Bongo Fury

Two dozen 4" screw, another skin of ply on the lower rear and another pair of hands, and this contraption should be ready to do ball joints tomorrow.

Top and bottom, there are two 4x2s morticed into the uprights, with 5 layers of 150mm wide ply end-on and a further full-width ply skin either side. The uprights consist of a 4x2 and a ply outer skin. A 30mm 3/8" square steel frame and some offcuts of 4x2 dictated the dimensions.

Wood can provide excellent stiffness - see this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyyPHxPgGHg). That's something else I'd like to build.

Improvements may include a steel strap around the circumference, a vertical sliding table and a flexi work light.

I considered a £55 6t steel press off eBay, or £21 at the local garage if I just take the wishbones in but making this was a lot more fun! I may end up spending more than both of those figures put together, but the satisfaction of (hopefully ) doing these myself must be worth at least half of that.

Tomorrow, I'll get the van back into the garage and try out the Arcan jack on it.

Hi
Nice press there!...could be the makings of a Cider press?
Cheers
Helen

The press is substantial, and works a treat. It is a pity the operator lacks the training necessary to use it correctly. A classic example of learning from one's mistakes.

Add the cost of another ball joint to the job...


Funnily enough, when Zoe rolled her eyes because I'd made a press instead of dropping the wishbones into the local garage ("just to prove that I could", she said - she's right!), my defence included now having the ability to bend/fold metal and make cider. It didn't wash.

Matt you should have added ...and to crack my own balls.... she would have liked that.

Tony

MountainGoat wrote:Matt you should have added ...and to crack my own balls.... she would have liked that.

Tony

Balls of Steel.

In getting this van back on the road, at least I can say that I have truly "bust my balls" doing it.

Driver+Passengers wrote:The press is substantial, and works a treat. It is a pity the operator lacks the training necessary to use it correctly. A classic example of learning from one's mistakes.

Add the cost of another ball joint to the job...


Funnily enough, when Zoe rolled her eyes because I'd made a press instead of dropping the wishbones into the local garage ("just to prove that I could", she said - she's right!), my defence included now having the ability to bend/fold metal and make cider. It didn't wash.

Hi Matt, tell her you can hire it out at £5.00 a side or do the job for £10 a side. That might impress her.

She has responded with a thumbs up. Thanks, Peter.

Rubbers on the replacement balls went as well, again within a matter of weeks. Am being sent out 4 rubbers from the same folk, though they're from a different source than the ball joints they provide.

I'm at a loss. Are my tapers too big and I'm compressing the rubber too much, or what??

there can be only a couple of reasons for whats happening matt.
either the replacement tapered/ balls are to small and are therefore going up into the receivers too far.
or the rubbers have not enough fold in them to allow for them to swivel etc.
the rubbers are crap rubbers.

measure the holes in the swivels.and measure the tapers top and bottom, and i will compare with some of the swivels and balls i have.

Will do.

New boots through - part number 09-193-6. They fit with a little stretch, are shorter and have a very different profile, so I expect these to cope with the vertical clearance/compression much better. Time will tell...

I googled the part number and found a post on Rennlist...
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/9 ... -boot.html

Dimensions (approx): small end 15mm, large end 30mm, height 27mm.

Could be similar to #4 on http://www.balljointboots.co.uk...?