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Recessed bushings for hangers with spherical bearings

For hangers with spherical bearings, recessed bushings ¿Yes or No?
  • F Llabata

     I'm currently riding the don't trip mollys V2's with spherical in front and I really like them, but I have this itch that I can't scratch off my brain. The stock bushings come with a spherical hole for the bearing to move freely, and I've seen a few people do this “spherical hole” in their bushings all over the internet, especially in old school slalom with modified Benetts and LDPs.

     Now Valkyrie has come out with the new Mk4 slaloms and they strongly advise you to use recessed bushings in your rear truck if you want to use the spherical there. On the other hand, the ZM1s (arguably the best DH truck in the game right now) does not use recessed bushings at all nor have I seen anyone talking about using them ... 

     I use unmodified Venom bushings on my front truck and they feel great, but will they feel better if I do the spherical recess? Is there any real advantage to doing such a mod? I see a lot of people doing it and straight up saying it's better to do the recess but no one explaining exactly why.

    So.... For hangers with spherical bearings, recessed bushings ¿Yes or No? (and why 😭)

    L'Horta Downhill club. Valencia, Spain.
    Don't Trip Mollys v2 50º/22º 125mm
    Modified Rocket DoMiniNation (19.5" WB)
    LaPaulade Polymers / Cult Cultron

  • b

    You want the recessed bushing for your Zm1s. Inner part of the spherical will protrude without the dish limiting your range of motion and ease of turning.

    A lot of the top racers on Zm1s are adding the dish themselves. Not sure why Venom/Rogue is shipping the stock bushings without the dish.

  • GF

    @bhr that makes sense, but how do people cut out that part of the bushing? Seems a bit janky to diy it. 

    Current setups:
    Custom rhino racetail, Zealous,thaners
    Rayne bromance, aera k5, powells

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  • F Llabata

    @Gabriel Fockler I've seen it being done with a spherical deburring tool (like the one below) and a drill or a rotary handtool (like a Dremel)

    L'Horta Downhill club. Valencia, Spain.
    Don't Trip Mollys v2 50º/22º 125mm
    Modified Rocket DoMiniNation (19.5" WB)
    LaPaulade Polymers / Cult Cultron

  • John Hower

    @F Llabata

    Can confirm that these spherical burrs work great.

    OP, You want the one with a 5/8 inch ball diameter. The part number is sd-6. They're about $15 on Amazon. 

     

    I've learned a few things about the process through trial and error, but I ended up ruining a few bushings before I got it right. Hopefully this info saves someone else a few bushings:

    Start with gentle pressure at first, and be patient with it. It's going to seem like nothings happening for a few seconds, but it'll pick up. Once you start to see urethane dust coming off, gradually increase the pressure. It'll eventually reach a tipping point where the urethane starts flying off pretty fast. At this stage, the hole grows pretty quickly.

    You want to see primarily urethane dust at this stage, not chunks. (Some small chunks are OK.) If you chunk the bushing away, you're gonna have an uneven recess and will have to make it bigger to compensate. This can happen if you apply too much pressure early on. Soft bushings are particularly susceptible to this. But if you freeze them for a couple of hours first then it's much easier to get a clean result. 

    Keep firm, steady pressure on it, periodically checking the size of the hole. You don't have to drill super far into the bushing. Once the hole is half an inch in diameter the bearing will fit perfectly. I recommend measuring it - half an inch really is the perfect diameter.

  • John Hower

    Here's one I did yesterday.

  • F Llabata

    @John Hower thanks man, I had given up all hope of anyone ever replying to this post again. I guess if you do this mod you will know the difference between doing the recess and not doing it, what advantages would you say the spherical cutout has? is it very noticeable? 🧐

    I am going to buy the deburring tool right now!! 😂😂

    L'Horta Downhill club. Valencia, Spain.
    Don't Trip Mollys v2 50º/22º 125mm
    Modified Rocket DoMiniNation (19.5" WB)
    LaPaulade Polymers / Cult Cultron

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