Check your trailing arms!

[RexDodge]

For those us you running the trailing arm suspension (lots of us I'll bet) here is a tip. I may be late to the table with this one but check the pics below to see what I found while cleaning/prepping my trailing arms for paint. I found cracks beginning at the bosses for the u bolts that ran nearly 10" top and bottom. You can also see what I did to repair/rebuild them. This truck was over worked for years (running around on the bump stops) and I guess wasn't that surprised when I saw this. I have dropped in a new motor that I am expecting to dyno around 480hp. This has convinced me to add a rear sway bar to limit the stress on the trailing arms. I also plan to build some tubular arms next winter that will be much stronger and also correct my pinion angle. Check those trailing arms!

[pat 70/71]

My first truck was a c/10 long bed and the po put a camper on it the day he bought it. So the truck was over loaded since new. My truck had large fractures in the trailing arms in the same place as yours and we did the same thing you did and never had any issues with them again. Glad you found it when you did! and not after the hp bump! cheers, Pat

[MikeyMan]

Good catch and nice job on the repair!
My first truck was a '69 C/10 long bed I owned in the early eighties. Mine had a large rust hole in the middle of the I-beam part. Eventually the trailing arm weakened and twisted causing the rear axle to move. With my teenage lead foot and a 3-speed, I had serious drive line problems. Ended up getting a replacement trailing arm from the junk yard. Had to remove it myself without power tools or torches, just a socket, breaker bar, pipe extension, and a hacksaw.