Ears on wheel bearing support
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: Burnaby BC
Ears on wheel bearing support
Looking at the 4 ears on my wheel bearing support I notice that each one is a different width.
I went to my local corvette shop and they showed me a box of trailing arms and every one was different in the box.
Some were real nasty!
They said that they were all over the map with specs then and that over the years after people cut the shock mounts out the ears get smaller and smaller.
I would like to know how small they can go before they are dangerous.
All mine are better than what I saw in their parts box, but one ear has a nick or cut into it.
Since using a tig on cast is not fun I filled the cut with with some JB weld last night.
Any thoughts?
I went to my local corvette shop and they showed me a box of trailing arms and every one was different in the box.
Some were real nasty!
They said that they were all over the map with specs then and that over the years after people cut the shock mounts out the ears get smaller and smaller.
I would like to know how small they can go before they are dangerous.
All mine are better than what I saw in their parts box, but one ear has a nick or cut into it.
Since using a tig on cast is not fun I filled the cut with with some JB weld last night.
Any thoughts?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
Sounds a little fishy to me. The only time you would have to cut out a shock mount would be to replace the strut rod, or repair accident damage, and how many times does that happen on an individual car? There may have been variations in castings over the years that would account for the different thicknesses but I doubt it was due to torching or cutting.
Rick B.
Rick B.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: Burnaby BC
Sounds a little fishy to me. The only time you would have to cut out a shock mount would be to replace the strut rod, or repair accident damage, and how many times does that happen on an individual car? There may have been variations in castings over the years that would account for the different thicknesses but I doubt it was due to torching or cutting.
Rick B.
Rick B.
I had to cut one half of one of my strut mounts off as it was one with the ear.
Even after that I had to drill it out, but all this only took 2 hours as compared with beating it for days.
Corvette Specialties my local shop had at least 6 trailing arms where the shock bolt was not worth pulling out to send in the core.
We all know how hard it is to get the shock mounts out.
We had my car up on the hoist before I bought it and it is straight and clean , no records of any accidents or signs and it is stripped down to the fiberglass now to paint and it is clean.
I think in cutting out the strut someone before nicked the ear.
Easy mistake when the sparks are flying.
Anyways my JB weld looks killer and when I contacted JB weld they said it would easily match the strength if I built it up a bit.
Now I am smoothing it out and painting and it looks better than new.
Also I was pm'd by someone who said that there is not much force on the ears and the shock mount would make it all strong.
Anyways, thanks for the response.
Last edited by tristan69; Apr 16, 2008 at 10:54 AM.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 15
From: Calgary Alberta
I ruined one of the ears on my bearing support trying to cut out an old shock mount...
. I didn't want to risk reusing it, so I replaced it for 75 bucks
Anyways, here's a job I just did a week or two ago - I used a welder to fix it
When I was originally reassembling my trailing arms, I didn't think this bearing support ear was going to be an issue. It looks like the strut bushing shell dug into the ear over the past 30 years. I called Mike Dyer and asked him whether it is an issue, and he said I should fix it. I welded the groove in with my mig welder, then I ground it smooth and flush with the rest of the ear. I had the dumbest idea that the current running through the bearing support would seize up the bearings (yeah, I know, I'm an idiot for thinking that). He said to place the MIG ground on the other ear of the support, and just tack it around slowly. Worked great, and its still nice and strong. He also said that these ears can flex alot because they are cast iron.
. I didn't want to risk reusing it, so I replaced it for 75 bucks Anyways, here's a job I just did a week or two ago - I used a welder to fix it When I was originally reassembling my trailing arms, I didn't think this bearing support ear was going to be an issue. It looks like the strut bushing shell dug into the ear over the past 30 years. I called Mike Dyer and asked him whether it is an issue, and he said I should fix it. I welded the groove in with my mig welder, then I ground it smooth and flush with the rest of the ear. I had the dumbest idea that the current running through the bearing support would seize up the bearings (yeah, I know, I'm an idiot for thinking that). He said to place the MIG ground on the other ear of the support, and just tack it around slowly. Worked great, and its still nice and strong. He also said that these ears can flex alot because they are cast iron.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: Burnaby BC
I ruined one of the ears on my bearing support trying to cut out an old shock mount... . I didn't want to risk reusing it, so I replaced it for 75 bucks Anyways, here's a job I just did a week or two ago - I used a welder to fix it
When I was originally reassembling my trailing arms, I didn't think this bearing support ear was going to be an issue. It looks like the strut bushing shell dug into the ear over the past 30 years. I called Mike Dyer and asked him whether it is an issue, and he said I should fix it. I welded the groove in with my mig welder, then I ground it smooth and flush with the rest of the ear. I had the dumbest idea that the current running through the bearing support would seize up the bearings (yeah, I know, I'm an idiot for thinking that). He said to place the MIG ground on the other ear of the support, and just tack it around slowly. Worked great, and its still nice and strong. He also said that these ears can flex alot because they are cast iron.
. I didn't want to risk reusing it, so I replaced it for 75 bucks Anyways, here's a job I just did a week or two ago - I used a welder to fix it When I was originally reassembling my trailing arms, I didn't think this bearing support ear was going to be an issue. It looks like the strut bushing shell dug into the ear over the past 30 years. I called Mike Dyer and asked him whether it is an issue, and he said I should fix it. I welded the groove in with my mig welder, then I ground it smooth and flush with the rest of the ear. I had the dumbest idea that the current running through the bearing support would seize up the bearings (yeah, I know, I'm an idiot for thinking that). He said to place the MIG ground on the other ear of the support, and just tack it around slowly. Worked great, and its still nice and strong. He also said that these ears can flex alot because they are cast iron.
All the best, looking forward to seeing your car done almost as much as seeing mine done.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 15
From: Calgary Alberta
I was wondering when you would chime in. I always heard that welding cast was a bitch, you did a great job. I did not try using my tig becuase of what I was told. My nick was really small and structurally I do not think there was an issue, I just did the JB weld mainly for cosmetic reasons....you know for when you are driving over someone and they might look up and yell" hey there is a nick in the ear for the strut bars!". Could happen. I did think of getting a new one, but did not want to have to press bearings etc.
All the best, looking forward to seeing your car done almost as much as seeing mine done.
All the best, looking forward to seeing your car done almost as much as seeing mine done.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 23,831
Likes: 10
From: Springfield MO
St. Jude Donor '07
I was wondering when you would chime in. I always heard that welding cast was a bitch, you did a great job. I did not try using my tig becuase of what I was told. My nick was really small and structurally I do not think there was an issue, I just did the JB weld mainly for cosmetic reasons....you know for when you are driving over someone and they might look up and yell" hey there is a nick in the ear for the strut bars!". Could happen. I did think of getting a new one, but did not want to have to press bearings etc.
All the best, looking forward to seeing your car done almost as much as seeing mine done.
All the best, looking forward to seeing your car done almost as much as seeing mine done.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 15
From: Calgary Alberta
I've heard that, too, but I've never had much trouble welding cast iron. One of my first welding jobs was a set of hard intake tubes for my old turbocharged Talon - I welded a cast iron blow-off valve flange to a steel tube with a stick welder. It was ugly, but it worked fine.
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