fixing rear spring perches

krzewinskibe

krzewinskibe

Member
Working on my 29 Tudor. Rear shock balls were extremely worn so I cut them off, drilled a 9/16" hole and TIG welded in new straight shank balls. There is also some wear in the spring bushing holes. Not broken - but significant wear at the edges. Plan to fix this (either by heating perch and forging to a 3/4" round bar or filling in best I can with weld). Once done I will need to ream out for new bushings. what size should it be reamed to? They are nominally 3/4" should I ream to exactly 0.750"?

Thanks!
 
I repaired mine by just inserting a rounded copper piece of metal in the bushing holes and welding up the worn areas. I used a carbide burr cutter to dress down the welds and the housing looked good. If there is plenty of steel left in the middle, which most axle housing have, welding the worn areas work just fine. If fact I welded up the shock balls and dressed them down and they turned out fine. It takes a little effort, but work good.
Rusty
 
yeah...I use the copper trick on filling holes in sheetmetal...

still what size should I use to final ream it prior to installing bushing?
 
Well you dont want the bushing to move in the perch so press fit id imagine. Or just weld the bushing to the perch and keep it lubed like the owners manual says and wont have to replace it in your lifetime or your kids lifetime if it stays greasy.
 
Ended up using the copper pipe trick...5/8" pipe would've been perfect since its listed at 3/4" actual OD...but hard to find. I just cut a relief in some 1/2" pipe and stretched it to ~3/4". then used my TIG to shove in some filler rod on one side of the perch. I only did 1/2 of the perch then ran a 3/4" drill bit from the other side to clean up the welded area. After drilling I did the other side of the perch. New bushings fit nice and tight.
 
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