[TR] Fwd: Front suspension

[Jack W. Drews]

>I am forwarding a message that appeared on a TR6 list. I twas 
>written by Mike Denman and I'm forwarding it with his permission. It 
>has a couple of good ideas in it that can be used for other things 
>on most Triumphs.
>
>Hi group,
>     I have a couple of items to contribute to the list (at last). The front
>suspension of my wife's TR3 was completely worn out with every single
>component showing signs of severe wear and poor maintenance by the previous
>owners.
>     The first problem was the front left lower suspension fulcrum. 
> Both of the
>bushings were rusted onto the fulcrum and the threaded portion of one end of
>the fulcrum was broken off. One of the previously owners had managed to drill
>and tap the broken end of the fulcrum to accept a smaller bolt with a large
>washer. Clever and it must have been hard to do but not the safest idea in the
>world. The hole was also drilled quite a bit off center. So, the question I
>posed to the list a couple of weeks ago was "how hard is it to replace the
>lower fulcrum (which is welded into place) with the body on the car?". I
>didn't get an answer from the list but I can now say that it can be done but
>it certainly isn't a picnic. I spend an entire morning making some temporary
>brackets that were bolted to the frame that would allow me to position the new
>fulcrum in exactly the same place as the old one. Of course, if the old
>fulcrum has been pushed out of its original position by an accident etc. then
>the new fulcrum will also be in the "wrong position" by the same amount using
>this approach. However, the brackets proved to be invaluable. The original
>factory holes through which the fulcrum passes are oversize (probably to allow
>adjustment by the factory welders to compensate for dimensional tolerances in
>the frame). So the original holes do not aid in the final positioning of the
>fulcrum. Both brackets (one on each end of the fulcrum) must be cut away to
>get the fulcrum into place. The brackets are fairly simple so I made new ones
>instead of trying to save the old ones by grinding away all the welds etc. The
>whole process took me almost three days but the new fulcrum is now in place
>and all the suspension components on that side seem to line up correctly. The
>final verdict will come, of course, when I have the front end aligned.
>     The second "solution" involves the age old problem of rusted on bushings.
>I spent 4 hours getting one rusted-on bushing off the bad lower fulcrum. This
>was, of course, before I decided to replace the entire fulcrum. Over the years
>I have tried all types of "solutions" for this problem of rusted-on bushings
>and none of them have worked very well. Today I thought of a new solution.
>First I tried out the new solution on the bad fulcrum that I had removed from
>the car to see if it would work. I certainly didn't want to make things worse
>and the new solution sounds fairly drastic at first. Using my new method I had
>the rusted-on bushing off in less that five minutes and I didn't even get
>dirty! So what is the magic solution you ask? Well, I would still spray the
>rusty bushing with WD-40 or PB blaster or your favorite penetrating oil
>solution and leave it over night. Then take an appropriately sized nut (in my
>case a 3/4" inch nut drilled out to 19/32") and drill it out to fit over the
>bushing. Tack weld the nut to the bushing in 4 places. Don't go crazy with the
>welder. It doesn't require a lot of weld and you don't want the weld to
>penetrate deep enough to hit the fulcrum shaft. You also need to keep the
>flats of the nut clear of weld. Once the nut is welded to the bushing take an
>impact wrench and socket and remove the bushing. I was able to get my bushing
>off easily with the lowest setting on the impact wrench. It doesn't take much
>to break the bushing loose. I think the "big secret" is the impact wrench. The
>impact wrench is what makes the difference. I hit upon the idea after reading
>an article in the Triumph archives about using a pipe wrench and a lot of heat
>to remove the rusted on bushing. The pipe wrench idea got me thinking about
>how to apply rotational force to the bushing. Then I thought about how hard it
>is to get a generator pulley nut or alternator pulley nut off with a wrench
>and how easy the nuts come off with an impact wrench. This solution really
>works. Of course, you need enough room to get to the rusted on bushing with an
>impact wrench but it is worth a little extra effort to move things out of the
>way to allow the use of an impact wrench. Comments?
>Mike Denman
>_______________________________________________
>vinttr4 at geneseo.net
>
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uncle jack 



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