DIY Roller Perches

This is a borrowed idea from FordMuscle members DazeCars and OpenTrackerRacing as well as the FordMuscle article "Track Tricks". I ordered 3 sets of the DIY roller perches from DazeCars. He offers rebuild kits for guys that want to fab up there own. So here's how I did it.


He shipped them out to me and was very good to deal with. He also has a step by step web site that I followed to do my perches but I had to do a few things differently due to my not having the same tools as him, plus I like to keep a play by play of the things I do. Anyway at the same time I put out a couple of posts for some used donor perches. I got 3.5 sets right away.


but 1 set was not in any condition for this project so they were for practice only. Be sure to inspect your perches to make sure that they are solid and not cracked or damaged in anyway. You want top notch perches for this project. To make my write up brief I will only note the steps I did differently over what Daz has on his web site
I got the bearings out and cleaned them up


Then I took the tubing and placed it on the perch. I used a scribe (a nail works to) to trace the line that I needed to cut.


Now I have a drill press and a hole saw blade but it did not work very well at all. So I decided to use my side grinder and my dremel.

I started but using the side grinder to take out the big area with in the line then when all of that was done I used my drumell to do the fine work. Believe it or not this worked very well and only took about 15 min a perch to do. Test fit the tubing as you go.


Only 2 more sets to go. I am still short one good set (at least one perch) at this time.

OK. I am still short one set of perches but I did get the other two sets welded. They came back looking good. The welds are awesome. This is one thing that if you are not 100% capable then source it out. I punched the shaft and put on the bearing as per Daze’s instructions.






Now I had to hone the inside of the bearing journal/tube. I started with some grinding stones. They worked but it was very slow moving. I grabbed my drumel with a cutting wheel and used that. This went much faster and was much more precise. The finish inside the tube is mirror smooth. Be sure to stop and check the fit often. Once I was able to slide the bearings in on one side I would flip the perch and check the fit on the other side.
I made sure that the bearing fit but was not at all loose. Snug but it will slide through. Once I had the fit I took and primed the perches. Once dry I fit the bearing and followed Daze’s instructions. Painted black with gloss black rustoleum paint and added the bolts, nuts, and rubber saddle pads (I reused the saddle pads from the donor perches). They are finished! Two more sets to go


These will go great with some new springs, shocks, and adjustable strut rods!! More to come!!


References:

DazeCars, Roller Spring Perches

Opentracker Racing Products

FM Article "Track Tricks"
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congrats on the install very nice writeup as well, just one question

did you use the divot method? i can see the bearings working there way further inside past the divot's(i speak from experience on the machinery i work on here at work)

if you can get the bearings out, what i would do is figure out where you want them, measure the inner space between them and get either a plastic tube(most likely from the looks of it 1" schedule 40 pvc would do) or even a metal tube, and sleeve that over the inner rod, then install the outter bearings and you would never have to worry about them working inwards.

just my .02

Thanks very much for the positive review.

I punched some divit holes (not really sure what they are called) and this prevents the bearings from sliding in any further. Then I endedup crimping the tubing in the middle so that I have access to the shock mount area. This also prevents the bearing from moving. Both of these steps are nicely documented on Daze site: DazeCars, Roller Spring Perches

Thanks very much.

I HATE the idea of smashing the tube and center punching the the shaft to me it is half assed. I realize nobody will see these things under there but I like things to look alot neater if I can. I also hate the idea of folding over the edges as well.

I pressed my bearings in so they will not move in or out and tacked them to the inside of the journel. at this point instead of center punching the shaft I did a temp tack weld to hold them in place until I decide what to do with them, Im thinking about a special washer with a lip and a pin or threading the shafts ends and installing a lock nut with a washer, or grooving the shaft and putting a lock ring on it.. Im not knocking the daze design as his idea was for a DIY cheap home project but they can be done better. In fact one of FM's moderators makes these and are cheaper then OTR's pieces.

that is a good idea. At the time that I made these I had not seen to many other ways of doing them. I agree that if I were to do it again I think I could make improvements. However, with that said, these work great and I am very happy with them. And you can't be the price when you can DIY.

It's easy to ruin a bearing by welding on it. I wouldn't recommend it. A good, strong tack would be pushing it, I would think.

Originally Posted by n2omike

It's easy to ruin a bearing by welding on it. I wouldn't recommend it. A good, strong tack would be pushing it, I would think.

oh for sure, which is why it is anything but good and strong. Merely to just hold it in place for the time being. I wouldnt even call it a tac maybe a quick stab with the feeder and extremely low heat. I would not recommend it for a permanent fix. I will probably take the shafts to work and groove them to fit a snap ring with, then trim the edges of the tubefor a bit of clearance. Im 100% sure the bearings will not come out of their position after I pressed them in at work.

Nice project.

I built a similar set for my Mustang with advice/help from Opentracker. There was a very noticiable improvement in both ride comfort and handling. I highly recommend this mod.

Phil

I am just saying i dont trust the punched inner's(i suppose its fine if there is no side load on the inner shaft) but here at work we have alot of inner pins riding on roller bearings and the punched divots always wear out and the bearing slides off.

here is what i am thinking to prevent it from happening on this mod
the inner red sleve is the same size as the inner race on the bearing(it could be made out of plastic or metal) at least that is my plan when i go to do mine.

Originally Posted by malodin

I am just saying i dont trust the punched inner's(i suppose its fine if there is no side load on the inner shaft) but here at work we have alot of inner pins riding on roller bearings and the punched divots always wear out and the bearing slides off.

here is what i am thinking to prevent it from happening on this mod
the inner red sleve is the same size as the inner race on the bearing(it could be made out of plastic or metal) at least that is my plan when i go to do mine.

Id be more worried about them sliding towards the outside vs the inside. I could see that thing acting more like a slide hammer and bumping the bearings out. the amount of force thats being pushed up on these bearings I doubt they will move. Now if this shaft was rotating 360 then the variable change in force would allow the bearing to walk if not held in. The design the daze has is fine my only gripe is the pretty factor.