$150 new trailing arms.... forget ece and lmc

[72_Chev_Truck]

built my new trailing arms.... i couldnt afford to spend $600 plus truck freight to get new trailing arms the same as the old ones that rusted out.... my approximate total cost for the project was about $150, $90 in steel, $30 in u-bolts, $20 for new bushings, $10 misc bolts.

holes were drilled with a bridgeport and a hole saw, the box was cut with a hack saw after careful measurments were taken. welded in DOM tubing in the front and rear holes. the front dom started as 3/8 wall thickness before it was lathed out in the center for the bushing, same tube different size and thickness in the rear for the u-bolt.... my measurements on the u-bolt were too close and i had to take it to a machine shop at that point and have the holes slightly enlarged. end caps were welded on and stiffeners around the bend...

material list as follows

2x3x3/16 box steel approx 6 feet long (i think)
10 feet of 1/8thx 3" wide for the boxing and the end caps
3/4 inside dia DOM tubing for the ubolts
and thick wall DOM for the front pivot.

[clay68c10]

There's nothing you can't do with a welder and some ambition! Those will last forever and are stronger than the originals. You just need e-brake cable mounting tabs now. Nice work.

[72_Chev_Truck]

yea the ebrake tabs are my next endeavor.... these things make my truck feel tight in the tail end and loose out front.... i think i need to invest in a balljoint set out front and some new panhard bushings... possibly a rear sway bar.


you can also see in the last pic part of my new exhaust consisting of long tube headers, cutouts, h-pipe, and spintechs

[dirtball]

Successfully completing fab work like that is awesome. Especially when you save $$$. Nice job.

[72_Chev_Truck]

wow.... im surprised there is no interest or questions on these....

[1LoC10]

awesome work, good job........... do you have any pics of your exhaust set up? thats next on my list

[Sweet72]

Awesome work...really beefy campared to the originals and the price is right. Please post some more pics of your exhaust system and tell us how you like your spintech's. I want a pair for the GMC. Thanks

[Bob D]

Originally Posted by 72_Chev_Truck

wow.... im surprised there is no interest or questions on these....

That is probably because most guys here are in the south and havent seen many arms that were so rotted that they were not useable


Those look great. I have thought of doing that about a week ago because I found that my arms were rotted to the point that I could see through the sides of them! I'll post about that in another thread.

Bob

[72_Chev_Truck]

Originally Posted by 1LoC10

awesome work, good job........... do you have any pics of your exhaust set up? thats next on my list

my exhaust is the hooker headers (the cheap black painted models) into a 2.5" S-bend (hooker or hedmann i cant remember which) to go under the trans crossmember. (only place it would fit without major mods due to the headers) into the flowtech cutouts and the summit brand H-pipe kit, back to the spintechs and out in front of the rear wheels... very easy on each side there are only 2 bends that i needed to make and they were out of the spintechs to the outlet. all exhaust is under the frame but very flat, i wanted to do better then that but on a limited budget and no access to a good bending machine its the best i could do. the spintechs sound great and very unique compared to other choices out there.

[BUDDY]

Note: this is not an attempt to buy or sell anything in this post, just a suggestion to the original poster.

OK, so set-up a jig & start building these for other people to buy. You could sell them for 400.00 a set as a "performance bolt-on upgrade", & they would fly out of your door.

Again, this is not an attempt to buy or sell on this board, just a suggestion.

Later,

Buddy

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Nice set-up and on the cheap too.. Great job...

[72_Chev_Truck]

yes ive thought about marketing a kit, unfortunately right now i dont have the time. if i were to do this i would need a big drill press or mill and a lathe for the dom... but im sure it would eventually be worth it. ill consider doing it sometime in the near future when i have the bucks to back it up.

[70 CST 4X4]

I did a web search for a neighbor on trailing arms for his 65 and saw these on ece's site. Not 600.00 but look way better than stock. Going to call them on monday- must be closed today. Can't seem to post a pic but it was on their home page.
http://www.earlyclassic.com

70 CST 4X4

[onelow69]

Hey guys, haven't been logged in for a while, but I was looking at the board and ran across this thread and noticed you guys where talking about trailing arms. Well I happened to be at ece, lucky enough to be close to there shop, and noticed that they have a set of new trailing arms on there show room floor. Really well made, like all there other products. Anyway if you wanted to spend a little extra money for a well made product, this would be it. Also I'm not knocking what 72_Chevy_Truck did. I think thats great! I wish I had the time and equipment to build a set my self. Remember this is for people that don't have the time to do that and want a bolt in product. Anyway, this is a great thread, and don't stop building custom parts for yourself, if you got do it.

[ratfreak88]

Man Those Look Killer, Thanks For The Idea, Btw, What Is Dom Tubing?

[1LoC10]

Definitions of DOM tubing on the Web Dictionary:

Drawn Over Mandrel. Formed from strips and electric-resistance welded, then cold drawn to size. The cold drawing process causes the weld line to virtually disappear and gives the tubing it strength by cold working and allows consistent dimensions and tolerance. The carbon content also gives DOM (1020 or 1026) better mechanical properties than regular ERW tubing.

[ratfreak88]

thanks 1lo. man i clicked on your avatar and that is one nice truck you have there

[MikeB]

And I thought I was cool when I welded up the seams on my stock arms!