3PH Stabilizer-Custom Made-Pics

[npalen]

Spent a few hours of my retirement making parts for these sway stabilizers for my Mahindra 3015 tractor which had the turnbuckle style.
The heim ball joints are purchased of course.

The tires on the Mahindra are very close to the 3PH so had to put a bend in the male telescoping member as shown.

Used 7/8" inch square C1018 for it and 1 1/4" x 3/16" square tubing for the female which leaves about 1/32" total sliding clearance. (The wall is actually about 0.170" on the tubing)
Had to bevel the corners on the 7/8" square to allow for the inside radii of the tubing and also machine a small groove to clear the weld flash inside the tubing.

The goal was to keep the design as compact as possible due to very limited space when the 3PH is spread wide for changing attachments.

Had the parts zinc plated to resist rust.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

VERY nice. :thumbsup:

 

[mike48130]

Looks great. They are very close to the tires. Is that position in the third photo pushed farthest out? Are your rims adjustable to be able to move the rear tires out some?

 

[rusty842]

That’s some awesome work. Wish I had the equipment and patients to do something like that.

 

[npalen]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments.
The third pic does show the link adjusted to the extreme "out" position. The nice thing about the heim joints is that the stud end is threaded (1/2"-20) so they can be adjusted to where there is not contact with the tire in the extreme out.
The wheels are not adjustable and there isn't even enough clearance for tire chains. I think some guys will put 1" or more spacers between the wheel and hub to get some clearance.

I've spent the last 50+ years trying to perfect my machinist skills but probably should have spent some of that on welding skills.

 

[cphilip]

I hated the turnbuckle style too. Had the pin and bar style on my old Ford. Didn't take me long to find enough close matching parts and adapt mine to pin and bar as well. Much more user friendly and worth the effort to do. In my case I was able to find parts off an earlier model and just make some changes. Yours are really nicely made I must say. The Koreans made mine... lol...

 

[npalen]

Thanks.
The location of the slot and matching hole(s) is important to allow float but still prevent hitting the tires. I guess it just needs to coincide with the hole position that allows the lift arm to be pinned in the farthest "out" position. I will say that there is a little more to positioning the holes and slot in the male and female parts than meets the eye.
I may have went a bit overboard on the number of holes but it does allow adjusting in 3/16" increments.

 

[mcfarmall]

Great job! Must be nice having a plating shop nearby that will do less-than-semi-load work!!

 

[npalen]

Thanks! Yes, this is the first time I've had plating done and was a little bit surprised that they would do the ten pounds or so. There is a $40 minimum but felt it was very worthwhile. Paint just doesn't stand up in an application like this.

 

[Stomper]

Great job. I love diy projects. Looks like your 50 years of honing your machinist skill defiantly worked