The Lime - Front End Repairs Part 1

As mentioned in my last post, we were shocked to find out that despite passing a safety check, the front steering pivot mount was rotten. This pivot mount holds a pin about which a swing lever rotates, transferring the front to back motion of the drag link (connected through the steering box to the steering wheel) to side to side motion needed to move the tie rods and thus the wheels back and forth. Our mount was so bad, in fact, that as we pulled into the driveway after our trip to Michigan, we lost all steering altogether. The first picture above shows this rot.

After looking at the cost of new front axle beams (bare $600+) and used beams ($100US - $500US) and the associated labour involved with removing the current beam I began thinking of other options. Though many disagreed with my plan, John Spironello from Johns Bug Shop - www.johnsbugshop.com told me he used to fabricate new pivot mounts on bus beams all the time, while they were still mounted on the bus! His method seemed to parallel my thoughts, so I ventured forward and created a design in AutoCAD 2000.

In the second picture you can see me cutting out my 1:1 plots of my design. Next I began cutting the parts out using a variety of bimetal hole saws and a 1/16" x 4.5" cut-off wheel in my angle grinder. The next step was to remove the pivot tube from the old sheet metal assembly, clean it, and weld it at the right height onto the top plate of my new pivot mount. Next I squared up the parts using a magnet and tacked the pivot together. I followed this up with a full high-penetration bead (in some cases multiple beads) of weld using .035" wire and a high setting on my MIG machine.

When this was done I realized in removing the pivot tube from the old assembly, I lost the provision for a dust cap on the bottom. So, using more bimetal hole saws, I cut a plate with the exact ID needed to snugly fit a new dust cap and welded it in place, thus completing the new pivot.

In my next post I will show the installation on the vehicle and subsequent installation of new brass bushings, spring washer, pivot pin, thrust washer, top seal, top sealing ring, o-ring, small thrust washer, swing arm, and dust cap.

I plan to market this design when I have proven the concept. Keep checking back for more info!