mbenoit
December 6th, 2008, 06:45 PM
Recently, we had a posting relating to the side pipe mounts. This post reminded me of my own concerns when I first mounted the side pipes. I decided to make some new mounts that incorporate polyurethane bushings in the ends that attach to the pipes. The poly bushings are made by Energy Suspension and come 8 to a pack for about 10 bucks at the local auto parts store.
The brackets themselves are made from 2" x 2" angle iron. I cold-formed some short pieces of tube which were welded into the brackets to hold the bushings. I made these pieces of tubing because I did not have the right size tubing in the shop.
To precisely position the bushings, I drilled out the end that would hold the bushing with an oversize hole saw. I then mounted the rough formed brackets to the frame and bolted the tubing to the side pipes. I then tack welded the tubes to the mounts and voila - exactly positioned bushings. I ended up sacraficing 2 of the bushings for the whole project due to minor melting from the tack welding. Once tack welded, I pulled the mounts off the car and did finish welding, grinding and painting. Now my mounts have just a touch of give to them unlike the original mounts which had absolutely none.
The brackets themselves are made from 2" x 2" angle iron. I cold-formed some short pieces of tube which were welded into the brackets to hold the bushings. I made these pieces of tubing because I did not have the right size tubing in the shop.
To precisely position the bushings, I drilled out the end that would hold the bushing with an oversize hole saw. I then mounted the rough formed brackets to the frame and bolted the tubing to the side pipes. I then tack welded the tubes to the mounts and voila - exactly positioned bushings. I ended up sacraficing 2 of the bushings for the whole project due to minor melting from the tack welding. Once tack welded, I pulled the mounts off the car and did finish welding, grinding and painting. Now my mounts have just a touch of give to them unlike the original mounts which had absolutely none.