Trailing Arm Rebuilt Kits

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

Who has the best quality/pricing on the trailing arm rebuilt kits including the T-Arm bolt & SS Shim kit?

In searching the various vendors I seen to be around the $300.00 point for both sides.

 

[MYBAD79]

You can find the bearings and seals at the local stores like Napa or the Zone, however some of that stuff is made in low cost countries and often low quality... it's so much work, you want this to last a long time. Buy the good stuff: traccdog2 or GTR1999, both sell top notch parts and are very helpful if you have questions.
Stay away from those no name brand "rebuild kits" that you can find all over the net and in most "big name" vendor catalogs.

 

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

At first I thought of just getting the bearings and seals but since I'm half way there if the price is right I figured I may as do a whole rebuild, therefore I'll need the whole kit including the bolts, nuts and S/S shims.

Just looking for the best deal and quality.

 

[MYBAD79]

Once I swapped my trailing arms I am going to rebuild the set that comes off my '79 (new spindles/bearing/seals, sanblasted and fully welded arms, painted with epoxy and front bushing or JohnnyJoint installed) I'm planning on selling those but shipping to Canada would be a pain though...:sweat:

 

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

True, that's why I was hoping on picking up the rebuilt kit at Corvettes At Carlisle and need to place my order real soon for pick up at a Vendors booth.

I also want to use the Timken bearings and SKF seals as part of the rebuilt kit so my opions are limited but still down to about $300.00 for a full kit including S/S shims, bolts and cotter pin for both sides.

 

[MYBAD79]

True, that's why I was hoping on picking up the rebuilt kit at Corvettes At Carlisle and need to place my order real soon for pick up at a Vendors booth.

Send Gary a PM.... pretty sure he's at Carlisle every year... should be less than $300 unless prices have gone up again....

 

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

Been taken care of MYBAD79, thanks for you suggestions.

 

[Artsvettes]

Gary will be at Carlisle. I will be picking up parts from him there.

 

[GTR1999]

Guess I'm late to get in on this but that's ok. Unless you bought them from Mike I would take a good look at what ever you buy.
Here are some of what I've seen from various suppliers and from what people bought and sent to me.

Front bushings- sleeves cracking,ID too small,cups made of cheap steel

Bearings- Timkens from a chain store, made overseas, other brands just plain cheap. Seals, flat edge that roll,common in bearing kits.

Shims- overpriced and not machined worth a damm. Don't come close to dialing in to 0015-002"

Parkingbrake kits- I machine parts of them.

Backing plates, some have hole patterns based on Bonney & Cydes last car.

Arms, I only use USA arms it needed

Spindles- same as arms

The parts I have now all work and I only use them. I don't take in jobs with parts too much because of this headache.Plus the owner usually gets ripped off anyway. Like the time a guy send me his parts he got a great on from fastcorvette,you guys remember that place, still around under a new name with great deals! Well I totaled up the parts and found they only doubled billed him by $400!!

Lastly if you are looking for a complete arm set really check them. I walk around every year and look at them. Some are so tight they're going to burn up other so loose you have to wonder if the builder is moron. I think so but you have to judge for yourself!!

Steering boxes another great item,most are junk but painted very nice.

Differentials,... oh forget it, those are so hacked up I just walk by.

Good luck!!

 

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

Gary, you always come highly recommended and one of the reason's I joined this forum was due to you being a member. I apologize I was a bit short on time and since I'm from Canada, I needed to get my order in fairly soon and missed out on asking you for a quote. I'm not getting the complete rebuilt T/A's I'm just getting the parts to rebuild my own.
Thanks again for everyone's help.


Frank

 

[mrvette]

Backing plates, some have hole patterns based on Bonney & Cydes last car.


:bounce: Thanks for the laugh, Gary.....:quote:

 

[AColbe01]

Frank, The components are the EASY part. Getting everything PROPERLY spaced and installed was my problem. There are some tools that will greatly make the job easier. Gary from what I've read is very fair and very competent in performing the job. The part that gave me the greatest headache was the shim on top of the spacer, and having everything squared up with proper freeplay.

Good to have had someone who had already been down that road.

Andy

Gary, you always come highly recommended and one of the reason's I joined this forum was due to you being a member. I apologize I was a bit short on time and since I'm from Canada, I needed to get my order in fairly soon and missed out on asking you for a quote. I'm not getting the complete rebuilt T/A's I'm just getting the parts to rebuild my own.
Thanks again for everyone's help.


Frank

 

[68/70Vette]

I'd just repeat what's been said many times before. Make sure you're buying quality parts. There are some of the glossy catalog corvette parts vendors that will sell you un-named stuff most likely made in China. I've ended up with some junk from some well known names. I like Tom's Differential. He sell's Made in the US stuff and he's always had a lot pride in his parts that he sells. I think a lot of his parts are made for him my major US manufacturers (i.e. Eaton, Richmond). Also, I'd recommend Guldstrand Motorsports for quality, but Dick Guldstrands parts tend to be pretty pricey.

