Pro-Squat & Braking (Early Suspension)

[The Dark Side of Will]

Here's the saga of my offset forward cradle mounts

I also got the weld-in shells for the my anti-squat forward cradle mounts cut:

I got the cradle mounts done enough to mock up to tack the shells in place today... After 2 hours on the phone with corporate IT trying to get my time sheet ungedorked.

Couple of actions shots trying catch whipping chips on camera:

I pulled the old cradle bushings out and installed the new ones.

This is a cradle bushing puller:



It's a 2 1/2" pipe cap with a hole drilled in the middle plus 7/16" threaded rod with nuts and washers

I somehow blew some dimensions and had to take 0.030 off the large diameter of the shells to get them down to a slip fit. In measuring the original bushing, I noted a 0.050 difference from the large end to the small end. When I modeled the shell, I made it a solid of revolution and incorporated a 0.050 difference in *radius*, so the small end is smaller than it should have been. Welding rod covers many sins and I've updated the drawing so the next ones will work more smoothly.



I also got the cradle bolted in and centered between the mounts for tacking the shells... although it's not centered on either shell.

I buzzed the flats and drilled the eccentric holes on the plugs for the eccentric cradle bushings:

Glamour shots of the anodized parts. I realized I forgot to get a closeup of the A/C Compressor fitting... oh well, next week.





I asked for clear anodizing and the provider (I think) did everything in the same bath. The cast components came out dark gray, while the 6061 components came out clear. The A/C Compressor fitting as a welded assembly came out with the 6061 areas clear and the weld fillets dark grey. I still need to ask the welder what filler rod he used.

[neophile_17]

I asked for clear anodizing and the provider (I think) did everything in the same bath. The cast components came out dark gray, while the 6061 components came out clear. The A/C Compressor fitting as a welded assembly came out with the 6061 areas clear and the weld fillets dark grey. I still need to ask the welder what filler rod he used.

I'd love to hear how the offset works for you.

At work we have found the same issue with welds anodizing much darker than the base aluminum. Either it was more expensive to fix than making the part out of billet or not possible. Only in rare cases do we anodize an aluminum weldment and it must be hidden from view.