some people manage to wedge them in there with some lube and some trickery.

Here's one thread that mentions it.  It starts out on the other end, loose, but ends up at tight.  There are other posts about the issue on the site, try some search words in the box at the top of the page.

 

[HappyZ]

@Zed Head what do you mean by "resizing"?

[Zed Head]

Sand, verb.  Or grind.  

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Zed Head

[cgsheen1]

20 hours ago, wadelester said:

I haven't tried it yet, but by first impressions, It's going to be tight.  The bushing for the transverse link seem very tight, and the spindle pin through the bushing seems really tight too.  When I say tight, I mean I don’t think they’ll fit.  Has anyone successfully done this?

Yup. And, more than once... Never sanded, ground, or "resized" a single bushing. And, yup, they are tight to get the control arm back on the hub - both Prothane and Energy.

Edited May 3, 2020 by cgsheen1

[HappyZ]

Ok, do I sand the bushing so it’s thinner, or sand (grind) the transverse link so its wider, or the strut so it’s narrower?  
I think the easiest would be to take a little off each side of the strut.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Zed Head]

You can see in your picture that the sleeve is narrower than the polyurethane bushing.  People often just sand down the PU.  But, as cgsheen1 implies, you can just compress the PU and squeeze it in there.  It's elastic.  Don't sand down any of the metal parts, it's only the PU that's a problem.

I've used a thin paint scraper with lube on it to wedge the front bushings in to place.  Use the thin piece of metal as a lubricated ramp to get over those edges.  Once you get the edges started just squish it in there.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Zed Head

[HappyZ]

Thanks...that's good advice.  I forgot about the old rule-of-thumb "Never remove material from something that is not easily replaced". 

I didn't beat the tar out of the strut as shown...I'm innocent ?

I'll squeeze in in there tomorrow.

Edited May 4, 2020 by wadelester

[Captain Obvious]

53 minutes ago, wadelester said:

I didn't beat the tar out of the strut as shown.

Man that thing is hammered! Literally!!

Have you made sure the spindle pin slips cleanly through the strut body?* With that amount of deformation, It's likely that some material has mushroomed into the hole. I can't tell from the pic if it's been filed back out enough to get the pin in. Easiest to check it now before you squeeze the strut body into place.

* If you've never messed with them before... The spindle pin should be a slip fit in the housing. Two fingers should be able to spin it all the way through the strut body. In one side, and all the way out the other. If you can't do that, there's a burr inside the hole causing interference.

[HappyZ]

@Captain Obvious I did file the burs and did slide the pin a bit on both sides.  Thanks for calling attention to it.  That would really suck if I finally have it all together and then the pin wouldn't fit.

[Captain Obvious]

Good man. The problem would be it would be hard to get the pin in, but you wouldn't know why. Is it a misalignment issue, or a burr issue?

Now at least you'll know.   Haha!!   

Also a good idea to test fit the locking pin now to make sure it inserts fully without problems. Oh yeah, and you do know that the spindle pins are no symmetric, right? There's a front end and a back end.

[HappyZ]

I do know it goes in one way, but I was testing to see which way the notch goes.  It appears that it doesn't matter so long as the locking pin can slide in.

Do you have thoughts on that?  Also, I didn't slide the pin all the way though...should I slide it all the way thru, or is it designed to wedge in there at some point?

Thanks again.