Bent front suspension lower spindle bolt?

[Irv]

This is what my A arm looked like.It was rubbing on the spring as well.The bottom holes did not line up at all.The top A arm was bent as well,I replaced both A arms on that side just to get the bolts to go through.I would be nice to find someway to straiten out the bent A arms.

Heat exchange, I looked into my lower a-arm and I do believe it is bent like yours, maybe not as bad but another bolt will not pass through, it slightly hits the outer edge of the the passage on the other side.

At this point I don't know if I can fix it, and which, if not both ends are out of spec?
What is a new lower a-arm worth?

I am also curious on my spindle, any tips/suggestions on how to check it for trueness?
Sure hope it is just the lower a-arm, bolt and collar that need replacing and nothing else

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the info (wish this site had a multi-quote feature)

 

[APEX 06]

Been seeing A-arms going for about 100-150 bucks. I would look for a spindle too. Leno would have them for a good price.

 

[Irv]

Been seeing A-arms going for about 100-150 bucks. I would look for a spindle too. Leno would have them for a good price.

I assume your thinking my spindle is bent/tweeked based on the looks of my bolt?

The spindle seems rather beefy but are they prone to bending as well?


I was totally not expecting this, figured I would add the Ulmer's bushing kit and be finished with the front end (already did the OFT steering bushings)

Ticked off

 

[APEX 06]

Think the holes would be egg shaped. With the bolt being that bad.

 

[Irv]

Think the holes would be egg shaped. With the bolt being that bad.

Actually, I don't believe they are as the factory bushings were still in place and they weren't worn through yet, just the one broken in the pic I posted.

Ulmer's Bushings also went in fairly easy, just like all the others, so hopefully that is a good sign that my spindle might be in ok shape?

 

[APEX 06]

That's good to hear, you should be able to bend your arm back. If you can get your hands on one that is good, you could make a template out of the good one. Or just buy one. Lol

 

[Irv]

That's good to hear, you should be able to bend your arm back. If you can get your hands on one that is good, you could make a template out of the good one. Or just buy one. Lol

Thinking about using the one from the other side to determine which part(s) are bent?

Not sure on the spindle yet, visually it still looks ok but won't really know until I have it checked out.

 

[Irv]

That's good to hear, you should be able to bend your arm back. If you can get your hands on one that is good, you could make a template out of the good one. Or just buy one. Lol

Thinking about using the one from the other side to determine which part(s) are bent?

Not sure on the spindle yet, visually it still looks ok but won't really know until I have it checked out.

Had a real good look last night after purchasing a new bolt and collar and things don't look to bad?

I pre-assembled the spindle to the a-arms and only the bottom large bolt will not pass completely through, it hits the other a-arm end.
(It would probably pass through with some gentle persuasion but I don't want to fix it that way)

Checking things over carefully, it looks like the left bolt recess is slightly tweeked back and down a touch?
I am going to bring them into work (if I can get away with it?) and have it heated and bent back so the bolt passes through like it is suppose to.

The wear mark on the top a-arm has me a bit concerned though, it isn't very deep but I don't know how thick those arms are to begin with?
May try to fill it with some new aluminum welding or just replace it?
Thoughts?

 

[Irv]

I had Monte1214 pick me up some new a-arms state side today as the re-shaping thing didn't go so well.

I prematurely installed the Ulmer's bushing in both upper and lower a-arms before I realized they were bent

The Ulmer's were tight to get in there so my guess is they will be nearly impossible to get out?

My new a-arms came with the factory grease nipples so in your opinion do you think the factory bushings will last a lot longer providing I grease them on a regular basis or would you go ahead and order new bushings from Ulmer?

All bulkhead bushings are currently installed with Ulmers so the only ones that will be missing are the ones on my new a-arms.

Thoughts?

 

[yamaha convert]

Wore out spindles

I went through this on both my sleds when installing the Ulmer bushings.
I had one spindle on each sled that needed replacing and one upper A arm.

Our parts shop could see $$ signs every time I called.

My spindles (one from each sled) had elongated lower and upper A arm bushing holes. The upper A arm on one of the sleds was bent at the spindle end and the bolt wouldnt go back through even though it was all together and drove well. Off course the bolt was difficult to remove. On the other sled although the bushing bore on the spindle for one of the A arms was elongated, the corresponding arm was fine. I replaced the bolts and my guage for whether they were straight or not was the good A arms. If the bolt went into the A arms freely and turned without binding it was good to go.

Sucks when you buy something in good faith and you find all this out later.

 

[APEX 06]

If the arms are junk cut the bushings back out.

 

[Irv]

If the arms are junk cut the bushings back out.

Was thinking that as well or using some heat to see what happens?

With the bushings going in almost to the point where the vertical part of the arm is welded might be a challenge cutting them out of there?

Would you just cut the ends off then carefully try and cut the part away from the bushing using something like a Dremmel tool? Not sure how to go about this without screwing the bushings up?

Thanks 06

 

[yamaha convert]

Bushing removal

I removed my Ulmer bushings by using the the bulk head bolts. The step on the end of the bulk head bolt will catch the corner of the Ulmer bushing as you are pushing it through. As you push the bulk head bolt through to the bush you want to remove. tilt the bulk head bolt over to one side as much as you can and push it through. Alternate from one side of the bush to the other when tilting the bolt. It takes a few taps but they will come out.

 

[Irv]

Re: Bushing removal

I removed my Ulmer bushings by using the the bulk head bolts. The step on the end of the bulk head bolt will catch the corner of the Ulmer bushing as you are pushing it through. As you push the bulk head bolt through to the bush you want to remove. tilt the bulk head bolt over to one side as much as you can and push it through. Alternate from one side of the bush to the other when tilting the bolt. It takes a few taps but they will come out.

Great tip Convert, thanks

I did something similar when I was removing the stock plastic bushings.
I used a long ratchet extension and moved it around while tapping them out, not that I cared if I screwed them up but it worked pretty good.

I will try your idea and hopefully it works, some of them took a fair bit of hammering with a piece of wood to get them in there!

 

[Irv]

Re: Bushing removal

I removed my Ulmer bushings by using the the bulk head bolts. The step on the end of the bulk head bolt will catch the corner of the Ulmer bushing as you are pushing it through. As you push the bulk head bolt through to the bush you want to remove. tilt the bulk head bolt over to one side as much as you can and push it through. Alternate from one side of the bush to the other when tilting the bolt. It takes a few taps but they will come out.

Great tip Convert, thanks

I will try your idea and hopefully it works, some of them took a fair bit of hammering with a piece of wood to get them in there!

Why is it that there is always "1" that gives you a hard time?

The first 3 I did came out fairly easy but the last one was a @#$%&!
I used some heat, penetrating oil and finally a larger extension that I had to hammer in there so it would cover all corners before it came out.

The bushing has some nicks etc in it but nothing a file can't cure imo, but what a nightmare that last one was.
I am just glad I didn't start with that cause I more than likely would have given up and the other 3 thinking they were all going to be the same.

Finally I can start putting this thing back together again.
Thanks for all your help