Rancho Shock Absorber Bushings

Expanding on the Rancho Shock Absorber bushing files I made earlier. This set includes the L1 and L3 hourglass bushing shapes as well as the LS straight bushing. Files are OpenSCAD and they allow for user specified height/width, inner diameter as well as adjustments for inner and outer clearance dimensions to account for printer and filament.

Images are:

L1 hourglass bushing (red) along with a modified TPU version

L3 hourglass bushing (red) along with 2 modified TPU versions

LS straight bushing (red) along with the 2 half bushings in TPU

TPU LS straight bushing installed in Rancho shock absorber

TPU L3 bushing with custom sleeve installed in Rancho shock absorber

The STL files are output with the original Rancho bushing dimensions.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Type A Machines

Printer: 

Type A Machines 2015 Series 1

Rafts:

Doesn't Matter

Supports: 

No

Resolution:

0.6mm nozzle, 0.3mm layer height

Infill: 

100%

Filament: Zyltech TPU 
 

Notes:

I usually print these 100% infill (concentric) and usually only 1 part at a time to keep the stringing under control. I print the TPU on the BuildTak PEI material with a dusting of talcum powder.

How I Designed This ===================

Customizable OpenSCAD files

Originally designed in Fusion360. Converted to OpenSCAD to allow for more user customization.

Custom Section ==============

If you try these bushings out, leave a comment on how they worked for you and what filament you used.

So far, I have over 20 months running a pair of TPU bushings on the front of my Toyota 4Runner.

Have also had a set of these installed in a Mazda B2600 pickup.

For the Mazda B2600:

Front shock: LS bushing was made 40mm tall and with a 16mm ID hole, into which a 16x12mm sleeve was installed.

Rear shock:

L3 hourglass bushing was 40mm tall on the bottom eye, same 16x12mm sleeves installed. The upper L3 hourglass bushing was 43mm tall with a 4mm offset and a 20mm ID hole.

The idea with these bushing files is to make the bushing fit the shock mount(s) you have and if needed, fit easily obtainable sleeve material. For example, on the L3 hourglass bushing, that has a 3/4" ID and if you need to use a sleeve for a metric bolt, good luck finding 19mm (3/4") metric tubing to use for the sleeve material. You might be able to use 3/4" - 5/8" tubing, then bore out that tubing to fit a 16mm metric tube inside. Or, just make the bushing with a 16mm hole to start with!

Rancho often supplies an assortment of rolled sleeves in various imperial dimension and if those work for your application, great. If not, it's pretty easy to order up a length of tubing in the size needed and make your own sleeves, then make the bushings to fit the sleeves.

Tubing sources: https://amzn.to/3I5FhpW https://www.mcmaster.com/products/tubing/material~steel-2/smooth-bore-seamless-steel-tubing/?s=steel+tubing

Rancho does offer replacement polyurethane bushings, for a reasonable cost, if you simply need to replace some worn out parts:
RS978: L1 hourglass
RS984: L3 hourglass
RS980: L1 or LS straight bushing

If you use any of these bushings, post up how they worked for you, what brand of TPU filament you used, and any custom dimensions you used. Also, if you modify these files for another size bushing, post up a link to that modification.

Category: Automotive