Center Arm Rebuild (1 Viewer)

[Ezra]

I drove up to Mudrak last night so my buddy could pick up his 40.

While I was up there and talking to Gary about putting a set of original steelies + EMU on there I had him take a look at my steering slop.

Took him about 0.1 seconds to conclude I need to rebuild the center arm.

Luckily he had the kits there, so i picked one up. Parts seems straight forward enough. Reading around It seems like people have had difficulties rebuilding these, is it that difficult?

If I follow the instructions at:
Center Arm Rebuild
I should be in good shape right?

I work on my truck all the time and rebuild motorcycles, so I am a comfortable wrench, just want to make sure I am not going to jack up the steering so bad I need to tow it across town to have it fixed.

While I was there we also chatted about the shackle lift on the truck making the steering sloppy at speed, Gary pointed out the pitch of my wheels, which is low ( as a result of a shackle lift to make room for the 32" tires on there) I had never heard this before, makes sense.

Thanks, in advance for any advice.

 

[Jdc1]

I found it to be a pretty easy rebuild. Id probably leave it unstalled on the frame to take the arm off of the shaft the next time i do one. Unless you are painting it, you could probably leave it on the frame for the entire rebuild.

For your pinion angle, you can use steel shims on the leaf plate to adjust the angle.

 

[Ezra]

Perfect, that was my other question: do I need to take off the frame, sounds like it is not totally necessary.

I am putting an EMU suspension on there in the next couple weeks, which should solve the pinion angle issue.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Jdc1]

Perfect, that was my other question: do I need to take off the frame, sounds like it is not totally necessary.

I am putting an EMU suspension on there in the next couple weeks, which should solve the pinion angle issue.

Thanks for the response.

Might want to order the shims and longer leaf center pins in case. Whoever you are buying from should be able to advise.

 

[Ezra]

Gary at Mudrak will be selling me the suspension. He is also the one who pointed out the angle. I trust his experience.

 

[Ezra]

One last question: Is there a guide to how much torque to initially put on the center arm? I assume its a good tightness, but not too much then tighten the lock nut.

 

[Ezra]

I found this today also, which has some better pictures. Figured it may be useful for someone later.

Untitled Document

 

[Jdc1]

One last question: Is there a guide to how much torque to initially put on the center arm? I assume its a good tightness, but not too much then tighten the lock nut.

Its pretty detailed in the FSM and Coolermans website. If i remember correctly, you tighten the cap and then back it off before installing the locking bolt.

 

[HeavyD]

I actually just finished rebuilding mine a couple of days ago. (I used the Fuji kit from Cruiser Outfitters). As usual Coolerman's site is an excellent guide. I took my housing off the frame so I could paint it, so I would assume it would be a little easier to handle if you left it on the vehicle. The only issue you may have is compressing the spring so you can screw down the top cap. I didn't have a c-clamp large enough to fit around the whole assembly, so I took it to a buddies house who has a large bench vise. Just be careful not to mash the threads on the inside top of the housing when you compress the top plate. Also, you can rotate the spring around to line up the "low spot" in the spring to gain a little more wiggle room before compressing everything. Good Luck!

 

[Ezra]

Well, that was easy.

For anyone thinking of doing it for the first time, it is about as straight forward as something can be.

A few things were pretty tricky:
Removing the bolt from below the arm itself. The one that connects it to the shaft. I would suggest removing the arm before removing the housing from the truck itself.

Getting the shaft out of the arm once the bolt was off was also extremely tricky. Mine ended up in a hydraulic press, being heated by a torch, and a lot of pressure being put on it before it finally popped.

I actually just finished rebuilding mine a couple of days ago. (I used the Fuji kit from Cruiser Outfitters). As usual Coolerman's site is an excellent guide. I took my housing off the frame so I could paint it, so I would assume it would be a little easier to handle if you left it on the vehicle. The only issue you may have is compressing the spring so you can screw down the top cap. I didn't have a c-clamp large enough to fit around the whole assembly, so I took it to a buddies house who has a large bench vise. Just be careful not to mash the threads on the inside top of the housing when you compress the top plate. Also, you can rotate the spring around to line up the "low spot" in the spring to gain a little more wiggle room before compressing everything. Good Luck!

This came through about 2 minutes after I got it all back together. When i first tried to rethread the new top cap I had that moment of thinking to myself "this is going to be a PITA". Then it just kind of went. I cant even explain my technique, I just fiddled with it and starting thinking of using a clamp or a press...then it threaded magically.

One question / note, the circular piece of metal with the tab - There is a bit of an angle to the tab, I installed it with the angle going down, into the channel where the whole thing is oiled. I assume this is correct because I just cant imagine it going together any other way. Wanted to make sure this is correct before I put too many miles on it.

 

[HeavyD]

One question / note, the circular piece of metal with the tab - There is a bit of an angle to the tab, I installed it with the angle going down, into the channel where the whole thing is oiled. I assume this is correct because I just cant imagine it going together any other way. Wanted to make sure this is correct before I put too many miles on it.[/QUOTE]

Yes, the tab on the top plate faces down.

 

[swelltimes]

I found this today also, which has some better pictures. Figured it may be useful for someone later.

Untitled Document

Right on!