I think you can get some quality service by some of the supporting vendors on this site. It appears they use quality parts also. I had my trailing arms/parking brakes/bearings, etc all rebuild by Tom's Differential...it was done by "Kenny" who was Tom's Vette guru and he was the originator of a lot of Tom's Vette stuff. Unfortunately Kenny had a heart attach last September and died. He was in his early 50's I believe. With Kenny gone, I don't know to what extent Tom is in the rebuilding business.

 

[GTR1999]

Gary, you always come highly recommended and one of the reason's I joined this forum was due to you being a member. I apologize I was a bit short on time and since I'm from Canada, I needed to get my order in fairly soon and missed out on asking you for a quote. I'm not getting the complete rebuilt T/A's I'm just getting the parts to rebuild my own.
Thanks again for everyone's help.


Frank

Frank,
No need to apologize, I just wanted you to understand the parts for these cars come from many places.As long as you have a good supplier you should be ok. That's why I mentioned Mike, he will get you good parts,same as I would.

Others promise a lot and have fancy web sites promoting things that truely are too good to be true at the price they advertise. The level of their build quality is another story in itself.

I learned the hard way myself and now have limited my parts to a select few some in the vette business,most in the industrial supply business. I deal with very few vendors, and certainly none that have complained about me behind my back in the past.

Now that you have the parts installing them correctly is the next part. If you don't follow the procedures I show in my threads you will be buying more parts from your supplier. You can do it- just be sure of every step. Recently a fellow brought in to me some arms he attempted at home. It ended up costing him a lot more then normal because he wrecked a spindle,new set of bearings,seals, and time.

Good luck, shoot for 0015-002 endplay and under 003 runout.

 

[MYBAD79]

Andy (AColbe01) and I just assembled his bearing assembly, proper setup on a assembly tool or an old spindle that is ground for a slip fit is the most important part of this job. You have to make sure the setup is good so you can measure endplay correctly. If you measure 6 times and get 6 different readings your setup is no good.
We set Andy's bearing endplay/clearance to .002" on the setup tool with light oil only - assembled with grease and the seals installed you can't feel a thing, you may think it's too tight but don't worry, if it really was .002" dry then it's fine.

 

[GTR1999]

Very true, but the difference between snug and tight is important. The endplay may feel like nothing after final assembly but the spindle should not be very snug, I can easily rotate the spindle when done without any drag or more then a light pressure with my finger and thumb. In fact I spin them with a tool to "seat" them. When I used the new mobil 1 grease the increased drag was tight- too tight for my liking and I broke down the spindle installed new bearings before realizing the problem wasn't with my setup but with the new Mobil1. I have since stopped using it and only use Timken bearing grease.
At 003-004 you can feel the spindle move in/out.

 

[Maymyvetteliveforever]

Gary........thanks.

My order will be picked up at Carlisle and was actually hoping to meet you but just found out I won't be able to make it this year. I've asked another fellow Candian member to pick up my order and will try to do the T/A rebuild before this time next year.

I will start a thread when the rebuilt is in effect. At the moment I'm modifying my Pypes exhaust which has become a nightmare. I'm halfway through and out of argon. I had no idea I needed to mod and reweld a so called bolt on 2.5" Stainless exhaust to the extent I have so far.

Wish me luck people.

Frank

 

[AColbe01]

Do As I Say, Not As I Do!

When you know you should replace, go ahead and "DO IT." CORRECT Parts really aren't expensive.



Going through some old pictures I had taken a few months ago I found this.

Before:



After:




Sometimes I feel like such a D.A. :hissyfit:

 

[MYBAD79]

why was the nut all the way "up" - somebody trying to compensate fro a worn and sagging spring ?? Looks like the spring has no arc left at all, actually looks like the arc is slightly upwards (opposite from what it should be).... might be the photo but the nut should be close to the end of the bolt (stock 6" or 6 3/8" bolt).. this does not look like a 8" bolt so I assume it's stock length...

 

[AColbe01]

why was the nut all the way "up" - somebody trying to compensate fro a worn and sagging spring ?? Looks like the spring has no arc left at all, actually looks like the arc is slightly upwards (opposite from what it should be).... might be the photo but the nut should be close to the end of the bolt (stock 6" or 6 3/8" bolt).. this does not look like a 8" bolt so I assume it's stock length...

NOT to hijack the thread!

Spring that was on the car when purchased was a composite from VBP, after unknown time and heat from underbody exhaust (P.O. did not install heat shield at differential) the composite spring delaminated and the rear end sank to the ground,

replaced the split composite with one used steel of proper width, had been off a car long enough to forget why replaced. Has held up better than the composite. I NEED a new spring, but read there may be issues from some supplers as to dubious quality. Yes, the nut is ran all the waaaay up to try to compensate for lack of arc! Good Eye, you still missed the missing rubber "snubber" that attaches to the frame that keeps the trailing arm from bottoming out on bare metal.......say if a spring brakes or the trailing arm bolt pulls through! Wish I could be typing 8 inch bolt but currently 6 1/2. Trying to get the body a little higher in the rear!

Something can ALWAYS be done to the car, favorite is plopping my rearend in the seat and driving.


Think you deserve something with a little lime in it!!!

Thanks,

Andy