Bellcrank woes

Does anyone possess experience or can offer direction to improvements and/or
aftermarket bellcrank design upon a stock Ross steering assembly for an early
M38A1/M170? I've opted not to follow convention of a Saginaw conversion as I
found that such an installation would be to evasive to my stock setup. I've
seen posts and adds referring to a tapered roller bearing modification to an
existing bellcrank arm, A particular after-market product was made available by
"Brian Chuchuas" in the early 60's (view article: "old school" on JP magazines
website-
http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/suspension/154_0610_2006_october_old_scho\
ol_power_assist/photo_07.html )
Of course, his jeep dealership is long gone. Has anyone come across this
bellcrank setup? has anyone attempted milling their existing bellcrank arm to
accommodate tapered bearings?
Any aftermarket bolt-on mod's out there?

thanks, tom

1955 M170

 

will this do it?
http://store.midwestjeepwillys.com/920556.html

 

Unfortunately no, that piece is a typical stock replacement shaft and needle bearing kit.

 

Digging up an old thread for the aforementioned Harry Buschert / Brian Chuchua tapered roller bearing bellcrank.
I found this going thru boxes of old stuff.
In the magazine article, Mr Worthy has misspelled Harry Buschert's name.
If you don't know who he is, or recognize his name, just go look at your chain and sprocket clutch linkage you bought from Advance Adapters.
He invented that and sold it to them; his name used to still be stamped on the sprocket box....
Surprisingly, it's in excellent condition except for the ball end.
It is very, very, stout as mentioned in the old Four Wheeler article.
I don't know which man mentioned above made this item; usually both Buschert and Chuchua put their name on their product.
Anyways, it uses 2 tapered roller bearings with rubber seals attached to the cones: Timken LM11949L. The number is still good.
I won't try and press/drive the races out.
Just posting here for future reference and the pictures.
They did exist.
Enjoy.

 

Pretty interesting. Look at the wear on the ball. Moves the weak point from the pivot to the ball.

 

Tim
Didn't Brian always put his name on his products?
I have no idea how many years or miles are on this unit.
(I have no idea who's Jeep it came off of and why)

 

that is how it should have been built. i worry a lot when i'm turning with my 33's that the bellcrank will shear in two from a stop. always move before i turn the wheels. that is a cool piece of history

 

Wow that looks easy enough to make and would eliminate a lot of the problems with the factory setup.

 

Yessir! That's a nice piece right there. Appears very stout. Could the stem of the ball be beefed up at all?

 

Modified, am I right that the stock military bellcrank bearings are larger than the usual CJ5 version?

If so that needs to be taken into account with any 'kits' that are available.

 

Here is a modern solution. Enjoy: http://www.ewillys.com/2010/01/19/garys-new-bell-crank/

 

Always? Certainly everything he commissioned was prominently labeled. However, the dealership stocked plenty of accessories that did not have his name on them.

Not sure how they would have marked this - with a stamped-in name? May not have been worth it to mark a bellcrank that would be mostly hidden.

 

Here's another option the greasable solid Bronze bellcrank bushing:
Note how the grease groove spirals inside of the bore..

 

The Bell Crank Pictured was made by Harry Buschert .

I still have one on My CJ6 with A Hudson Steering , They work very well.

The only problem I have ever seen is the shaft can break but that was very

rare. I do see them from time to time in Colorado on the older jeeps.

They Were sold here by Bill's Jeep Specialists. ( no longer in business )

Mel.

 

Well, there you have it.
These bellcranks are still out there and in working condition.
melvinm, would you mind posting some pictures here ?