Trailing arm/alignment question Options

[Mueller]

Hopefully this makes sense to someone besides me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Pictured below is a bad representation of the trailing arm shaft and the inner trailing arm ear.

When adjusting the alignment on the trailing arm which side is tightend down first? (mount or inner ear)

I cannot see how the face of the trailing arm shaft and inner ear are perfectly flat against each other, if the outer mount is moved and tightened so that it mates perfectly flat with the shaft as well something has to give.

The 3° in the picture is just number I came up with...but ideally, one would want 0° on both planes where the mounts mate with the shaft.......with the current design, both mating surfaces can be perfectly flat with one another, but the alignment more than likely will not be correct??? IMHO

Opinons?? / Flames??

[ChrisFoley]

I have always bolted the outer ear onto the shaft first, even before attaching the arm to the car. The sheet metal at both ends will flex enough to compensate for any slight misalignment. Ideally, spherical bearings would completely eliminate bending loads at the ends of the pivot shaft. Some good pictures of a custom monoball installation are available at the VCI website.
I make Delrin bushings for the rear, along with a heavy duty outer mount, which works out very well. See my website for a picture of the mount. Also I rework the trailing arm and shaft so the alignment is perfect. The shaft pivots freely, with no play and no drag or side loads.