far left: stock bus upper trailing arm,,,it is the straighter of the two in stock form
Middle: cut into 2 pieces
far right: finished product,,,If I remember right I went out 3" and back 3 " . below is the jig made from a section of bus beam welded to a plate of steel and ball joint portion welded onto plate in new location.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

3X3 may be a little too much pressure on the lower,,,I am in the process of upgrading the lower arms,,,I need to press a tube in the portion that goes into the beams to make it more ridgid,,,I will lose the torsion springs in the lower beam,,the bus has enough torsion in the top beam to be sufficient for a light buggy,,,I need to supplement my front springs with air bags or coil overs.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

thanks for posting that bug ! im building 3 more set of king pin front arms for some buds and im takeing pictures all the way through and will post them ! you think i should start a thread saying building homemade king pin front arms or should we combine them with your balljoint thread ? im glad people are starting to post their work again it makes this site great to look at !!!!!!!

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

,,,
maybe post in new forum and on this one too,, folks can find it both ways,,,I am going to add pics as I go,,waiting on the metal from metaldepot,,and some machine work too.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

in the process of grinding these down to fit the thick wall tubing I must have inhaled too many fumes,,,I spent the night in ER. Please remember to use mask.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

Nice job! You're rite. Wear good SEALED 3M mask. If I don't wear a protective mask it hurts my breathing capacity and makes me feel out of shape and I have chest pains for several days after grinding and welding.Open doors only don't get it.Strong fans are nice.

nice work marty!!! thanks for postin, keep the garage safe buddy we need ya!!!

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lets just ride

jigged up

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

I'm REALLY looking forward to pics of the kingpin arms you guys have done.. (hint)

I'm interested in seeing those pics too !

turns out it was nothing to do directly with the shop,,,just a rare occurence called TGA. all is well. I should get a lot done to the arms tomorrow.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

They look great! I must ask why are you going through so much trouble with ball joint arms instead of switching to linkpin?

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

1. I had several bus's sitting going to waste.
2. I wanted to use ball joint cause they stay firmer longer,,,or at least I think they do.
3. The bus front end is already a little wider so no need to go to the widened front end.
4. I like being different.
5.I wanted to do the fabbing for fun.
6. Top loaded ball joints like the "Thing" will not get knocked out easy.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

thats good to hear!!!!

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lets just ride

Balljoint Believer!

Sounds good to me!

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

gussets tacked

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

the part that goes into the beam is now solid except for a 9/16 ID for the through rod

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

they look tough marty!

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lets just ride