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D60 Bronze Bushings w/ new knuckles - assembly issues

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the_white_shadow

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
Heres the situation: Trying to install new reid knuckles and reid bronze bushings in my chevy 60, but they are SUPER tight when i clamp on the high steer arms. (Using the 4wheelsupply springless steel arms). The disk that sits on top of the bushing and under the high steer arm is 3/16" thick. I put in the stock nylon bushing and it sits below the top face of the knuckle and the bronze bushing sits above that surface. Right now i have the high steer arm bolted up to where the knuckle can still be turned by hand, but still very tight. If i clamped it all the way down it took me to kick the knuckle to move it. Everything is greased up and in the correct orientation. Talked with Reid and they said their bushings are supposed to sit below the knuckle but I cant see a way for that to happen.

Ive read that the bronze bushings need to "bed in" to the kingpin. But I find it hard to believe that things are supposed to be that tight. Do i just clamp the arm down all the way and let things work loose? Then set the preload with the adjusting bolt on top? Or do I tighten the arms to where I can still turn the knuckles by hand, let the bushings bed in, then re-tighten things to the proper preload?

Mainly I dont want to ruin some expensive parts before i even get to use them. Anyone running this combo? What are your experiences?

I have searched and found a few of the same issues and most just say run it and it will be fine. This is just a crawler and not a go fast rig. Are there any long term updates on how things were holding together?

My Setup:
 
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#2 ·
I run the Reid knuckles with the Artec arms and I had the same issue. The Artec arms allow you to adjust preload so I opted to re-machine the arm to allow the 3/16" spacer to sit deeper in the arm. From there I was able to properly preload the knuckle. The other option is to machine the 3/16" spacer down, I think you'll find out you won't need to take much off.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
The arms i am using have the preload adjusting bolt there as well. I thought about having the arms machined like you mentioned. Good thing my roommate is a machinist.

How thin is too thin for the spacer? 1/8"? I can make another one if need be.
 
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#4 ·
the_white_shadow said:
The arms i am using have the preload adjusting bolt there as well. I thought about having the arms machined like you mentioned. Good thing my roommate is a machinist.

How thin is too thin for the spacer? 1/8"? I can make another one if need be.
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I had the same issue and ended up milling the pockets in the arms a little deeper. I was worried about the spacer coning or flexing if it was any thinner.
 
#5 ·
My first solution was to run a thinner space, don't do it, the pre-load bolt mushroomed the spacer and loosened the entire knuckle. We ended up taking 20 thou off the spacer for a quick fix and that worked. The best option is to bore the arm out. I also run heat treated chromo spacers now just because I had it.
 
#6 ·
Vu14TJ said:
My first solution was to run a thinner space, don't do it, the pre-load bolt mushroomed the spacer and loosened the entire knuckle.
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Thats exactly what i was afraid of when I did mine. good info. I like the idea of a chromo spacer.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Making a spacer would definitely be the easier way to fix things, but since it doesnt hold up, ill just have the depth opened up some. Maybe 1/16" or so.
 
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Discussion starter · #8 ·
What doesnt make sense is that the bronze bushing is the same size dimensionally as the stock nylon bushing, except (im guessing) for the taper on the inside. The stock bushing fits down in the knuckle like it should and the new one sticks up some out of the knuckle.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
rockyota83 said:
i wouldnt worry about it as after half a dozen runs they will loosen up and you will have to tighten them up and they will be good to go
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This is what I have gathered from reading old threads. JUst wanted to know how they were holding up after a couple years without any steering arms mods made during initial setup.

So crank the arm down all the way and let it loosen itself up? Or crank the arms down to where the knuckles are able to move by hand? If i crank them all the way down, it takes all of my weight to move things.
 
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#11 · (Edited)
the_white_shadow said:
This is what I have gathered from reading old threads. JUst wanted to know how they were holding up after a couple years without any steering arms mods made during initial setup.

So crank the arm down all the way and let it loosen itself up? Or crank the arms down to where the knuckles are able to move by hand? If i crank them all the way down, it takes all of my weight to move things.
Click to expand...
if its a daily driver or sees a lot street time if you tighten them too much your steering box wont want to return to center by itself like it normally would. if it sees street tighten it up so theres 15lb or so of force to turn the knuckle, then check it after you drive it a while and will probably need to be tightened up.

if its a trailer queen with hydro/assist tighten her up so you can just barely move it with your arm, after a few trips it will loosen up and probably be just right. still gonna want to check it after a few trips.

i have springless arms and bronze bushings on both my buggy and my tow rig
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
It's a trailer queen with full hydro. Got everything put back together tonight. I left them somewhat loose and I could see the arm moving at full lock when cycling the steering. I'm going to tighten them up and take it for a spin around the yard. Hopefully the weight of the rig and just using them will help. I'll check the arms afterwards and tighten them and the set screw as necessary.

Thanks for the help everyone.
 
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#14 · (Edited)
I sure hope those bolts are just for mock up and you are running studs

When i first put my bronze bushings in they did the same thing. I just drove it a couple times like that and they loosened up. Then they fit perfect and kept their tension after initial wear in
 
#15 ·
Interesting... Will be checking back on this if I have any trouble with my setup.

My shit will be running fully refreshed and plated factory Ford kingpin knuckles with NWF bronze bushings and Artec arms. The spacer plates that came from Artec are 1/4".

Non-related but I was originally going to run stock inv-T steering with NWF kingpin caps and when comparing the two was surprised to find that the Artec set screw is quite a bit smaller than on the NWF caps/arms, 3/4" for Artec vs 1" for NWF.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Bumping this back up. Time has come to service the front end so I started tearing it down only to get stuck trying to remove the drivers side reid bushing. Passenger side came out but took some force. Can't get the other side out and don't want to stick a screwdriver on the side and fuck it up. The roll pin is down below the surface and is not coming out. I threaded on some small bolts in the top like their removal directions, but kept bending them to the point of near breakage.

Any removal tips?
 
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#19 ·
the_white_shadow said:
Bumping this back up. Time has come to service the front end so I started tearing it down only to get stuck trying to remove the drivers side reid bushing. Passenger side came out but took some force. Can't get the other side out and don't want to stick a screwdriver on the side and fuck it up. The roll pin is down below the surface and is not coming out. I threaded on some small bolts in the top like their removal directions, but kept bending them to the point of near breakage.

Any removal tips?
Click to expand...
Damn these things are kind of a pain in the ass. Hope you get it worked out.
 
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