Category: Tech

Cold Flow

Getting the ’40 ready for the road again, we decided to change the bushings on the coilovers because they hadn’t been done (that we could remember). The first challenge was loosening the lower mounting bolt. It’s not that it wouldn’t turn; it had attached itself quite strongly to the inner tube, and the whole assembly would just spin and spin. We soaked it, we hammered it, we impacted it… nothing was going to break the love that this little 1/2-20 bolt had with the tube it had got to know so well. We gave up being civil and cut the bolt in two.

Once the bolt was free (but severed), we popped the bushings out and here’s the damage:

Urethane bushing cold flow.
After cold flow comes elongation.

Over time (though it would probably be more accurate to speak of “miles”), the bushing had worked itself into the grooves in the Aldan coilovers which are there to give you the option of running spherical bearings instead of bushings. The grooves are for a C clip to hold the bearing in place. No harm done; we just replaced the bushings and will go for another xx,xxx miles. I’m not sure exactly how long these coilovers have been installed, but it’s probably in the 30 000 mile range or more.

Moral of the story: check your bushings. Cold flow happens.

Sway Bar Mounted on a Motorcycle

Let me explain.

Nevermind, let the pictures explain. When we say it’s a universal sway bar kit, Daniel took us up on that claim.

Dear Daniel…
Daniel, I’m guessing you spent at least an hour or more figuring all this out! I don’t know anything about bikes, but this is very impressive. Thanks for the pics, and for using Welder Series parts.

Custom Multi-Angle Adjusters

We recently had a visit from a Welder Series regular, Grant Schwartz of Schwartz Welding (click here for his Facebook page). You’ve probably heard me talk about Grant before- he knows our product line almost as well as I do and he makes very good use of it!

This time, Grant was hunting for a way to create a multi angle adjuster that was cost-effective, strong, and not as long as his previous version (which utilized a clevis).

Here is what he came up with, along with the parts he used.

Click on the pictures to go to that item in our web store.

Adjuster stud.
Flatten the notch, or cut off the large diameter portion of the stud.

Clamp bar for front spring perch kit.
This piece is good for two adjusters. Cut next to each hole and weld to the end of the adjuster stud. Drill holes to 7/16″.

Multi angle adjuster tab.

Urethane bushing outer sleeve

Urethane bushing kit (includes two bushing halves and an inner sleeve)

So, what’s the bottom line? Adding the pieces up, including the urethane bushings, two multi-angle adjusters would cost $64.50. I calculated the price for two because you can’t buy half of #21273 (the part that welds to the adjuster stud). You’ll also need a couple bolts and nuts. Clicking on the pictures will take you to that item on our web store. We keep these pieces in stock. What would you use a multi-angle adjuster for? Diagonal locators, control arms… anything where changing the length of the bar would also change the angle of the adjuster.

Thanks for the pictures, Grant!

Early Pinto vs. Mustang II Spindle Differences

A customer stopped in yesterday carrying a spindle. In itself, I recognize that this sentence requires an explanation. He was curious as to the origin of said spindle… was it early Mustang? Pinto? Mustang II? It certainly looked like a Mustang II spindle, but he just wanted to double check. We have a pair of spindles which we use for a caliper bracket fixture, so we brought them out for a little compar-o. Here are the differences:

 

The spindle on the left (the clean one) is a 1974-78 Mustang II spindle. On the right is the spindle that was brought in to compare; it’s from a 1971-73 Pinto. Between the ball joint holes (vertically, inside-to-inside) on the Pinto spindle is 5-1/16″ while the Mustang II is 5-7/8″. Also, the steering arm hole center to the lower ball joint center dimension is 4-1/2″ on the Pinto spindle but 5″ on the MII. The lower caliper bracket hole is in a different location as well.

So, on first glance, they look quite similar. However, you now have the ammo required for those late night “tech sessions” so when your buddy tells you the difference between the fabric smell on the early Corvair versus the last production run, you’ll be able to counter with this useful information on the differences between 71-73 Pinto and Mustang II spindles.

Dear Welder Series… parallel vs. triangulated four link

Dear Welder Series…
I have a 1951 Chevrolet truck 1/2 ton putting a 2002 Chevy S10 4×4 Blazer 8.5 ring gear rear w/disc brakes in. I want to use the 4 link system, which one of yours will work easiest and best?

Thank you!

Dear Don…
Don, the decision regarding a parallel or a triangulated rear 4-link (both shown below) is somewhat philosophical. Here is my explanation:

Both kits do a good job of locating the rear end, holding it in place, and letting the suspension work.

The triangulated kit costs less than the parallel kit because a Panhard bar is not required.

The parallel kit does require a Panhard kit (about $100.00). The parallel kit is easier to adjust for squaring the rear axle to the frame center line, and centering the frame left-to-right.

The Panhard bar does move the frame left-to-right as the frame goes up and down, but if a straight Panhard bar is installed level, this amount is insignificant (about 1/8″ with a 19″ bar) for normal suspension travel.

 

I hope this helps you decide. Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton