swingarm bushings?

[x-bird]

Think i found my "noise" ... I was running 3/8ths bolts through the swingarm (spiderbox) bushings. That and the fact that the right side one is pretty torn up inside was probably where the clang and bang was coming from.

Anyone know where to find new bushings, (BMI doesn't have any on their site or e-bay that i could find) and more importantly has anyone replaced theirs?

Something tells me an impact socket and BFH session is coming my way ...

[metalstudman1]

This thread from 2 yrs. ago shows what the stock bushings & carrier brackets look like after a few yrs. of abuse!!! http://www.buggymasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1107
Since I had sooo many karts here I just robbed a set and made a new swingarm then. We put some serious wear on them as they were used too. The ones I have now on the Yerf are solid steel-1-1/2" round with 1/2" hole in the middle, and they're holding up VERY well.

[x-bird]

My swingarm was used (PO never did anything with it and got it from BMI as a used one) when i got it and the bushings looked marginal. i could see some dry-rot type stress tears in the rubber even then. Any idea of the exact ID of the swingarm mount? If it's a "standard" number, i'm thinking bronze bushings with a bronze sleeve in those. On the frame side of things, i already have "new" mounts made from the 1/4-wall 2" square tubing. The holes in those have held up fine.

[SYCARMS]

I couldn't find bushings for my Joyner. Went to Fastnal and picked up some nylon bushing stock and made my own.

[kliff]

Made mine out of bronze, for the yerfie.

[stl_kel]

Im looking for the same exact bushings

[kliff]

Fabrication, as the yerfs get older, parts are gonna get harder to find, gonna start needing to learn the finer aspects of DIY, in more ways than just bolt new parts on, time to learn to start making parts.
A BIG Fastenol Catalog, McMaster-Carr Catalog, Grainger catalog, and a Surplus center catalog will be your freinds. You can access all these web sites, but sometimes I just like to have a paper catalog in front of me, old fashioned I guess.

[SYCARMS]

The large calalogs you speak of I always get in print version over the digital since I can look up supplies much quicker then on the digital version on the computer. There easier on the eye's and can still reference in a power outage. Most of the bushings I make for my buggies I use the self lube nylon for ease of machining and since they are self lubricating. They work best on the lighter buggies. Heavier vehicles I like the bronze better. Your right for as the yerfs get older some parts you will either have to make or have made.

[roysheepdog]

Do a heim mod.

[stl_kel]

Thats a good idea..I think Ill just replace the bushings with heim joints.

[T3beatz]

I would go with 5/8" to 3/4" ones. either one should be strong enough for the swing arm, Just depends on how beefy you want it to be.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-x-5-8-18...84d922&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panhard-Bar-...ht_3370wt_1397

if you go with 3/4" you may want to get the reducer to 1/2"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-1-2-REDU...ht_2371wt_1397

Your gonna need to either rebuild the old mounts or just use spacers to keep the heims centered. Your gonna have to cut the old bushing mounts off the swingarm, and get the correct ID tubing to weld the bung to.

@Kel, I would do the front end first, get the heims up there... and just go the least expensive route on the swing arm for now... then move to that later.

[x-bird]

Originally Posted by kliff

Fabrication, as the yerfs get older, parts are gonna get harder to find, gonna start needing to learn the finer aspects of DIY, in more ways than just bolt new parts on, time to learn to start making parts.
A BIG Fastenol Catalog, McMaster-Carr Catalog, Grainger catalog, and a Surplus center catalog will be your freinds. You can access all these web sites, but sometimes I just like to have a paper catalog in front of me, old fashioned I guess.

i've got my grime covered stack of 4 inch thick catalogs---couldn't keep my business running without them! you'd be amazed at what you have to fabricate and modify to keep a mini golf and driving range functioning. same held true back when my family owned 2 bowling alleys in the 70s and 80s. back then i was the rod, spring, belt, pulley, collar and heim joint king. those machines are nothing but masses of linkages.

going to heim's sounds like a good idea. without knowing the exact OD of the stock bushings, i don't want to punch them out to find that i have some goofy metric size that i can't get bushing stock for without going to a machine shop.

right now the mount points on the frame are 2x2 1/4 wall tube with the top and bottom sides cut out for the swingarm to pivot in. Just have to find some strong round stock to insert the heim's bungs in that will also slide inside the swingarm's box tube with a tight enough fit to plug weld.

[roysheepdog]

You could get some flat bar cut it to fit the tube drill the hole and weld the bung on both sides of the flat bar then weld that to the tube.With the tubs being 2x2 (if you trust your welds) the flat bar wont bend if you get it thick enough.

[T3beatz]

What were the rubber bushings back there for in the first place? to absorb some of the force I suppose? Wouldn't a heim joint setup have been more simple in the first place?

[roysheepdog]

The rubber takes out some of the shock of bumps,and heims are more $$$.But the 3/4 heims will last longer and take 10 mins to fix next time one goes bad.
Post pics when you do the mod I would like to see how it turns out.I think this will be a good mod that a lot of people can do easily.

[x-bird]

it's not the 2x2 side that's the issue but the stock spiderbox structure where the bushign is. i guess i could chop off the bushing tube and weld a piece of my 2x2 sideways in its spot with it drilled through and a bung welded in. got no worries about my welds holding up ....

[metalstudman1]

A 3/4 Heim bung would probably the right size to fit right in the end of the swingarm tube when the bushing is cut off-
I thought about a Heim for the wife's Yerf and went with the solid round steel bushing because it won't wear a ring in the side of the carrier like the one I replaced (the pic I posted), having some rubber cushion at that connection hasn't really made a difference in my opinion, but it's only been on there less than 2 years.

[T3beatz]

I was thinkin the same thing as you x-bird or, you can get a 1-1/4" hole saw, cut off the part where the bushing is mounted, drill strait in with the hole saw about 1.5" deep, weld a piece of 1-1/4"-120 tubing in that's about 1.5" long, and then weld a 3/4" bung in place.

Like MSM said, the 3/4" bung might fit into the end but it's got to be 1" ID.

[kliff]

Necesssity is the Mother of invention...also fabrication, go fer it guys!

[ckau]

I'm also on the prowl for some swingarm bushings or an alternative. I like the heim idea. Easy enough to fab up, cheap, strong enough and the ability to align the rear to get the wheel base square but... I'm also concerned about the insulating propertys of the rubber bushing! Will the heims transmit engine vibration? Will the rear suspension feel harsh without the rubber cushion?

[T3beatz]

My bros fix was he went to the local handyman hardware and found some rubber that was pretty much the same OD as the stock rubber bushings... it was solid so he had to drill a hole in the middle for the metal bushing to go in. Well, for now it works and it should hold up for a while until he decides to do the heims on the swingarm.

I don't think heims will transmit anymore vibes than the rubber did personally, but the only way to find out is to do the mod.

[SYCARMS]

I used the self lubricating nylon bar from fastnal. I made the shock bushings and a-arm bushings for my joyner as well as the wish bone bushings on the blade 150 single. Joyner was recently done but the blade was done 3 years ago and are holding up well.

[T3beatz]

Originally Posted by SYCARMS

I used the self lubricating nylon bar from fastnal. I made the shock bushings and a-arm bushings for my joyner as well as the wish bone bushings on the blade 150 single. Joyner was recently done but the blade was done 3 years ago and are holding up well.

got a link to the part you used Tom?

[SYCARMS]

Just go to fastenal.com. they have it in several diameters and comes 3' lengths. enco.com also carries it. Comes in black or white but the white has more lubricating properties then the black. Most of the buggies and some atv's use this material for their bushings. You naturally have to make your own bushing out of the material.

[x-bird]

Originally Posted by ckau

I'm also on the prowl for some swingarm bushings or an alternative. I like the heim idea. Easy enough to fab up, cheap, strong enough and the ability to align the rear to get the wheel base square but... I'm also concerned about the insulating propertys of the rubber bushing! Will the heims transmit engine vibration? Will the rear suspension feel harsh without the rubber cushion?

NVH I'd say that the stock bushings do offer some absorption of vibration/harshness, the engine is rubber bushed so that soaks up most of it from that source. IMHO, it's better to pick up a bit of the harshness associated with solid bushings at the pivots and eliminate the steering deflection that comes with the rubber bushings. Just have to keep a closer watch on the swingarm tubing junctions and mount welds--they will take more of a beating. overall i don't think you'd fell much of a difference at all, it may improve because of the precision of a heim ball and socket.

For want of something that i could find to fit locally, my rear shocks are running white nylon bushings--i welded the new shock mounts in at the stock width only to find it was much narrower than a fox shock bushing. didn't seem to affect things much until the bushings got bad--i can feel the rear alignment drift around at speed in a straight line and the banging over even moderate bumps is pretty nasty.

since i lack a lathe and a drill press, i don't want to attempt to make my own, i know what they'll end up looking like ... enco has pre-drilled 1" OD bronze stock for a reasonable price--i also need some of it for my a-arms and spindles. they're only bushed at the ends of the tubes.

[SYCARMS]

Weather you go with bronze or nylon chances you are going to have to do a little machinning.You may have a predrilled piece of bronze and may find the correct outside diameter for one bushing but another may require cutting down the od. In my case I havent found any of the round stock weather nylon, or bronz which fit perfectly.