DIY pivot bearings

dragonsgate

dragonsgate

True Classic
I finally got around to doing the steering pivot bearing project I have been threatening to do for the last couple of years. I spent about 12 hours in my shop taking the struts out of the car, disassembling struts, turning aluminum plates, shortening the strut shafts, fitting and assembling struts then putting struts back in and getting all the other stuff in place and all nuts and bolts tightened. Then went in and spent an hour on the kitchen that I am upgrading. Then went to bed and had my wife rub my 69 year old muscles. Here are some pictures of the pivots.





As you can see I did two concentric rows of bearings. I figure better weight distribution. I took the car on my run to the post office and it felt pretty good. I was using a Teflon bushing I made that felt better than the stock fibber bushing so the difference from what I was using to the bearing is not as large as straight from stock bushing to bearings.
The shortened struts tightened the tension on the front springs and all the pot holes felt better on the trip out and back
 
Very cool! I've had Plaia pivots on the front of my 128 (which should have more weight on the steering bearings than an X) for over 15 years now, and have only seen minor Brinelling of the stock steel bearing washer that sits on top of the bearings. With double bearings on a lighter front end you should have no wear at all from load. My only question is did you ditch the seal that surrounded the old pivot bushing in order to have room for the outer bearing? It does a good job of keeping grit and water out.
 
The inner bearing is an SKF # NTA-1625, 1 inch id. 1.562 od. .0781 hi the outer bearing is an SKF #NTA-2840, 1.750 inch id. 2.500 od. .0781 hi. The races are Koyo TRA-1625 and TRA-2840 respectfully. Right now I have a plastic ring covering the edges with a liberal application of grease. I thought about some form a gasket type sealant. It is either that or if I can find a thick piece of rubber that I can shape into a cap. My car is a little heavier than your average X so I feel better with the extra row of bearings. I took a longer trip today to the lake and back, about 30 miles round trip. The streets in town and the road from my house are pretty crappy so got out on smoother road and could really feel the difference in the turns. I think I am going to like them.
 
The Scorpion came from the factory with the roller bearings. They're a direct replacement for the stock X1/9 parts. That's what
I installed on my 2 X1/9s when I converted to coil-overs.



 
Mark said:
The Scorpion came from the factory with the roller bearings. They're a direct replacement for the stock X1/9 parts. That's what
I installed on my 2 X1/9s when I converted to coil-overs.



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Who did you buy them from and what was the cost?
 
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