Re-bush Hendrickson 23,000 Lbs Torque Rod

As a spring shop one of the many services we offer is replacing bushings in torque rods. This one is designed by Hendrickson and is used for most 23,000 lbs axles, so we call it a 23,000 lbs torque rod. We have replaced bushings in hundreds of torque rods over the years, so I thought I'd show you how we do it in our shop.
If you replace the bushings differently in your shop, please link the video in the description down below.
Check out our store: simcoespring.com/
Follow me on Instagram: / simcoe_spring
Follow me on TicTok: www.tiktok.com/@simcoespring?...

[@daveooooo]

The best part was when you're washing the bearing races out of the tension rod with a torch.People don't realize how much skill that takes. I love doing it myself cutting the race without hurting the base metal great job.

[@Pamudder]

My thought exactly-- skill and experience make it look easy-- it isn't

[@cheeseymccheese7249]

Im a millwright and ive seen soooooo many tradesmen gunshy with blowing bushings out of places or off shafts with a torch. You went at it like youve done it 1000 times, Well done

[@simcoespring]

1000 times is probably more accurate than you think.

[@johndowe7003]

When ya got the proper tools.to.do it it's ez , it's a different ballgame when you're out in the field with just a hammer and misc. Tools

[@arthurmario5996]

well, this guy has the skill. if you don't, then you might burn away material that you should not!

[@wayneurban2748]

You do your job well son God bless you

[@charlesdefrancisco5056]

It’s very refreshing to enjoy a master exhibit his skills

[@patrickmoran8790]

I was glad to see that the spring assembly table is the modern hydraulic powered unit vs the air finger removers of old. I actually assembled a few springs on the air unit before I started building driveshafts full time. I’m a very big fan and a seller of Atro urethane bushings over OE or any other urethane option. I didn’t keep track of how many walking beam rebush jobs I sold, but the shop guys kept tally marks on the press for how many per year for years. I wish the modern days were like those days in many respects. 26 1/2 years at what was a spring, alignment, and brake shop that evolved to also a driveline and gear shop. I spent just over the first half in driveline, then the next 12 working parts counter/feeding shop guys parts and tech info/outside sales and teaching. Now I’m on another 8 years of various degrees of the same, and I’m too young to retire. I like what I do, and it also crosses over to hotrod and performance vehicles.

[@jamesmorgan6782]

That is one smooth operation. Experience at work great job you make it look easy.🙀👏

[@diegopalomino1200]

Awesome work, I really appreciate you taking the time to make and post this videos.

[@davidmunro1469]

Thank you for sharing. Your hydraulic vise and press are a dream.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Job done, no fuss, no muss.

[@proofbox]

Love your tools , the power vice is awesome .

[@Facucamaro]

You make it look easy, excellent work, greetings from Argentina...!🤙

[@snydedon9636]

Who couldn’t use a vice like that! Awesome

[@richardsmith7783]

Hey buddy, I have been watching lots of your videos. And what i like about yours is you don't bla bla all the way though them or act like your so much smarter then everyone! ..... I watch a lot of pakistan truck videos And your are right up there at the top!!

[@simcoespring]

Thanks! I try to emulate @abom79 videos. Explain it enough for people to understand and then actually show them. Plus I always love positive or educational feedback. I'm always still learning new tricks.

[@derekderexson248]

That clamp table is the shit. I don't need one with my current job, but my last with trucks, trailers, and equipment. I'd love to have one. Currently restoring classic cars,. So I don't need one.

[@SarbjitSingh-oe6eb]

idk why it's so satisfying to watch.

[@markiki77]

Excellent thank

[@johnjohannemann1220]

Excellent job as always complete with presentation

[@Zt3v3]

Now that is a press.

[@curtisharlan9230]

You guys do a good job

[@jerrykinnin7941]

Experience makes hard easy. Good job.

[@chriserickson3885]

Its amazing what you can do with the right tools and some know how.

[@simcoespring]

thank you, my dad made the little bushing installer about 30 years ago...and we still use it today.

[@brucetiller2360]

Very good, everything clean,good audio and video!

