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P500 P500 a-arm mounting tab relocate..

Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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Been kicking this idea around since i got the portals. The tires rub on hard turns, so i thought about moving the a-arm mounting tabs forward on the frame to get the tires a couple of inches forward. I plan on just unplugging the a-arms, moving them forward, just on the front side of the tabs, and using one of the tabs, and welding a new tab in front of the a-arm bushing. Dont know if that made sense. The pics will tell you better than i can. I got a long piece of 3/8" threaded rod and washers and nuts from Tractor Supply and im using that to lign everything up. I cycled the suspension and there doesnt seem to be any binding from the new forward position. Gonna work on the passenger side today, and the drivers side tomorrow hopefully. Im slow at doing these types of things so hopefully i dont run out of weekend. Heres a few pics. Ill post more pics of the progress later this evening. Youre probably wondering why dont i just buy forward a-arms. Well, the one company that used to make forward a-arms for the P5 has become unreliable. Also, i like projects.

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Neohio

Neohio

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I know you like trying weird stuff. ......

Any though on putting left arms on right side, and right arms on left to move wheels forward? If it is even doable?
 
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Chooglin

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I know you like trying weird stuff. ......

Any though on putting left arms on right side, and right arms on left to move wheels forward? If it is even doable?
This was my thought also , then all you would need to move is the top shock mount (if doable) and the break line bracket.
 
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lee

lee

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I started to search for the frame mod for p500s.
It's been a while since I hare seen someone mention it, and I thought it might be easyer than rebuilding the front suspension.
First link I find is @Bastardchild frame clip (which is one of the more extream ones).
P500 - P500 frame mod

So never mind.
 
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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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I know you like trying weird stuff. ......

Any though on putting left arms on right side, and right arms on left to move wheels forward? If it is even doable?
My buddy mentioned that a while back and i looked into it and came to the conclusion that i would have to extend the front of the frame a little and build new a-arm tabs anyway, so i scrapped that idea. I have heard of people getting away with it on 4 wheelers though sometimes.
 
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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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So heres the progress. It was slow going. Got the passenger side done except for the shock mount, some gussets here and there, and i need to get a long drill bit tomorrow the size of the a-arm bolts. The holes i drilled today are 3/8" and they are slightly to small. I reamed the front upper and lower holes out a little with the 3/8" bit, and little bigger than 3/8" and the factory bolts slide in the fronts. I need to get a long drill bit tomorrow morning that will drill from the front to the back through all the tabs, then i can put the factory bolts in the backside upper and lower. Also, when i put it all back together i turned the wheel and the passenger wheel turned so far to the right i think i might have bent the little balljoint arm that comes out of the rack and pinion lol. When the wheel turns so far it starts dragging the ball joint thingy towards the front of the machine, when really the balljoint thing should push relatively straight in and out of the rack and pinion. So i might have to extend a little bracket off the side of the portal hub backing plate and relocate the tapered balljoint hole out on the bracket to put the hole more inline with the rack and pinion. That may give extra leverage and make the steering a little easier also. Tomorrow should go a little easier because i traced the new tabs onto steel for the drivers side, i aint gotta measure or anything for the drivers side, i figured that all out today. Anyway, pics tell a better story than me. It was a pain in the butt, but i got good clearance now on the passenger side. Just gotta work out a few bugs like always. Heres some pic.

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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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Yes its about 1.5" clearance now. I gotta do some running around this morning before i start on the drivers side. Im still contemplating how im gonna do the shock mounts. Maybe ill think that out while im doing the drivers side. I probably wont get to the shock mounts or ball joint steering hole issue until late next sunday, or early monday morning.
 
Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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Got the hard part done today. Both sides are moved forward now. Just gotta add some gussets in a couple of place, extend the balljoint mounting holes back a few inches to be inline with the rack and pinion, decide how i want the new shock mounts to look and build them, paint everything gloss black, and install the new smoked braided stainless steel brake lines i got from @jak9922 . Oh yeah, and mount the bumper back, gotta weld some mounting tabs on the bottom because i had to cut them off. Probably a good days work, but my next couple of weekends are gonna be messed up a little from traveling with the wife. The payoff is good though, the tires are nowhere near rubbing. I might peck at it here and there over the next few weekends when we get back in town. Heres some pics.

