Radius arm ream tool.

[94touring]

Thought I'd share.  I'm doing a pair of rear arms and was in need of reaming the bushing.  No one sells a tool for this so fabbed up something.  Works fantastic.  Took me a bit of hardware shopping to find a proper sized bushing on the end opposite of the reaming.  All in all very happy  4.gif

[MiniDave]

So do you ream it with the roller bearing in place or do you take everything out?

Was the reamer threaded on the end? Most I've seen are a Morse taper.....how did you true the threaded rod to the reamer so it would ream straight?

[94touring]

All good question.  I did it with the needle bearings in.  Two reasons why, one it was easier to take a needle bearing into the store to match a bushing to it.   Other reason is I figured it's the truest way to get it straight, since the pin will be sitting on the needle bearings when finished.

The reamer wasn't threaded.  I bought a tap n die to thread it.  However that proved to be pointless cause I just couldn't get whatever cheap die I bought to cut into it.  Perhaps the material of the reamer was too strong.  The 1/2" rod I bought would thread into the reamer with enough force.  I intended to thread all the way through and put a nut on each end to secure it but I got to the tip of the reamer and it wasn't budging any more.  Its essentially stuck on there for good.  That being said, it's straight as an arrow.  Both sides reamed pretty quickly and the pin fits perfectly.  Lined right up and a tight fit on the bushing that got the ream. 

[94touring]

I forgot to add the pvc bushings on the needle bearing end were found in the plumbing section at lowes.  There's a piece that fit perfectly snug into the needle bearings and an internal piece that fits securely into it.  Added crazy glue to keep them from separating.  The 1/2" rod wouldn't fit through the internal bushing, so I did tap n die it. It didn't need drilled out, just threaded.  I bought a couple in case I went in crooked but didn't have any problems. 

As you screw down into the arm, you occasionally have to screw that bushing back flush to the needle bearing.  I also found a specialty washer that sits on the top to disperse any downward force off the bearing but it's really not needed.   

[jedduh01]

 4.gif

Been there before, Done that ! = good job scrapping to make your tool work