[@imchris5000]

having the right tools for the job makes it easy these a real fun to get in and out with a torch and sledge hammer

[@CT-qx8nl]

That work table with the clamp built in...Genius

[@stacydornan9765]

You got skills dude

[@joebaucom4537]

Great Job !

[@andyg817]

As long as u have a supplier/ company making new bushings of a good quality, u have a business there

[@VloggerRupenzal]

Good work brother 😊😊

[@jbaker8871]

Great work on the torch not touching the base metal.

[@henrystuckrath2701]

Nice work with The Smoke Wrench

[@oldstudbuck3583]

Binged watched several of your videos. Pleasure to watch. Never realized how useful the press and clamp table are for your type of work. I wonder how long it would take me to fall into the pit.

[@familytraditiontransportat7951]

Nice job. Next time I have to do those bushings on my Western Star (neway suspension) I'll be doing this instead of replacing the whole Rod. Didn't mind repalcing the rod this time as somebody cut/welded a sleeve on it to change the length and I think Ray Charles did the welding with his feet ... Wish I had a photo to share you'd get a good laugh! Keep up the awesomeness!

[@simcoespring]

Some torque rods are in 3 pieces and you cut and weld them together. But you are supposed to do a good job.of welding them together. Hehe. I'll do a short on them today and post it.

[@familytraditiontransportat7951]

@@simcoespring yeah this wasn't one. I cut it apart and it was torch cut with a thin wall metal sleeve. Scary honestly. Was glad to toss that into the scrap bin

[@fetus2280]

Holy crap, ive passed by your shop prob a thousand times and never noticed it :P Howdy Neighbor :)

[@simcoespring]

Howdy Neighbor! Always cool to have a local see my channel

[@fetus2280]

@@simcoespring Always cool seeing my locals on the youtubes... and of course i have to support them somehow :) cheers .

[@LovinJDA]

Love your work, the shop I worked in was very similar to yours. It was a small fleet shop. 100 trailers and over 50 trucks. I've done a lot of WTF**take pictures of*** jobs as I'm sure you have. Can't picture myself doing anything else though lol blessing and a curse.

[@simcoespring]

I have some jobs I feel like I cant even post on here because they are too crazy. But I do keep the pictures.

[@urbexandbrokenthings4806]

always informative, i'm a subscriber 4 life!!

[@VHP7044]

Good video

[@gomerhondo7249]

Should clean (blast) and repaint it to make part look even better (as well as protect it).

[@shawncooper754]

Awesome job Scott

[@simcoespring]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@izalman]

Very nice... some skills shown. Suprised you hadn't made a collar to press the remnants out of the rod eye similar to the one used to push the new ones in. We have smaller versions of the rods on taxis here in the uk, we made a pair of in and out collars for this job.

[@simcoespring]

So.ething to look into. It would need to be machined.

[@cameronforeman1043]

I’d like to see a video on how to get these damn things out!! Lol

[@billmoran3219]

Done a few of those in my lifetime. Glad I don’t have to do the heavy stuff anymore. 90w gear oil works great for press together metal to metal surfaces, it’s extreme pressure and won’t wipe away. Use it when I press in and out valve guides. Like that work bench, very handy.

[@Zt3v3]

Me too, that work bench is awesome. The press is really nice too, blows my little one out of the water.

[@stevegarboden2437]

Any particular reason you don't fab new ones, we keep the ZF Uni Rod kits on hand.

[@jimmefz3328]

This is exactly what i am looking to do. Rods are $250 a pop while the bushings only $20. Lots of shops won't do the bushings though and just want to replace the whole rod.

[@simcoespring]

we have that problem as well. Most shops want to just replace the whole rod and usually they buy the cheapest ones, which are lower in carrying capacity and then we have a whole host of other issues that go along with it. I swear is see it on 30-40% of the trucks that come in. they will have one older rod that is HD and then one light duty brand new rod with punched out bushings. If you do end up replacing the whole rod, you can actually get ones they put in cement trucks and they last forever. They have an articulating ball joint design, therefore no rubber and nothing to really wear out. And then it cuts down on your maintenance over time.

