rusted stock radius arms d44 - useful for anything or junk??

[weps]

i have a set of raduis arms from a 73 that are pretty heavily rusted. they need a good cleaning and the rearmost bushing mount is corroded enough that it is no longer perfectly round.

im thinking there is no shortage of this part and am planning to send them to the junkyard. anything that can be done with them that would make them useful to anyone? seems to me that the time and effort and involved to do so would cost more than a relatively rust free set.

 

[brutis72eb]

How bad is the rust? Can you post a pic? It maybe salvagable.

 

[critt77matt]

make anti axel rap/ traction bars for the rear

 

[72_EB]

This reminds me of a set that has made the rounds between the local group here. Actually Mike at Complete Offroad had some that he gave to another local guy Bill, who gave to me, who then passed them on to my buddy Tom. All of us I think had the idea of making a couple wristed arms with them, later realizing they were just too rusty to bother with, someone else offered to take them. They've been sitting in Tom's garage since last fall now. ;D
Who's gonna get them next. The forever rotating radius arms. Funny stuff.

Good luck whatever you decide to do with them. Just don't send them this way. Thanks!

 

[weps]

ok here is a pic of the stem area. corrosion should be easily visible along with the "thinning".

 

[weps]

both arms are in about the same condition. they unbolted easily enough, but there did some to be a good bit of rusted metal that came off with bushings. actually in this case, the c bushings looked more like rectangular strips of rubber that had been improvised and bent into place. then trimmed.

let me know what you guys think. one of my big weakspots is that i have limited off road experience and am not sure how far away you can get from "ideal condition" for parts and have them still be useful.

i'll also add that this is the third set of spares i have and in the worst condition by far. it is not essential i make them work. however, if i can do or learn something from them, that would be great.

 

[77' IslandStyle]

I would get a pair of aftermarket radius arms and use those for the core return. Then you still have your good ones as a spare. Either that or i think theyed make a great pair of lamps for your garage, get some lepord print lamp shades and youll be stylin. my $.02

 

[76Broncofromhell]

Bead blast them and make Wristed Radius Arms. That's what I did with my spares

 

[welndmn]

Looks only surface, Take a wire wheel to it clean it up and see what it looks like.
For the Bushing Area I have fixed a few arms but grinding the bushing area down a little, then pressing on a peice of round tube, then welding that in place.
Most arms I have seen (like 50+) mabye 1/2 of those need that done to them because those bushings seem to just rot the metal out