Hello All, I need to repair/drill/ream the pin holes on the frame of my old 5500 Ford. I also need to do the same of some of the cylinders and the stabilizer arms. I don't have a local line boring company available to me, not that I could afford it anyway. I have a drill press and would like to try and drill everything, except the places on the hoe itself. But I tried drilling on the front bucket linkage arms before and it wasn't happening. They are/were super hard. I purchased a very good bit to do it, and used cutting oil. I didn't need to enlarge the holes by much, so I am wondering if that is why they wouldn't drill out??? I ended up taking them to a machine shop and he said the steel on those arms was super hard!!! Anyway, I don't have much choice in trying to drill the other parts and the hoe frame again. Any suggestions from anyone???? Maybe a supplier for a super good bit or reamer??? I considered maybe going to a smaller pin, so I could install a bushing, but I still need to true up the holes to install a bushing. And I fear a smaller pin might compromise the strength of the parts... Thank you all for any suggestions you might have.. THX...AL
Have you looked at the import line boring setups? they can be had very cheap compared to name brand... albeit with less quality but still plenty usable for the DIY'er... you don't mention budget so I throw that out there Another thing you could try is annealing the area where the pins go to soften things up a bit, more than likely the area is work hardened from the pins wearing and hammering away at it. The annealing method will take quite a bit of heat however especially where you have fairly thick steel so this may not be the best method to go. Another route is make your own home made line bore setup... it really isn't that hard if you got some skills in metalworking and a bit of ingenuity... lots of people have done this just search around the web and you'll see a few examples. I would really recommend against downsizing the pins the strength drops off really fast even if the diameter is just a quarter inch smaller.
Could you put a layer of braze inside the worn hole, then ream it back to original size, which would leave braze in the low spots? I know it would not be as strong as the hard steel it came with, but with a little grease I bet it would last a long time, and be a quick way to take the slop out.
Thanks Guys for the replies... I didn't think downsizing the pins was good either... I might try the brazing idea. The holes are quite worn, probably enough, with a little grinding, could get a thin bushing in there. I am going to try some porting burrs and see where it leads. Hopefully I can find a reamer the size I need. I will let you know how it goes..
Are there bushings pressed in the arms? If so ... A 30 ton hollow cylinder & hand pump are reasonable to buy
If you need to take up slack in bushing holes you might want to think about using a build up rid and a good stick welder. Or check with your local tool rental business' they might have a boring machine to rent.
Depending on the location on the machine and how fussy you are, you might be able to weld on some external bushings and use a longer pin. I did it for the main lower pivot pin on the boom of my old 580 CK. Pretty sure I got those parts from the Case dealer but that was back before the internet. Something like a stabilizer doesn't matter much - you just need to check the swing clearances, etc, to make sure you have enough room.
I think brazing would be too soft and wouldn't last long. Then it makes it so you can't build it up with weld to fix it.