Poly Bushings for Transverse Link and Spindle Pin

[Captain Obvious]

Not exactly sure what you mean about the notch, but that's what makes it have a front and a back. The notch is not in the middle of the spindle pin. If you put it in wrong, you'll have too much threads sticking out one end and not enough on the other.

And yes... You should be able to push the pin (slightly greased) in one side using two fingers until the threads pop out the other side. And then you should be able to use two fingers to pull it all the way through. There should be no wedging at all.  The only wedging occurs as a result of the wedge shaped locking pin. 

[cgsheen1]

What he said.

[HappyZ]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I’m certain that the pin will be tight when I press it thru the bushings.  When you say push the pin using two fingers, do you mean before I install the bushings...in essence it should go easily thru the strut portion?  or, do you mean it should also go easily thru the entire assembly (including bushings)?

[jfa.series1]

Since the upright is a casting, the bore hole should be true.  Check that the spindle pin will easily slide thru the bore without the control arm in place.  Next, place the bushings in position in the control arm without the upright in place. Check that the spindle pin will slide thru both "ears" OK - again to check if the ears are true and in alignment. If OK, then position the control arm, bushings, and upright together as an assembly.  As stated above, the spindle pin should easily slide into position thru the assembly. You may have to rotate the control arm or upright as you slide in the pin.

[HappyZ]

@jfa.series1 thx.

there is no way that my spindle pin will slide easily through the bushings.  It’s way too tight.  I doubt that I could even gently tap them in.  Arghh!

[Zed Head]

You might be able to hone out the bushing sleeves.  I've used Scothbrite on the end of a suitably sized rod to hone things out.  Cut s trip of Scothbrite, stick it over the end of the hole then jam it in with a rod on the end of a drill motor.  Some WD-40 and a few million revolutions and the hole will get bigger.

Surprising that the sleeve is too small.  That's a bad product, since you have a new pin.  Should be a perfect fit.

Inside the casting, around the lock pin hole, there can be deformation.  But I think you said that you already cleaned that up.  The spindle pin should slide easily all the way through the casting hole.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Zed Head

[jfa.series1]

 

7 minutes ago, wadelester said:

@jfa.series1 thx.

there is no way that my spindle pin will slide easily through the bushings.  It’s way too tight.  I doubt that I could even gently tap them in.  Arghh!

If the bushing sleeve is too tight then you are fighting a completely different problem. The sleeve should be an easy slip fit for the pin.

[HappyZ]

I was wrong...a slight tap with a rubber mallet pushed the pin all the way thru bushings and strut.  
 

Problem: I can’t get the strut to squeeze into the transverse link...I tried the putty knife with grease everywhere and it just won’t squeeze in there.  That’s all I have left before having it all assembled.  Any other ideas?

what are your thoughts on me sanding a bit off of each inside poly bushing to make the gap a little wider?

[Zed Head]

Won't hurt it.  It's just not a perfectly designed part.  It's elastic plastic, not metal.  It's probably going to get worn out and squished away over time anyway.  I don't even know why they designed them that way, the factory bushings don't have rubber in that gap.  If it were mine, I'd probably cut all of that flange away and fill the space with washers so it wouldn't be sloppy.  The factory bushing uses the strength of the rubber to keep the part centered.  By the way, you probably want to smooth those hammer marks down since that is a loaded surface at times.  Those two surfaces slide on each other.

Most of these PU bushings are not "engineered" for the application.  They are just filling the space left over when the factory bushing is removed.  Sorry, that's probably a big buzzkill but I think that it's true.

[HappyZ]

OK...I got the whole darn thing together...I took it to a machine shop and together we squeezed it in there.  @Zed Head I wish I would have seen your last post as I would have done just that.  The pin came with the rubber washers that I could have used for the portion I removed..

Thank you to all of you that provided me with guidance and common sense approaches to these problems.

[Captain Obvious]

6 hours ago, Zed Head said:

the factory bushings don't have rubber in that gap.  If it were mine, I'd probably cut all of that flange away and fill the space with washers so it wouldn't be sloppy.  The factory bushing uses the strength of the rubber to keep the part centered.

I'm no suspension guy, but I believe the PU bushings were designed that way to prevent metal-to-metal contact. There is no direct metal-to-metal contact between the strut housing and the control arm (with either the stock rubber bushing, or the PU aftermarket replacements). If you cut off that PU flange and replace with metal washers, you'll end up with metal-to-metal.

You need something to keep the strut housing from sliding fore and aft between the ears on the control arm, but you don't want it to be metal. Needs be strong enough to support the forces at work though.

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, wadelester said:

I got the whole darn thing together.

Excellent! Now go do some smoky burnouts!