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| Cutting Steel |
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| CNC Base |
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| Assembled Brackets |
The first thing we did was to fabricate the 1/4" plate sections that will used to attach the bushings to the truck
frame. Each bushing is a two piece polyurethane bushing that supports 1000 lbs per pair. I'm using 4 pair in my design.
The plates were cut using an industrial metal band saw. The base plates needed a 1.253" hole in the middle of a 3.5"
x 3.0" plate. We could of drilled it out with a vise and a hand drill, but with an Industrial CNC milling machine at our disposal,
why drill?
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| Rear Bushings In Place |
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| Front Bushings |
In their final configuration, the bushings "sandwich" the brackets on top of the truck frame. The "sandwich", in order
from the bottom up: A hardened nut, lockwasher, A hardened washer, the truck frame, A hardened 2.5" bushing support washer, the
lower support bushing, the bracket flange, the upper isolation bushing, another 2.5" hardened washer, and a hardened
washer. In between the 2.5" washers is a hardened metal sleeve. A hardened bolt passes through the entire assembly.
SPECIAL NOTE: The brackets will sit on the commercial hitch flanges in the rear and on two brackets made from 3 x 3 angle
iron that are bolted to the frame in the front. It is a structural no-no to drill holes in the top or bottom flange of the
frame. It is also a structural no-no to weld on the frame any where forward of the last bolt holding suspension components.
Drilling in the flanges weakens the frame and welding weakens the heat treatment.
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