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Hey all!
I rebuilt my trailing arms and put in new bushings from Moog. The problem is, that the inner sleeve diameter is too big, so there is verry much play between bolt and sleeve. Sleeve diameter is about 11,8mm and the bolt has 11mm. That is near 1 mm difference/play. So I don´t want to install the trailing arms with that play.
So what´s wrong here?
Hi!
Right now I don´t have a pic from the other side, but it looks similar. I don´t want to rebuild everything so everything is tight as possible for a good handling and then intall the trailingarm with that much play. Any idea?
Thought for you, And please note I am resisting metric, the distance from a Old Brit King's nose to his thumb was good enough for me.
However, 0.8mm would equal .031 inches, which might be a 1/32" which might well be ok. I am thinking this is not supposed to be a machined surface and the trailing arm movement is supposed to act on the rubber bushing and with the shims I think the inner is supposed to be stationary. And you might check the tech rep of whoever you bought it from (sorry you said Moog), Corvette Central or Volunteer Vette rep could comment.
Good luck with your TA install too! Doing that job now for the second time thankfully another C3 though, ha!
Last edited by 20mercury; Feb 6, 2021 at 02:32 PM.
As long as the inner bush is swaged correctly on both sides I wouldn't be too concerned as long as the shims are then fitted correctly and the bolt is tightened to the correct torque. The inner shims set the toe, the outers take up the gap and the final outer shim should be a tight fit ie you should have to tap it into place with a hammer at least that is how I did mine from reading elsewhere on the forum.
Echoing the other posters. Assuming you properly install the shims and torque the bolt to spec, you will be fine. These are mass produced vehicles, not hand assembled, so tolerances are a bit on the loose side.
Rebuilding my trailing arms on my 68 project right now. I always check for clearance of the TA pivot bolt inside the TA front bushing just in case I over crunched sleeve ID when pressing all of the bushing parts together. And I must say, while I did not mike id and bolt od today, I appear to have the same similar clearance as you mentioned. These TA front bushing are from Corvette America or Top Flight ect now, so I believe these parts are reputable and acceptable.
Hope this might help.
And a laugh for you; the RH TA front bushing was frozen so I thought I could quickly cut it out by hand (just a little bolt huh?) instead of rigging up the electric tool and not be sure of where I was cutting anyway and soooo, a few hours later finally got it out. Probably a better way, ha!
Last edited by 20mercury; Feb 11, 2021 at 09:44 PM.
When you have the car sitting on it's feet, the slop is forced to one side of the bolt / sleeve gap. When the bolt is installed and torqued, the bushing doesn't move in the frame pocket.
As for torqing the nuts, I just use my calibrated fingers.
Good luck, YMMV
Jeff
PS, looking at your sleeve pic, it looks like the sleeve needs to be flattened some and levelled with a file to provide the seating surface for the shims.
When you have the car sitting on it's feet, the slop is forced to one side of the bolt / sleeve gap. When the bolt is installed and torqued, the bushing doesn't move in the frame pocket.
As for torqing the nuts, I just use my calibrated fingers.
Good luck, YMMV
Jeff
PS, looking at your sleeve pic, it looks like the sleeve needs to be flattened some and levelled with a file to provide the seating surface for the shims.
I agree, methinks the manufacturer swaged end is slightly over-swaged leaving barely enough material to swage the opposite end. This in turn means the shim/s on the factory swaged end will be bearing on this rather than the washer, is this deliberate or just another example of non factory parts?
If you look close, you can see the bevel on the inside diameter of the retainer plate (washer). When the retainer (sleeve) is swaged over flush to the bevel, then the excess is filed/ ground flat for the shims to seat against, locking the sleeve (retainer) in place when the pivot bolt is torqued.
That way, the trailing arm can pivot/ swing in a controlled arc. Basically.
If both sides are flared like your pic, just file the sleeve flush with the washer and you are good to go.
The trailing arm is held in position by the clamping force of the torqued fastener.
It squeezes the shims and centre sleeve of the bushing, holds everything in place.
You have to be careful not to over compress the bushings. I think there is a width dimension, but I can't say.
I used Energy Suspension poly bushings, so I didn't have to worry about it.
I have been using 2-7/32" after filing flush with rubber bushings
Originally Posted by jeffwebley
Günther,
Here is the pic from Motorbooks service manual.
If you look close, you can see the bevel on the inside diameter of the retainer plate (washer). When the retainer (sleeve) is swaged over flush to the bevel, then the excess is filed/ ground flat for the shims to seat against, locking the sleeve (retainer) in place when the pivot bolt is torqued.
That way, the trailing arm can pivot/ swing in a controlled arc. Basically.
If both sides are flared like your pic, just file the sleeve flush with the washer and you are good to go.
The trailing arm is held in position by the clamping force of the torqued fastener.
It squeezes the shims and centre sleeve of the bushing, holds everything in place.
You have to be careful not to over compress the bushings. I think there is a width dimension, but I can't say.
I used Energy Suspension poly bushings, so I didn't have to worry about it.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
Not sure where I got this number, I think I measured one before I took it apart. I have been using 2-7/32" after filing flush for rubber bushings. Hope this might help. And if it is within .010+/- that is good enough with me.
BTW, what Motorsbook is this from? Looks like a good resource.
Last edited by 20mercury; Feb 15, 2021 at 09:10 PM.
Trailing arm sleeve diameter is too big