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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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I tinkered around with the shock mounting brackets today. I sliced underneath the rear shock mounting ear on the drivers top a-arm enough to slide a piece of 1/8" angle iron under it. I did it this way so i could keep the top part of the tab that has the hole in it so i can stick a piece of 3/8" rod through it to see where i need to mark to drill a hole in the new piece of angle. I drilled plug weld holes in the angle also. Once i had it plug welded and a few small beads on it holding it on i cut the old rear ear off to make room for the new one im going to make and weld in that will sandwich the bottom of the shock. Eventually all the old unused tabs will be gone and ground smooth and i will just have the new tabs i made. I dont have time for that today though. Gotta go out of town for the evening with the wife and i gotta clean up for today. Ill be back on it tomorrow sometime. Heres some pics.

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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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I about got the drivers side done today. I say 'about' because i need to get a longer bolt to hold the shock to the a-arm now because i used thicker metal than factory, and i need to take out my brand new upper ball joint and replace it with another. The threads stripped out on the new one because i was trying to tighten it enough to get a cotter pin through the castle nut and it stripped right when i could see about 1/3rd of the hole through the castle nut slot. I was gonna put 700-4 upper balljoints in but those things are so fat that the tapered part of the balljoint wont even begin to go down in the hole. So if i ordered these portals with the intentions of putting them on a 700, i would have been scratching my head when it came time to plug the upper balljoints into the portal hub backing plate. Still, i guess i gotta invest in one of those reamers, i thought the 700 upper balljoints would be the answer. :( I cut off all the unused brackets and ground stuff down and painted it. I gusseted the new mounting tabs on the upper a-arm and painted it. It wont get any awards for beauty, but im sure it will work. I also gotta extend the steering balljoint bung towards the back a couple of inches to put it inline with the steering rack. I think im also gonna bring it about a 1/2" towards the tire also, that way i can kinda unscrew steering balljoint and get it out there where the factory had it set at once again. I will get longer bolts tomorrow and try to get the passenger side done also. I will try to jump on moving the steering balljoint holes back next saturday. We are going riding next sunday! Whoot whoot!!

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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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Ok did the passenger side just like the drivers. I also left the washer off of the upper balljoint before i put the castle nut on, and took a little round file i had and filed the cotter pin hole a little deeper towards the threaded end of the balljoint and the cotter pin went in like butter. Now i just gotta move the steering balljoint holes a couple inches towards the rear and put my front bumper on and im calling this pain in the butt mod done! Gotta get it finished next saturday, we're riding sunday. Heres some pics.

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Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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I am impressed! Outstanding ideas and execution!
Haha thank you. Most of the time im like, "Hey i think im gonna do this here.." and then part way through im like, " Oh dang what was i thinking?! Now im dedicated to this hair brained idea!" Lol I guess it worked out though. Still got a little left to do but im over the major hurdle.
 
Bastardchild

Bastardchild

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Ok im all done with this mod. Got it all back together and loaded on the trailer with Sugar Pies P700-4, gassed up, beered up, ready for muddin tomorrow at 10k. I had to play around with where to put the balljoint hole location to get the most turn that i could. It doesnt turn as sharp as i'd like, but it will do. When i moved the hole 2" back i lost a lot of the steering. Thats when it dawned on me the further the hole gets away from the knuckle pivot point, the less i would be able to turn. So its about an inch back, and a half inch towards the outside. I unthreaded my balljoint things on the steering bars back out a half inch about where the factory had them. I welded my lower bumper brackets back on and put the calipers on. I put the sexy braided brakelines i got from @jak9922 and got the wife to pump the pedal while i bled the brakes. Took her for a spin and it drove good. The steering is nice and light again like from the factory. That could be the new balljoints, or the location of the steering balljoint holes, i dont know. Got her loaded and ready for tomorrow. Anyway, heres some pics. Im calling this done.

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rocmar

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Ok im all done with this mod. Got it all back together and loaded on the trailer with Sugar Pies P700-4, gassed up, beered up, ready for muddin tomorrow at 10k. I had to play around with where to put the balljoint hole location to get the most turn that i could. It doesnt turn as sharp as i'd like, but it will do. When i moved the hole 2" back i lost a lot of the steering. Thats when it dawned on me the further the hole gets away from the knuckle pivot point, the less i would be able to turn. So its about an inch back, and a half inch towards the outside. I unthreaded my balljoint things on the steering bars back out a half inch about where the factory had them. I welded my lower bumper brackets back on and put the calipers on. I put the sexy braided brakelines i got from @jak9922 and got the wife to pump the pedal while i bled the brakes. Took her for a spin and it drove good. The steering is nice and light again like from the factory. That could be the new balljoints, or the location of the steering balljoint holes, i dont know. Got her loaded and ready for tomorrow. Anyway, heres some pics. Im calling this done.

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Front end...looks "MEAN"
MANY PROPS....TOO YOU
Great job..
 
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