flaring rear ta bushing
 

not sure if this is acceptable or not.... i flared my rear t-arm bushing but on one side that outer retainer was not "catched" when flaring the sleeve...i squeezed both bushing together as much as possible ( on the inside of t-arm the both rubbers are pushed against eachother and within that inner and outer shell on each side, rubber was squeezed. to my idea it is not possible to squeeze them more .

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/2108/flare18ym.jpg

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/9872/flare25mj.jpg

on the other trailing are the flare did just catch the retainer enough to keep it stick.

my question is , although the bushing itself is flared can i live without the retainer being flared within and just include the retainer when assembling T-arm on frame ?

tia

art-corvette

I really can't speak to the safety aspect of leaving it as is, but one thing you should consider is the noise that will be made by that retainer not being snug. It'll rattle every time you hit any bump. That alone would make me start over and try to get it seated properly.

the noise i am not concerned about, when using poly bushings the retainer isn't snug either and beside that the retainer can't move at all cause it sits tight between the shims and bushing.

just wondering if that retainer being ""catched" within the flared part has any functionality/ safety reasons.

art-corvette

It needs to be flared much more and the bushing has to be compressed. Here's how I did mine:

http://www.corvetteforum.net/c3/zwed...ailingarm2.htm

And here's a pic how it ended up after flaring:

http://www.imagesup.com/usr/84/27bushing3.jpg

Like Zwede said. You need to compress the rubber and flare it more. I have a special tool for this but it is beyond most people. I wonder if there is a corvette shop in your area that would do it for you??? Don't use it like it is.

ok guys.. i am convinced i better redo it......although i have compresed it as hard as i could....made a kind of flaring tool and also tried a bench-vice......maybe it is now a good reason to change to the poly bushings, i already have a set but it was without the shells so i got a rubber set afterall.


thankz

art-corvette