A-arm washers pulling through - WTF ???

Belgian1979vette

Belgian1979vette

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
1,707
Location
Koersel/Belgium
These are new rubber bushings. They came from ZIP. I was torqueing them to the required pounds, when this happened to the rear lower one. Luckily I caught it.

Seems all of the washers have collapsed in the middle. WTF.

Hardening problem ???

IMG_4066.jpg

IMG_4065.jpg

IMG_4064.jpg

IMG_4063.jpg
 
Last edited:
pancake said:
The uppers and lowers should be torqued to 45 - 55 ft lbs. What do you guys measure torque in?
Click to expand...

I seriously doubt the above. Both the workshop manual and haynes says 60 for the tops, 70 lower front, 95 lower rears. That is in pounds. Multiplied by 1.356 to get Nm.
 
pancake said:
The uppers and lowers should be torqued to 45 - 55 ft lbs. What do you guys measure torque in?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's weird, such torquing should not be enough to bend the cap.
Maybe your torque wrench lost its calibration. Maybe borrow another one to compare.

One thing I've been told (it's probably in the intruction manual but I never read them), once the wrench have been used it has to be dialed back to zero.
It not the spring in it will deform and the wrench will lose calibration.
 
Last edited:
denpo said:
pancake said:
The uppers and lowers should be torqued to 45 - 55 ft lbs. What do you guys measure torque in?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's weird, such torquing should not be enough to bend the cap.
Maybe your torque wrench lost its calibration. Maybe borrow another one to compare.

One thing I've been told (it's probably in the intruction manual but I never read them), once the wrench have been used it has to be dialed back to zero.
It not the spring in it will deform and the wrench will lose calibration.
Click to expand...

I see my mistake with the lowers. It appears i interpreted the torque reading for the bolts connecting the arm to the frame.

The uppers seems to be correct as per instructions.

To note is it collapsed before reaching the setting. Fronts have 70 which is 10 pounds more than what the shopmanual says for the uppers (60). The lower bolts are bigger however.
 
dang.... knowing how much force it takes to punch a hole in 1/4" material, leaves me very impressed at your feat of strength.

That said

the washers normally push against the cross bar.... are your cross bars flush with the outside of the rubber bushing? In my mind the only way you'd get that kind of breakage is if the bolt head is smaller than the tube upon which the rubber joint rides (in a sense, you've made a hole punch).... but seriously, that would be impossible if the cross arms were where they belong....
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
dang.... knowing how much force it takes to punch a hole in 1/4" material, leaves me very impressed at your feat of strength.

That said

the washers normally push against the cross bar.... are your cross bars flush with the outside of the rubber bushing? In my mind the only way you'd get that kind of breakage is if the bolt head is smaller than the tube upon which the rubber joint rides (in a sense, you've made a hole punch).... but seriously, that would be impossible if the cross arms were where they belong....
Click to expand...

The bushings fit thight around the axles. The sleeve is a little shorter as it should be, because the bushing needs to be compressed. The bolt was original for the car.
 
redvetracr said:
ever hear of safety wire or Loctite?
Click to expand...

Hey Red, yes but it's not the bolt staying in it's place that is a problem. Since this is a rubber bushing, the rubber has to be compressed. The inner sleeve's serrations have to be imprinted in the washer for it to cause the shearing of the rubber which is part of the suspension action. Therefor it's required to torque this to a certain amount.

I see the torque specs all over the place here.
 
To conclude this : I just finished putting the original washers in. No bending, no paint peeling off,no nothing. The washers on this part were of the El Cheapo type. As Phill said, I got Zipped. Last order I made with them.
 
Belgian1979vette said:
To conclude this : I just finished putting the original washers in. No bending, no paint peeling off,no nothing. The washers on this part were of the El Cheapo type. As Phill said, I got Zipped. Last order I made with them.
Click to expand...

:flash: PIA, all that hassle over nothing, getting any more I hate thought of buying a damn thing.....:mad:
 
mrvette said:
Belgian1979vette said:
To conclude this : I just finished putting the original washers in. No bending, no paint peeling off,no nothing. The washers on this part were of the El Cheapo type. As Phill said, I got Zipped. Last order I made with them.
Click to expand...

:flash: PIA, all that hassle over nothing, getting any more I hate thought of buying a damn thing.....:mad:
Click to expand...

Well, I posted this on several forums under which this one, speedtalk and CF. The guys over at Speedtalk, that do machining every day and know a thing or two said this is not a normal thing.

Over at CF, I said the same thing, El Cheapo part....wow shouldn't have done that. Now I'm the bad guy all of a sudden. I'm done there.

Just need to know a last thing : what is a good quality source of Corvette parts ? Paragon ?
 
I'm in the midst of an argument with pewter99 on CF.... it's it amazing how fastidious they are? (of course, I called him a wanker, told him to burn his Corvette, buy a Camry and bugger off - but I was provoked :D)

Of course, isn't Zip one of their "contributors"?
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
I'm in the midst of an argument with pewter99 on CF.... it's it amazing how fastidious they are? (of course, I called him a wanker, told him to burn his Corvette, buy a Camry and bugger off - but I was provoked :D)

Of course, isn't Zip one of their "contributors"?
Click to expand...

Yes, quite obvious. I'm done there
 
Last edited:
Guys they will always side with their vendors and supporting members even if they are in the wrong. It's all about the money, one vendor a onerarez16 is a seller and talks crap to anyone that lowballs him and he cries to the mods.
 
To punch out the center of that washer is not right. I don't care what you torque it to. That is just cheap shit. I really wonder who is making this junk.

Paragon and Doc are my choice for stuff like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top