So I've decided to try my hand at building myself a full set of lower control arms. Solicited input from friends and acquaintances and am now setting off gathering parts for my first design. I don't tend to draw things out to the nth degree. I visualize what I want and the try to build it as closely as I can. 

I'm starting this blog not so much as a record of what I'm doing but as a means for me to keep track of the places I'm ordering from and a way to make notes as they come to me. If I do it on here, I can get to it from work, home, wherever.

What I'm ordering and from where:

www.spidertrax.com: threaded tube inserts (5)

also from Spidertrax: DOM tube (6') 

www.diy4x.com: Builders Kit II (8)

Fastenal: 7/8" grade 8 all thread (3')

So now I've got all the parts either ordered or on hand. I have what I think will be a good design for a jig to clamp to the drill press to cut the saddles in the tube with a holesaw. I don't know how to post it, but I'll record if it works. If it does, I'll find out how to post an image.

1/28/08: The bushings from DIY were 1/4" wider than my factory mounts, so yesterday I got busy with the lathe and narrowed everything on one bushing which will be the pattern for the rest.

I weighed just welding new brackets on at the different length, but decided against it for two reasons. 1. the point right now is to get this done as inexpensively as possible. 2. when my 35 blows up, I won't have to fiddle with modifying the mounts on the next axle.

Initially, I thought I would be doing a 14FF/44 front setup, but I'm leaning away from that setup (for now) and more toward an 8.8 or 9 inch setup, so that 1/4" I'm shaving off the bushings certainly won't be a critical loss of mass.

02/03/08

Got all the lathe work finished this afternoon. Turned down the outer sleeves, inner sleeves, and poly bushings. Naturally, the pattern took a lot longer than doing the other seven, and they are all acceptably close in size.  

02/05/08

Using some steel angle, a speed square, and a lot of time and meticulous measuring, I set up a jig of sorts to cut the saddles into the arms where the bushings will be welded in. Here are some pics of the set up:

 Here is the fitment of the saddle to the bushing housing:

 This is a fitup of the arm, bushing housing, and threaded insert:

 02/11/08:

We welded up the fittings yesterday and it all went together pretty well. Due to my lack of experience with the 7018 rod, and the fact that Clint is a professional welder, we decided it would be a lot faster and better if he did the honors. I used a bar clamp to hold the pieces in place while Clint sewed them up. 

Pics of the clamp in action, and the welds:

The threaded inserts from SpiderTrax are solid, well made pieces. Here's one after welding:

When i had to reduce the size of the bushings, this involved the outer and inner bushing sleeves as well as the poly inserts. I made a PVC split collar to hold the poly in the lathe while I cut it. I used a sharp left cutting facing tool to cut the poly and simply turned the cross feed by hand, cutting off nice discs of poly. The remind me of those black things music used to come on when I was in high school.

Three of the four arms welded, cleaned up, and assembled:

Lots of folks have asked about the lathe. It's a 1947 Ward's Powr Kraft, made my Logan Machinery Works. It will swing 10 inch stock and has a 26 inch useful bed. My grandfather and I bought it together in 2000 and it was on his farm until his passing last year when I moved it to my shop. He taught me everything I know about building things, so he deserves a great deal of credit here.

Here are two pics of the lathe:

Post up questions or comments. While I hope some of this information is educational, any modifications you undertake on your own vehicle are done so at your own risk. I highly recommend doing your own fab because it is a great learning experience, but do it under the oversight of someone who has adequate experience and a working understanding of what you do with your rig.