FMags2@aol.com wrote:
> a. Here's the part you're missing: Take a Churchill tool # xyz (basically a
> 6 foot long steel bar 1 inch thick cold rolled steel) and clamp it to the top
> of one half of the rear leaf spring. Clamp it in such a way that the clamps
> cannot come off accidently. If one of these flys off under load, you'll be
> injured. I welded two C- shaped pieces of flat bar stock to the bar at one
> end and then ran a bolt through each one so that I bolted it around the
> spring.
There is no tool number for this, as far as I know--the factory manual
gives dimensions for its construction and instructions for its use. Some
people simply do not have the fabrication tools necessary to make it,
and I have come up with a way to do the same thing without fabrication.
The shock absorber must be removed from the vertical link to remove the
link, so I go one step further, and remove the shock and top mounting
bolt. That allows the spring to almost reach full downward travel. After
removing the vertical link, I put a floor jack under the spring eye,
jack it up to the approximate optimum position for re-installation, run
a short chain under the spring and hold it in place with the shock bolt.
That's the poor man's way to avoid the horrible struggle involved in
getting the vertical link installed after repairs. Once the link and
throughbolts are in place, the jack is used to raise the link and
spring, and then the chain can be removed and the shock re-installed.
> e. Fit the new rotofles; I believe that you should not remove the steel band
> around the new rotoflex until all 6 bolts are at least started. If you
> replace the bolts, use at least grade 6 or stronger. Do not use hardware
> grade bolts (grade 2); these will break.
The important thing to remember here is that the bolts for the Rotoflex
joints are special--they have unthreaded ends to act as guides to
prevent cross-threading. When the joint is installed to both axles, it
is not true--that is, it has the general shape along its radius of a
warp washer. Therefore, the bolts simply won't go straight in--it is
very easy to cross-thread a full-thread bolt. If the bolts must be
replaced, best to bite the bullet and buy new replacements--lots fewer
headaches involved.
Cheers.
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