Welding the trailing arm is a fairly simple solution. All it takes is 2 (or four) large washers, and a few hours of time
of a friend with a welder.
Fig1 is what your arm looks like when you begin. Use a box cutter, saw, or kitchen knife to cut the rubber
back flush with the surface of the large part of the trailing arm. Don't worry that it's hard to get everything very
clean. (fig 2). I left most of the bushing in the arm to properly locate the small part for welding.
After getting most of the rubber out of the way, put a wire-wheel on an electric drill, or a wire-wheel on a bench
grinder, and you can whisk away the remaining rubber, until you have a nice clean surface on which to weld. (fig3) Notice the
small shelf right near where the small part of the trailing arm meets the large part. You can still see part of the
bushing that is inside the trailing arm - it's squarish in shape.
Cut the washers in half, so you can fit them around the trailing arm. A jig saw or hack saw will do the trick.
Now test-fit the washers to the arm. This size fit quite well. You want the washer to be flush against the large half of the trailing arm. Make sure that the welding surface is clean of rubber and debris, so you can get a good weld. (figs 4,5)
Not pictured is the intermediate step where there is just one washer in place. Because of the bead along the inner diameter of the first washer, you will have to grind out the ID of the second one a bit. I used Erron's bench grinder. Keep grinding until the second washer will also lay flat on the surface of the first. Grinding at an angle, making an edge on the interior, inside edge of the second washer will help you get the job done faster.
After the washer is ground, fit the second washer to the arm, tack it in place, and complete the welding. Here are some pictures of the finished product: (figs 6,7).
Total cost for this project was $5 in washers, and the bribe of an old 1g leather seat to my welding buddy.
A big thanks to Erron Spalsbury for doing this welding for me - it looks fantastic!
Additional Information:
There is a bit more info out there on welding the rear arms, most of it just from folks that have done it. Mike Welch of RRE sent me This URL a while back, which has a bit more information. Note that they remove the bushing completely. Also note the picture showing how the stock arm pivots on the rubber bushing.
And that should be it! Any questions/comments/flames/love letters to:
mrjones@holly.colostate.edu
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fig 1.
fig 2.
fig 3.
fig 4.
fig 5.
fig 6.
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fig 7.
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