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Two of my DOM tubes for my control arms have ends with an ID of 0.840". Math would dictate that my ID should be: 1 - 2x0.065 = 0.870". My weld bungs have ODs of 0.865. What should be a snug fit, ends up being 0.025" of interference. I think I'll have to remove some material...

Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer

Or say screw it and weld Canadian Nickels in there (94% steel since 2000, 0.835 dia)

How conveniently sized! I'm just going to turn down the weld bungs a little bit to fit those to individual tubes.

Speaking of tubes: I've got the tube portions of 6 out of the 8 control arms welded up. I still need to add some sheetmetal to them to provide attachment points for bushings and balljoints, etc.

Yay!

McMaster Carr sent the reamer I needed for my front upper control arms' camber adjustment part, so they're done now! (I have washers for the jam nut, but they're not in the picture).

Very cool seeing the suspension come together. Seeing pix of the assembled cars it isn't so easy to tell what's going on in that mess of pipe.

It's not completely Locost related, but I'm plumbing my garage with copper for compressed air delivery. My first acquisition for that goal is this awesome thing: It's a Coxreels EZ-Coil. It wasn't locost, but it's made in Arizona, and I thought that it was worth it to have a quality, domestically made product. My fittings should arrive tomorrow and I'll take a trip to Home Depot tonight to get some copper pipe (1/2" M-type, if anyone's keeping track).

Matt, I don't know the size of your compressor, but copper has been known to burst when used for air delivery. If you have a relatively small unit it should be okay, if not, I'd probably go with the gas fittings.

Have to agree here.. it work hardens and the cycling from the fill/drain will eventually kill it! A building inspector went nuts on us for using PVC in our shop in Portland. Said it should only be black pipe.

Use black pipe. 1/2" should be fine. It's actually cheaper than copper right now and easier to work with and modify later.

Be Safe!

KS

Thanks for the concern. I double checked with local building codes and OSHA to see if there was anything prohibiting the use of copper tube. Local code states that it has to be ASTM B88 tube, which types K, L and M match, and that system pressure will dictate what wall thickness needs to be used. I couldn't find any reports on copper regularly failing from compressed air. My compressor is 135 psi, 10 cfm: it's a decently sized home garage compressor, but definitely "relatively small" compared to industrial units. The material's rated pressure (850psi) is well above compressed air pressure. The soldered joint is the lowest rated part of the system at 515psi. I'll be isolating the copper lines from the compressor with a flexible air line to prevent vibration from fatiguing the material. Practically, the shops at work all have copper air delivery systems, and I'd like to make mine similar to that for the sake of commonality and comparison.

Using PVC hadn't crossed my mind and never will.

Black pipe was $0.50 cheaper for a 10ft stick, but the fittings were much more expensive, as well as buying smaller cut-to-length threaded pieces. A pipe threader would've been more than the tools to cut, prep and solder copper, too.

With that said, I went to get my copper pipe last night--the 10 ft sticks were sticking out of my sunroof. It was chilly!

Thanks for the concern. I double checked with local building codes and OSHA to see if there was anything prohibiting the use of copper tube. Local code states that it has to be ASTM B88 tube, which types K, L and M match, and that system pressure will dictate what wall thickness needs to be used. I couldn't find any reports on copper regularly failing from compressed air. My compressor is 135 psi, 10 cfm: it's a decently sized home garage compressor, but definitely "relatively small" compared to industrial units. The material's rated pressure (850psi) is well above compressed air pressure. The soldered joint is the lowest rated part of the system at 515psi. I'll be isolating the copper lines from the compressor with a flexible air line to prevent vibration from fatiguing the material. Practically, the shops at work all have copper air delivery systems, and I'd like to make mine similar to that for the sake of commonality and comparison.

I believe that the commonality usually has more to do with what you have at work that will also work at home.
By the way there is nothing wrong with copper air line at all. We use them for instrumentation in refineries as well as chemical plants all the time and they do not regularily work harden and fail. Of course they have a fatigue life, everything does.

Matt, Isn't that a 100ft roll up? Are you making a manifold for a bench? Your garage isn't that big and it just struck me that that thing would probably reach your neighbors house.

Yeah, PVC in the shop wasn't my idea.. You gotta love techs.. even with all their obvious faults!! I much prefer ABS to it in applications like that (read SpudGun!), so when it does go, it simply splits instead of fragments!

Heck no.. I wasn't suggesting you thread anything. Your fav big box store has all kinds of precut, or if you talk to the guy cutting the pipe nicely, they'll thread anything you want for free! Just for future reference. I love copper for it's ease of fabrication, but I've been on the wrong end of people pulling hoses and snapping off the end and a pair of blow-outs, so it's black pipe for me!

Just build a slope and a drain into the system. Gotta get the water out! Even with separators it'll still collect and if there is enough in there.. your garage isn't heated, right?

Cheers!

Ken

Wow, that's disappointing. I'm getting suspension stuff built up. Unfortunately, quality control of these lower ball joints is--to say the least--disheartening...

Is it simply a bad batch, or a one off part that was incorrectly built? I ordered a replacement ball joint and I'll return the 12x1.5 thread one as soon as possible!! Grr, angryface!

What make are they?

A few years ago someone on here had a generic one fail while pulling out of their driveway. I seem to remember after some research/discussion/evaluation, the consensus was that the generic ones are not as good as the expensive Mazda ones. Wonder if that is the case here?

Beck/Arnley. From what I know, they're just rebranded parts, so I have no certainty where they're from, but they looked like the Moogs. I've got a replacement B/A ordered and then I'll send back the incorrectly threaded one.

Here was my Rock Auto LBJ finding report from the LBJ failure thread: viewtopic.php?p=112506#p112506

If something happens again, I'm won't hesitate to get the Moog or the Raybestos. I've started learning what my "cost savings vs. hassle" tradeoff points are.

Top tip: greyhound hairs and chips from an adjustable reamer look quite similar. Only one of these items can be safely brushed from a sweater with bare hands.