[@imchris5000]

if you dont have a proper press its a real fun time to do these with just a sledge hammer and a torch

[@olduhfguy]

Is your cap thick enough to soften head hits from bumping into stuff ? Looking for a shop-style skull cap made to fit different sizes. Thanks for making a dirty job look just a little easier !

[@evanalhashimi426]

ghank u very useful how many ton does this press?

[@peteacher52]

Very good and would be even better if you could show us the part or one like it, in situ before you start the repair, then we'd have a better grasp of the what-why-how part.

[@fredsalter1915]

great video. What is the purpose of that big washer on the one end of the torque rod?

[@inothome]

To prevent the torque rod from sliding off that end if the bushing completely fails. The other side, the tapered end, is connected to the housing and can't slide off that way.

[@fredsalter1915]

@@inothome Makes sense. Thanks!

[@CesarMartinez-tz8cs]

Great video can a 75t press handle these kind of bushings?

[@simcoespring]

easily. I have a 50 ton that makes quick work of them...It is just really slow, so I use this one instead.

[@garyjarvis2730]

Very Interesting content nicely presented. I noticed your pit does not have a safety barrier around it. Once saw a worker take a header into a shallow one like yours and almost killed himself. Lucky for him the broken neck didn't paralyze him. In many states pits have become highly regulated to stop, r slow down, injury rates. Thanks for sharing the videos.

[@proscriptus]

I was watching that and thinking I would have gone into it long ago

[@timmeza1907]

Do you also do you car suspension bushings?

[@StephanHarz]

Can I see the build of that table? I love that auto vice...

[@simcoespring]

It is foot operated, which is pretty handy. I should do a video on that.

[@foreverfivealive]

@@simcoespring Is this table/vise shop made?

[@rogergroover4971]

How did you torch the race without hurting the base metal? I understand why you did it, it saved you a lot of time. I just don’t understand HOW you did it without hurting the base metal. I would have guessed the torch would have scarred the base metal. But it doesn’t appear so. Pretty cool.

[@simcoespring]

practice. lots of practice. 1000s of times.

[@chris6200]

It works because the heat can't transfer from the bushing into the torque rod fast enough to continue cutting into the other piece of metal. It's a common misconception that cutting torches melt the metal. What's actually happening is the flame is used to preheat the metal so it can be oxidized and blown away by the jet of high pressure oxygen coming out the center of the torch. Without preheat there can be no oxidizing and therefor no cutting. An interesting demonstration I was shown by my welding instructor in school is you don't actually need the acetylene flame to continue cutting. He had an assistant preheat the just edge of plate with a torch. He then came in with a cutting torch with just oxygen on. The assistant pulled his torch away, then my head instructor cut the whole width of the plate with no acetylene.

[@ats-3693]

That power-vice though how handy is that!! Is that your own custom build or bought from a manufacturer?

[@simcoespring]

It is made by vicroc in montreal canada. I use it like 20x a day. So handy. Table weighs about 300-400lbs to, so a nice big anchor to hold stuff down.

[@ats-3693]

@@simcoespring yeah i can imagine how helpful it would be when working with heavy pieces that you need two hands to just lift, damn near like having that extra third arm and hand we all wish we had sometimes.

[@AbhishekKumar-vf5ep]

Can you please tell me where this combinaton(taper+straddle bush) is exactly used?in bogie suspension??

[@user-sm8jl8ro5n]

I really hope u guys have shop at Auckland. My truck need someone like u to do jobs

[@simcoespring]

We are actually a very small shop out in the middle of nowhere in Ontario Canada.

[@integr8er66]

If I was buying this, or doing it for myself I would like to see the bar cleaned and repainted, I understand it probably takes longer than the important work, but I just like stuff to look new. Nice work though, thx for the video

[@fowletm1992]

Guess if it's going in your car or something you'd want it to look nice If your a fleet owner or a trucking company your not going to give 2 crops cause it'll look like that again pretty quick and saveing a few dollars on an extra hours labour amd a can of spray paint really adds up after a while

[@terrellscaife2411]

I want to can they be pressed out with a 20 ton arbor freight press

[@lancewelliott]

What is your method for removing the tapered ball joint socket on the rear housing?

