Anyone ever straighten a twisted FEL?

[Car Doc]

It is important to establish some sort of datum line that you can measure off of.

Keep in mind, sometimes things are made with dimensions that are not the same on both sides. This is done for no other reason but to frustrate the poor guy trying to repair them. :thumbsup:

Welcome to my world.

Yes that is exactly true you talk like a frame man!

I was a rebuilder/used car dealer for quite a few years and even went thru Chiefs frame school when I bought my frame machine then was educated the hard way here in my shop hahaha.

 

[blueriver]

Thanks to every idea that has been shared.

Here is the process that I went with this afternoon ... I set up the transit level and used hyd jacks to ensure that the the frame of the tractor from left to right ... front to rear was the same... as mentioned there appeared to be a difference in my concrete floor .... This gave me a measurement with the bucket off and using the transit of 2 and15/16 difference between the front loader arms. So obviously it was teeked ...

I saw no variance in the frame, mounting brackets, bolts or bolt holes. I then chained down the right side and used a 12 ton hyd jack under the left side and just put the pressure to it ... when I finished this evening I had 7/8 of an inch difference from left to right.... I will go after that in the next day or two.

A little scary at times wondering if the jack was going to kick out or if something was going to give. So far so good ...

Thanks again ... I think I will get it!!

 

[ray66v]

Sounds like you have a plan.

If it puts up too much resistance, sometimes you do have to use some heat on it.

 

[crazyal]

Yes that is exactly true you talk like a frame man!

I was a rebuilder/used car dealer for quite a few years and even went thru Chiefs frame school when I bought my frame machine then was educated the hard way here in my shop hahaha.

Years ago when a neighbor and I started getting into rebuilding cars we bought an EZ liner II after the salesman demo'd a unit where he took a paper towel and clamped both ends and slowly tightened it up without ripping it. Never went to the classes though.

 

[blueriver]

Sounds like you have a plan.

If it puts up too much resistance, sometimes you do have to use some heat on it.

I thought about that ... but I ask myself excatly where do I heat it? The problem is really not visable.

Ya know its one of those things that everytime you walk past ... you sit down and study ... just keep looking and checking.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I thought about that ... but I ask myself excatly where do I heat it? The problem is really not visable.

Ya know its one of those things that everytime you walk past ... you sit down and study ... just keep looking and checking.

Is there a torsion tube crossing between the arms? Thats what Id heat. With the force youre putting on it it wont take much. Probably dont even need to get it hot enuf to burn the paint.
larry

 

[Bison]

Did you try chaining the high side to something it cant lift and use the tractor hydr to twist it back by lifting the loader?

 

[ray66v]

I thought about that ... but I ask myself excatly where do I heat it? The problem is really not visable.

Ya know its one of those things that everytime you walk past ... you sit down and study ... just keep looking and checking.

Be glad you not doing it on the clock. :thumbsup:

 

[blueriver]

Is there a torsion tube crossing between the arms? Thats what Id heat. With the force youre putting on it it wont take much. Probably dont even need to get it hot enuf to burn the paint.
larry

Yes there is a torsion tube between them ... I guess you would heat it ike dead center?

 

[blueriver]

Did you try chaining the high side to something it cant lift and use the tractor hydr to twist it back by lifting the loader?

Yes ... and when it had the up pressure I then added the jack ... I believe that gave it more using the loader Hyd to assist.

 

[blueriver]

Be glad you not doing it on the clock. :thumbsup:

Ya!! Sometimes I get lost in the moment and it appears I sit there longer than need be. OHHHH How I study things!!

If I was a beer drinker I probably could really get it examined!!

 

[SPYDERLK]

Yes there is a torsion tube between them ... I guess you would heat it ike dead center?

Sorta. I would try to broaden the area of heat influence by waving the torch back and forth about 6" along the tube spanning the center. Two std propane torches opposing would help you warm the circumference more uniformly. Im serious about not needing much heat. Since you are preloading the anti tweak highly a little relaxation of the metal will go a long way. Try raising the center portion of the tube to the boiling point and experiment in that area. A wet finger touch will detect sizzle somewhere above 300F. That would be where I would suspect the paint would start to discolor.
larry

 

[blueriver]

Sorta. I would try to broaden the area of heat influence by waving the torch back and forth about 6" along the tube spanning the center. Two std propane torches opposing would help you warm the circumference more uniformly. Im serious about not needing much heat. Since you are preloading the anti tweak highly a little relaxation of the metal will go a long way. Try raising the center portion of the tube to the boiling point and experiment in that area. A wet finger touch will detect sizzle somewhere above 300F. That would be where I would suspect the paint would start to discolor.
larry

The torsion tube has all the metal hyd lines on it ... do I need to remove them? Will the heat get them?

 

[ray66v]

I have never seen a situation were something that basically would not move cold, is going to suddenly become submissive, after you heat it to just 300 degrees.

 

[blueriver]

Well its done ... I got the last out of it. So close its unreal. I will go get pictures ...

Here is what I did today. Chained it down and put the jack under the low side and gave it to it ... nothing just wouldn't move. So I blocked the low side with timbers under it about 16" of them and then applied down pressure on the loader and took the second tractor and loader and came in on the other side and applied pressure down with that loader and ... well its real straight now ... quess I tweeked it back into shape!!

 

[SPYDERLK]

The torsion tube has all the metal hyd lines on it ... do I need to remove them? Will the heat get them?

If they are on one side shield them with a piece of sheet metal. You dont want them touched by flame wash

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have never seen a situation were something that basically would not move cold, is going to suddenly become submissive, after you heat it to just 300 degrees.

Check back. It had moved quite a bit. Highly stressed metal can easily be very near plastic deformation. A little heat can put it over the hump. Depending how near plasticstress point, a hot day in the sun can move it.
He got it by just using more force tho.
larry

 

[yooper1]

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

 

[blueriver]

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

Heres a couple shots ... notice in the 2nd one it even looks level across the front of the tractor.

Thanks Everyone I really appreciate the info.

 

[ray66v]

Check back. It had moved quite a bit. Highly stressed metal can easily be very near plastic deformation. A little heat can put it over the hump. Depending how near plasticstress point, a hot day in the sun can move it.
He got it by just using more force tho.
larry

I spent over 30 years straightening frames, among other things, in the auto body repair business.

So trust me, I know exactly what, when, where, and how much heat it takes, when it won't move, because I have done it thousands of times.