Had some time and bronze extrusion so thought I would try my hand at making some trailing arm bearings. Hopefully these will eliminate the "striction" (sticky friction of synthetic bearings). The ID is 28mm, the OD is 38mm, the flange diameter is 52mm, the flange width is 6.3mm, the overall length is 55mm. To do list: cut an oil groove midlength and crossdrill into this. After pressing these in will drill and thread a grease zerk to intersect the oil groove.
Full Version: Bronze Trailing Arm Bearing
My Delrin bushings don't have "striction", are a lot easier to turn than bronze, and have a spiral groove for grease. 
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Don't know why I got the triple post, that was weird.
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QUOTE(Racer Chris @ Jun 28 2008, 04:39 PM) 
My Delrin bushings don't have "striction", are a lot easier to turn than bronze, and have a spiral groove for grease.
These really seem to have minimal friction, will have a grease groove and be easy to regrease. Doing projects such as this fulfills my never ending need to keep making things and not ever getting the car off the rotisserie.
Maybe I need ritalin 
QUOTE(Wilhelm @ Jun 28 2008, 06:48 PM)
QUOTE(Racer Chris @ Jun 28 2008, 04:39 PM)
My Delrin bushings don't have "striction", are a lot easier to turn than bronze, and have a spiral groove for grease.
These really seem to have minimal friction, will have a grease groove and be easy to regrease. Doing projects such as this fulfills my never ending need to keep making things and not ever getting the car off the rotisserie.
Maybe I need ritalin 
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Some things you should be aware of:
The ID of the trailing arm tube is out-of-round.... nearly .04 on mine.
The over all length of your trailing arm tube with bushings installed should be about .03 shorter than the pivot rod, shoulder to shoulder.
You'll need to grease the flange of your bushings to keep them from grinding on the ears....and keep on it as grit will get in there...iff'n you ever get it off the stands.
The ID of the trailing arm tube is out-of-round.... nearly .04 on mine.
The over all length of your trailing arm tube with bushings installed should be about .03 shorter than the pivot rod, shoulder to shoulder.
You'll need to grease the flange of your bushings to keep them from grinding on the ears....and keep on it as grit will get in there...iff'n you ever get it off the stands.
QUOTE(J P Stein @ Jun 28 2008, 08:50 PM)
Some things you should be aware of:
The ID of the trailing arm tube is out-of-round.... nearly .04 on mine.
The over all length of your trailing arm tube with bushings installed should be about .03 shorter than the pivot rod, shoulder to shoulder.
You'll need to grease the flange of your bushings to keep them from grinding on the ears....and keep on it as grit will get in there...iff'n you ever get it off the stands.
Thought about that.
20,000 pounds of hydraulic press pushed it in just fine and the pivot rod still rotated nicely! Thinking of putting an o-ring groove at the outer circumference of the flange to contain grease and keep out crud. An alternative would be to add thrust needle bearings at the ends, of course these would need to be sealed....
But wait, why don't I just put sealed ball bearings in the tubes..... Oh wait.... 
I'm going to try to keep it simple and I'll update sometime to say how well they are holding up. I'm sure they'll hold up quit well on the jackstands anyway.
Two hardened washers per side with a thrust bearing in the middle...simple.
Yes you need to grease it..big deal.
Rich
Yes you need to grease it..big deal.
Rich
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