Strut bushing mod

[tiqueman]

Ive had a drive issue ever since I went to the Miss Vegas strut on a 32" cat. When I re-built my drive line, I installed a 1/4" stuffing tube. That tube slides snug into the Strut. Then I built a strut bushing out of 7/32, using the 1/4" to create a lip at one end, replicating what it would look like if I bought one at the LHS. That slides into the 1/4" stuffing tube. Now heres my problem. Everything is in place before the run, but afterwards, the bushing has slid out towards the prop (into my 1/8" gap to the drive dog) and the lip has dropped out the back and now my 3/16 shaft has a lot of wiggle room.

So heres what I did. I took a .187 Aeromarine lead bushing and installed it in the tail of the strut. I cut my 1/4" strut accordingly to make all pieces fit correctly. The lead bearing pressed in too easily so I had to expand it just a bit to keep it snug in the strut. So now, to put it all together correctly, the brass strut bushing, slides into the 1/4" stuffing tube. Then the strut w/ the lead bushing slides onto that and everything is now secure and cannot slide back toward the prop and drop out.

Does anyone think this was a bad idea? Im just thinking, If I have a shaft slopping all around back there, things are going to wear out more quickly and something may even come to break.

The other thing I was thinking of doing is making a new strut bushing, but making the 1/4" lip part 2 or 3 times longer so that cannot drop out the strut, then it would only slide back.

[Jeff Wohlt]

I couple spots of solder on 4 sides of the bushing top and bottom so it stays square and then file them down a bit so the bushing is tight in the tube....that is all you need to do.

If it is going in the stuffing tube then Jay T and Mike Z say let it spin but that is not what I do. Brass on brass sliding does not make a good surface and wears as brass is soft but brass and SS does make an excellent bearing surface. I also do not use a stuffing tube running thru the strut either but the nitro boys do...mainly it gives a little more support for an IC engine since they vibrate like a mother.

Not sure I would use that system in the picture unless all the slop is out from both types of bearings used. You could just use 2-3 teflon bushings and be done with it.

[tiqueman]

I couple spots of solder on 4 sides of the bushing top and bottom so it stays square and then file them down a bit so the bushing is tight in the tube....that is all you need to do.

If it is going in the stuffing tube then Jay T and Mike Z say let it spin but that is not what I do. Brass on brass sliding does not make a good surface and wears as brass is soft but brass and SS does make an excellent bearing surface. I also do not use a stuffing tube running thru the strut either but the nitro boys do...mainly it gives a little more support for an IC engine since they vibrate like a mother.

Not sure I would use that system in the picture unless all the slop is out from both types of bearings used. You could just use 2-3 teflon bushings and be done with it.

Thanks Jeff. There is no slop in any of the components now. Accept, IM guessing the strut bushing is still spinning in there. I thought about tacking it w/ solder so the bushing couldnt move. I read that post a few weeks back about different bushings/ bearings and ways to install. What people thought they should or shouldnt do.... I have no proof of whats right or wrong, all I can say is, again, right or wrong, I did not like the idea of the bushing (brass) spinning inside another brass tube. I may just tear it down again at somepoint, shorten up my stuffing tube just so it enters the strut a little bit, and install more teflon bushings...

[ozzie-crawl]

if your making your own bush why not make the lip longer than the gap you have in between the strut and drive dog, this way it will still work as intended but the support lip wont come all the way out.
on a side note i had a strut on a cat doing they exact same thing but on another cat it stays in there,both speed master struts

[Shooter]

Very ingenious tiqueman. Looks as though it will solve your problem! The only thing I would watch is the front face of the brass bushing. Take a look at it after several runs and see how much it rubs against the lead bushing (assuming the brass bushing spins). This might create a little unwanted friction, but probably negligable. Should work fine!

I like Jeff's idea with the solder. IMO, the strut should be a very light press into the stuffing tube so that it doesn't spin (or move outwards like yours did). I've found that some of the strut bushings from AQCFT fit very nicely with no mod right out of the bag, and others do not. Must be a tolerance issue. I work with press fits on a daily basis, and they require extremely tight tolerances....especially if we are shooting for a light press like this one is!

[tiqueman]

if your making your own bush why not make the lip longer than the gap you have in between the strut and drive dog, this way it will still work as intended but the support lip wont come all the way out.
on a side note i had a strut on a cat doing they exact same thing but on another cat it stays in there,both speed master struts

Im still considering that. The only reason I did it the way I did was that I wanted to eliminate the "sliding back" all together. It just bothers me to see the bushing coming out. I was going to just run it with 2 or 3 teflon bushings only, but seeing as it seems most FE, at least that Ive seen, are running w/ the brass bushing, I wanted to keep it incorperated into the system. I will get several runs on it and see what is happening and go from there.

Shooter, Thanks, I thought about what it might do to the lead bushing as well. Time will tell. I pulled it today after 2 short runs. Nothing noticable yet...