I've never modified the Calmini setup (my rig is SAS'd with a D44 now), but theres no reason that it wouldnt work. The bearings would completely eliminate the wear that is showing up on the arms. With the spherical bearing setup, the bearing to arm contact is static and all movement is entirely within the bearing itself.

I've looked at the dimensions of the Calmini arm, the bushings, and the mounting bracket, and the bearings I found will work well with it. The Calmini bolt is 1" diameter so should work perfectly with the above mentioned bearings. Like I said, any machine shop will know how to do it... just tell them exactly what you want and take them all the parts so they can machine it and assemble it for you.

Why the choice of the ball joint bearing vs. needle bearings or a timken bearing?

use sphericals because timken & needle bearings are expensive, and usually larger for the same shaft diameter.

I ordered my bearings this morning and will try doing this. I'll take pictures and let everyone know how it turns out.

Axle

So how's it working out so far?

Ooooh the frustration!

Axle, you can change your club to RMXC. Keep us informed as there are several RMXCers fed up with the crappy design.

Well here's the bearings.



I should get my idler arm machined this week so I'll be ready for the run this weekend. Once again I'll take pictures and let everyone know how it turns out.

Axle

I received my idler arm back from Calmini yesterday. It's been rebuilt with their new process and materials.

I will put it on tonight and finally drive my X to work again

I sure hope the challenge has been solved !!!

Good to hear Roger..

Let us know how it works out. Take pics.

I should get mine back from the machine shop today also. I'll take pictures and let everyone know how it turns out.

Axle

Sweet

Scratch that, it'll be tomorrow.

Axle

Axle,

I may want to spend the $ to get the work done on my spare idler arm. When you are done, I may want to check it out. It is only a few miles north to Colo. Springs.

Todd

I'm still running on the original Calmini bushings...I think 15K or so,... so far...no problems. (I have the Xcursion improved versions on deck if I need them, I just thought it would be sooner.

I just exchanged my idler arm out for a rebuilt one from calmini under warranty its supposed to have been improved and hopefully will be the end of the problem. My original one had about 35k miles on it with the bushings replaced once. I'd like to thank Steve and the rest of the guys at calmini for helping me get back on the road after the centerlink tie rod became damaged and unusable.

Well here it's done.

Here it is with the new bearing in it.



And here it is installed in the brace.



The bearings are just slightly larger than the original holes for the bronze bushings. The bearings were slightly pressed into place so they wouldn't rotate in their hole. The original sleeve had to be turned down to fit inside the new bearings and it too was slightly pressed into place so the only movment in there should be where it's supposed to occur. There is ZERO slop in this new setup.

Well I'm going to go and grease it up and put it on the truck to test it out this weekend. I'll report back on how it does.

Axle

Damn, I really want to check that out. I should be up to St. Elmo Sunday.

Essentialy what you have done is build a hub-n-bearing assembly. Which is used in alot of front wheel drive cars and accepts radial and axial loads. Might just do the trick.

good luck! I hope to see this resolved

Hows it holding up?

Josh

Well I took it out this weekend and wheeled on it for a day. It still appears the same as it was before. No slop at all and holding up well.

Axle

Very nice, Axle...

Glad to see you took my advice on the bearings. From my experience, that setup will be pretty much indestructible and should outlast the truck.

Well i'm doing it, i just ordered my bearings. Called calmini to see if they would just sell me the arm and the sleeve itself, so if things went bad i wouldnt be screwed, but they said no. O well.

Josh

Hey Josh, come check us out
HERE

We're close by with a few members in Morgantown and Fairmont.

Bearings came today. I am having trouble finding a shop that will work on the part. The three close ones I’ve been to so far say they won’t do it for liability reasons. I suggested that I just bring them the arm and the bearing so they "don’t know" that it is for a vehicle. One shop agreed, but with them not being open on the weekends, and me having two classes plus research during the week, would be really tuff. I was planning on having them take the part off since I don’t really have the tools here to take it off, plus transportation would become difficult. Was thinking about renting a car, but what a pain. It looks like I might have to wait till the end of this semester before I can get it installed. Sorry, just needed to vent my frustration. What ever happened to giving a guy 50 bucks under the table to do you a favor? I even told them I’d give him 200 bucks cash if we could do it on the weekend so I wouldn’t have to deal with taking it off, and dealing with transportation, no dice though.

You don't have a buddy with a car you could inconvenience for a couple of days while you get your truck fixed? I know it's a pain but it's worth it in the end.

Axle