HydroTech: Trailing Arms

In the land of hydraulic pumps, dumps and wrapped frames, the divide between show and performance rides is an ever-widening valley. What we're hoping to do here at LRM is to lessen the divide and fill in the gap. We're starting at the rear of the car, specifically at the trailing arms, because this is what you see when you're riding high in the streets or at the show.

In all honesty, this area should not be left undone. We believe that reinforced arms that are lacking in looks show that the welder either didn't know how to clean up the look or just didn't want to take the time. For those who don't know how, we're going to show you. If you don't want to spend the time, all we can say is that it took professional Leon Montoya no more than a few hours to take these arms from stock to polished.

Now if a few hours is too long for you to have a ride that's street worthy and show ready, we're afraid that the state of lowriding has hit an alarming low. Lowriders who pride themselves on their cars should care about the details and the complete look of their vehicle, even if it was built for hopping. It goes unsaid that a hopper will not be as clean as a show car, but, come on, it's inexcusable not to spend the extra time to do it right.

Once again, we have returned to Homies Hydraulics to get the formula for clean arms and Leon was more than eager to help out. For those of you who haven't had the privilege of visiting Homies Hydraulics, let us say that Anthony has recruited some of the best workers in the business to help get your ride off to a fresh start. A stellar example of Anthony's quest for excellence was calling in Leon, a certified welder seven-times over and more than willing to take lowriding to the next level.

Our first shot is of the stock...        read full caption Our first shot is of the stock lower trailing arm and Leon's trimmed version. If you notice, here the lip has been cut away using a torch and was treated to a little bit of grinding to give you a clean, straight and smooth surface to weld to.	This view offers a better...        read full caption This view offers a better look at the spring saddle of our stock and trimmed arms. The center of the saddle has been cut away to make room for a new cup that will hold the spring in place. You will also notice that Leon has prepared all of the unnecessary holes to be welded to clean up the look of the arms.	Here, we take our steel flat...        read full caption Here, we take our steel flat bar and bend it to the basic shape that we need to mold and reinforce the arms. The best tools for this job are a 4-lb. hammer, a block of wood and some good force provided by you. Now the piece of flat bar will vary in width depending on your type of car. We used 131/44, but the thickness will always be 31/416-inch. Leon cautions against using metal that's thicker than 31/416, because he said it would be better to reinforce the inside of the arms rather than just making the bar thicker because all that you're really doing at that point is adding weight not strength.
Here, we check the fit of...        read full caption Here, we check the fit of our strap of steel against our arm. You should do this periodically while shaping the steel. You can see that the bends aren't complete; we will deal with this issue when we begin welding.	After a few tack welds, you...        read full caption After a few tack welds, you can see the major difference between the professional welders at Homies Hydraulics and your average shop welder. Most butt the two pieces of metal end to end and then weld a bead, seaming them together. The correct way to do this is to have a gap between your flat bar and your trailing arm and fill the gap with a heavy, deep penetrating weld that not only digs deep into the base metals but will make grinding the weld down a lot easier, essentially leaving you with a cleaner look.	Once you have your sport welds...        read full caption Once you have your sport welds every 8 to 10 inches apart, check to make sure that the bar sits flat. This will make it easier if you decide to run a sway bar (stabilizer bar). If not, you can shape the bar to the trailing arm; the choice is yours at this point. Once you've made your decision, lay a nice thick weld to fill the gap and reinforce your arm in the process.