rayra
Expedition Leader
I was thinking to install the front CV half-axles today, as a time management thing, even though my upper control arms aren't here yet. And yesterday's forecast was for partly cloudy all day. But just as I was gearing up mid-morning the radio blurted 'possible rain / snow in the region today, snow possible down to 1500'. Our elevation is ~1200'. So not the conditions I'd want to be on the ground wrenching in.
So I screwed off and went shopping for rubber material to use as shims for the frame crossmember mounts for the torsion bars. Home Depot and Lowes, no joy. McMaster-Carr online material supply, ludicrously overpriced for a square foot of material. Then I thought of Tractor Supply, had once been looking at their 4'x6' horse stall rubber mats for another project, 'nice material'. Reinforced heavy rubber sheet material, meant to stand up to iron-shod horse feets. Just the thing to wedge between two shifting pieces of steel. But que lastima, no tengo aqui. But they did have some smaller thinner mats along the same line. 3'x4'. While I was wandering the store on the way to get a price for that unmarked pallet of stuff, I also found some reinforced rubber belting used for farm machinery (hay bailer / roller). I think it too is just the sort of thing. It's a little too thin and I think thin enough to double layer. The bigger mat would have to be shaved down on the table saw or band saw to a proper thickness.
My intent is to cut the material into a pickle-fork / 'U' shape. The crossmember is a stamped steel, inverted 'U' channel, its end ears overlapping the steel and rubber donut mount projecting inward from the side rails of the vehicle frame. A large bolt passes thru each end of the crossmember, thru the sleeved rubber donut mount.
This crossmember houses the torsion keys / ends of the torsion mounts. Fore-aft movement in the front control arms is transferred via the torsion bars to this crossmember. Its mounts are supposed to cushion and absorb some of these forces. The mount rubber ages and fails, allowing the crossmember to shift fore-aft more than intended. Resulting in some of the knocking I'm hearing / feeling, as the crossmember metal contacts the metal collar of the frame mount.
I intend to fashion some U-shaped shims out of this reinforced rubber material and wedge them into the gaps between the frame mounts and crossmember.
The ends of the crossmember are open, there's a gap above the mounts where a shim could be slid down into place. Make the shim long enough and it gets fully between crossmember and mount ring and it also sticks out that top gap, which will keep the shim from rotating and falling out. OR just cut the material large enough to fill the area of contact and put a hole thru the middle and just bolt it in place. My intent is to dismount the torsion bars and keys, anyway and fully drop the crossmember to assess the issue. So once fully apart it's just as "easy" to craft the shims like washers. Then they CAN'T fall out.
But this rubber belt material is 3/16" thick. My total gap space is ~5/8". No workee. I MIGHT be able to cram the crossmember onto a double layer on both sides. MAYBE. Or I might have to somehow shave down two shims so each side is 1 & 2/3 thicknesses. OR put two layers on the forward side, where the compression issue is and 1 layer on the back side. The ends of the torsion bars are essentially free floating. The fore-aft positioning of the crossmember has some leeway. 2 on the front side, 1 on the back - and if they are done washer-style, they can't fall out, so they don't have to fit tight.
I'm also looking into how bad of an idea it might be to grease the trailing end of the torsion bar, where it fits in the torsion adjustment key. Then when the front end is bashing about, that rear end of the torsion bar isn't hanging up and driving the crossmember rearward. Something tells me it isn't a good idea to lube the torsion bar. Don't really know what keeps it from working its way out of place just as it sits, anyway. Only the friction of the torsion-twist of the bar, I suppose. As it is right now, rust and grit are holding my crossmember rearward out of its centered fore-aft place, anyway.
I vaguely recall wiping the torsion bar ends with lithium grease when I changed my torsion keys, a few years ago. Or maybe I'm just remember the intent and not the act. Get a lot of that as you age, a bad case of CRS. Can't Remember ********.
Various pics of material sourcing efforts and of the type of reinforced rubber material I've been talking about using.
So I screwed off and went shopping for rubber material to use as shims for the frame crossmember mounts for the torsion bars. Home Depot and Lowes, no joy. McMaster-Carr online material supply, ludicrously overpriced for a square foot of material. Then I thought of Tractor Supply, had once been looking at their 4'x6' horse stall rubber mats for another project, 'nice material'. Reinforced heavy rubber sheet material, meant to stand up to iron-shod horse feets. Just the thing to wedge between two shifting pieces of steel. But que lastima, no tengo aqui. But they did have some smaller thinner mats along the same line. 3'x4'. While I was wandering the store on the way to get a price for that unmarked pallet of stuff, I also found some reinforced rubber belting used for farm machinery (hay bailer / roller). I think it too is just the sort of thing. It's a little too thin and I think thin enough to double layer. The bigger mat would have to be shaved down on the table saw or band saw to a proper thickness.
My intent is to cut the material into a pickle-fork / 'U' shape. The crossmember is a stamped steel, inverted 'U' channel, its end ears overlapping the steel and rubber donut mount projecting inward from the side rails of the vehicle frame. A large bolt passes thru each end of the crossmember, thru the sleeved rubber donut mount.
This crossmember houses the torsion keys / ends of the torsion mounts. Fore-aft movement in the front control arms is transferred via the torsion bars to this crossmember. Its mounts are supposed to cushion and absorb some of these forces. The mount rubber ages and fails, allowing the crossmember to shift fore-aft more than intended. Resulting in some of the knocking I'm hearing / feeling, as the crossmember metal contacts the metal collar of the frame mount.
I intend to fashion some U-shaped shims out of this reinforced rubber material and wedge them into the gaps between the frame mounts and crossmember.
The ends of the crossmember are open, there's a gap above the mounts where a shim could be slid down into place. Make the shim long enough and it gets fully between crossmember and mount ring and it also sticks out that top gap, which will keep the shim from rotating and falling out. OR just cut the material large enough to fill the area of contact and put a hole thru the middle and just bolt it in place. My intent is to dismount the torsion bars and keys, anyway and fully drop the crossmember to assess the issue. So once fully apart it's just as "easy" to craft the shims like washers. Then they CAN'T fall out.
But this rubber belt material is 3/16" thick. My total gap space is ~5/8". No workee. I MIGHT be able to cram the crossmember onto a double layer on both sides. MAYBE. Or I might have to somehow shave down two shims so each side is 1 & 2/3 thicknesses. OR put two layers on the forward side, where the compression issue is and 1 layer on the back side. The ends of the torsion bars are essentially free floating. The fore-aft positioning of the crossmember has some leeway. 2 on the front side, 1 on the back - and if they are done washer-style, they can't fall out, so they don't have to fit tight.
I'm also looking into how bad of an idea it might be to grease the trailing end of the torsion bar, where it fits in the torsion adjustment key. Then when the front end is bashing about, that rear end of the torsion bar isn't hanging up and driving the crossmember rearward. Something tells me it isn't a good idea to lube the torsion bar. Don't really know what keeps it from working its way out of place just as it sits, anyway. Only the friction of the torsion-twist of the bar, I suppose. As it is right now, rust and grit are holding my crossmember rearward out of its centered fore-aft place, anyway.
I vaguely recall wiping the torsion bar ends with lithium grease when I changed my torsion keys, a few years ago. Or maybe I'm just remember the intent and not the act. Get a lot of that as you age, a bad case of CRS. Can't Remember ********.
Various pics of material sourcing efforts and of the type of reinforced rubber material I've been talking about using.
