Suspension Pivot Block Replacement

Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 at 07:32
ThreadID: 122984 Views:5014 Replies:0 FollowUps:0
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This post was originally posted on the Owners Forum, however it was suggested that I post it here as well.

These parts can wear as we found out, so we recommend to Outback travellers to get down & dirty once in a while, and inspect the underside of your Bushtracker.

We are currently over three quarters of our way on a ‘figure eight’ route (starting Sydney) through our great country. Our aim is to see as much of the outback desert tracks while we still can. (We were late starters) Anyhow this why we bought the BT in the first place.

After arriving in Alice Springs via the Great Central Road, I noticed that the tyres were scrubbing, so a check on wheel alignment was on the list.
When getting under the BT to check nuts for spanner selection, I noticed that the poly blocks on the spring pivots were damaged on one side & missing completely on the passenger side.

A telephone call to the Lone Ranger at BT gave me all the info for a change out of the pivot blocks, and Steve also guaranteed that a pair of replacements would be sent by express post that (Friday) afternoon. The replacements arrived on Monday, (long weekend on the East coast) & because of this I didn’t check with the Post Office until Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, I found on my computer an article written by Turist on 16/5/05 ‘Spring Seat Replacement’ (Post ID 1573). (I keep all info from the BOG site such as this on my computer for future reference.) This article outlines the procedure for this replacement in the field, and is an excellent reference.
After lowering the spring & removing the remains of the pivot block, I noticed that the bush that supports the pivot block on the chassis was missing. It had been wrecked by the bolt on the worn out pivot block.

THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO GET DOWN AND DIRTY REGULARLY AND CHECK THAT EVERYTHING STILL IS OK UNDER THE BT WHILE YOU ARE TRAVELLING ROUGH ROADS. I’ve learnt another good lesson.

This resulted in another call to Bushtracker and more discussions with Steve. Spare bushes were available at Bushtracker, but Steve suggested that a quicker way would be to have them made up in Alice Springs. Steve sent me by Email a digital photo of the bush, together with dimensions. I printed out this photo and took it to Aspinall Engineering in Alice Springs. They informed me they could make up a replacement that afternoon & weld it onto the chassis of the BT in the caravan park next morning.
This was done in a professional manner, and I would recommend this company to any Bogger that needs repair to the BT in Alice, their phone number is 8952 7661.
I was then able to follow Bob’s (Turist) instructions & have it all back together in an hour or so.

THIS PROBLEM WAS MY FAULT. We’ve been travelling since May, & have been on many really nasty sections of Oodnadatta Track, Tanami, Gibb River, Kalumburu & Great Central Roads. Even at low speeds, and tyres down to 26 PSI cold, this problem can still happen. Getting down & dirty & seeing what is going on under the BT would have minimised the damage. Providing you have spares, changing worn pivot blocks would be a hour at the most.

The backup provided by Steve at Bushtracker is the stuff that legends are made of.
I have called BT a few times in this trip for advice on a variety of fixable problems, Bushtracker have always connected me to the appropriate person for the problem and I have never been disappointed with the answers and solutions I have received.
Great support Bushtracker! Thanks again.

Still enjoying the adventure

Neil & Pat
A Bushtracker (or BT) is a "Boys Toy"

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