[@simcoespring]

usually I take a mini sledge 3-6 lbs hammer and give the tapered housing a few good solid hits. (sort of like a ball joint) Then I'll usually give the threaded part a few good smacks. If it doesn't come out right away I'll give the housing a few good wacks again and then just go back and forth till it comes out. With that technique I don't know if I've ever had too many problems. unless its under a mounted deck like a flat deck or a water truck and you can't get a good hit on the housing. then you can have a lot more issues. Then I'll usually just grab my 8lb sledge and just wack away on the threaded end and hope and pray. I usually don't go for a 12 lbs sledge hammer because if you have a miss hit you can damage stuff.

[@stevenrobinson9610]

Please tell us what size the press is It is obviously extremely powerful, but how powerful relative to the stuff I am able to play with....

[@thebaycuddy]

Is there another way to remove the bushing other than a press? I need to do my bushings but I don’t have a press tool to push it out

[@simcoespring]

you can drill the rubber out if you are feeling brave, however you do need a press to install the bushings.

[@philliplawson2001]

you ever try ATRO bushings ?

[@ronaldernst1967]

How did you remove the torque rod from the axle. I need to do bushings on my M35A2 military deuce and a half with Rockwell axles.

[@simcoespring]

we spin the nut off, give the housing a crack with a hammer about 4-8 times and then drive it out with a mini- sledge. sometimes a full sledge if we have the room.

[@ronaldernst1967]

@@simcoespring Like cracking loose a tie rod end. Thanks.

[@brkbrk5205]

do you think 20 tons press from harbor freight will take out those bushings ?

[@simcoespring]

20 ton is a bit light, it would work most of the time, except the really sticky ones.

[@BenVanAmburg]

Take the bushing out with a drill bit, forcing it out like you did with the pin. it will save your joints. My hands hurt watching that part

[@geoepi321975]

Can you install this without the press

[@johnfisher747]

Yikes, that open pit just feet away from where you are working gave me anxiety attacks 😅

[@JeepinBoon]

And thats what commission work looks like. Hourly would be manual press and a wilton vise.

[@thebad300]

so what is the cost difference vers a new one

[@simcoespring]

So there are a few different ways you can replace these. Sometimes you can go off the part number and just order them, not bad and fairly close in cost. Quite a few times we just can't get them, or they are too far away (3-4 days ship time) so it is just way easier to just slap a few bushings in and get it back on the road. Sometimes we can't even get them because they are a strange length or shape If none of that works we will sometimes just upgrade them to a heavy duty ball-joint design so it just eliminates the rubber all together and those are 3 piece design that we just cut to length and weld them together. Planning on doing a video on that in the near future when we get a truck like that in the shop again.

[@Bee1000lb]

Who made your press and power vice?

[@simcoespring]

Vicroc in montreal canada

[@loyeantleyjr.8646]

😁🤭😁

[@DodgeCity111]

What language are you using?

[@duett445]

Torque is a unit of force and length , so you can not say so many lbs, it has to be lbs foot , or lbs inches or any other torque unit of measure., such as Newtonmeter NM.

[@briggsquantum]

You're correct in units used to define torque. However the 23,000 lbs refers to the load limit of the axle, and the torque rod stabilizes the axle during acceleration, braking or suspension deflection. Think of it as an "anti-torque rod", meaning preventing twisting of the axle housing.

[@georgetarabini6552]

Let’s check out that clamp table, how old, Mfg………etc

[@simcoespring]

It is made by vicroc here in montreal Canada

[@darkarvindrakkar9898]

no subtitles, and extremly low audio...

[@EricGrain]

It's honestly really disorienting for me to watch an entire super long video that is shot in the GoPro ultra wide setting... Please change the camera to narrow, it's borderline nauseating to watch for this long

[@simcoespring]

All of our videos from here on out will be in a different format.