So I started working on the rear suspension. I was thinking about how to use the miata rear spindles with rod ends and spherical bearings and I wasn't sure the best way. I looked into the miata rear housing spherical kit from ICSracing and decided against it, I'm not sure the lifespan of spherical bearings in that application but that and the welding the sleeves to hold the bearing in just didn't sit quite well with me. I'm sure it's fine but I kinda wanted a different way to do it.
Here is what I came up with. Parts I used:
From pegasus auto racing
2 Spherical Bearing Weld Cup for 1" (1.00") O.D. Bearing 1825-150-1000
2 Narrow Spherical Bearing, 1/2 x 1.0 3071-8\
From online metals
1 random length (10-12") piece of 1.5 x .065 DOM tubing
1 10-12" piece of .0625x.065 DOM tubing
I had to file the inside of the rear spindle where the rubber bushing usually is a little bit. When I measured the outside I came up with 1.48" ID. A couple minites with the file and I had a nice press in sleeve that was 1.37ID to fit the 1.375 weld cup(I am going to grind a little bit off the weld cup and weld it into the sleeve).
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Then I took a 5/8 drill and drilled out the bottom bolt holes in the spindle. Cut my pieces of DOM tubing to fit and voila.
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The only thing I am not sure of is the spherical bearing strength, it seems a little bit small to me but the radial load rating seemed ok at 17,900 lb. If nothing else the whole thing is captive so it shouldn't be too bad if a failure occurs. That being said I went with the higher quality spherical bearing.
I also grinded off the flashing material and the ABS sensor nub. I know a guy who does this in spec miata to save a little bit of unsprung mass.
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