Banana Bracket fit on axle tube

[Yama-Bro]

Hi Guys,

I did a test fit of my banana bracket to my axle this weekend. When fitting it up by hand, the ID of the bracket does not seat up against the axle tube completely. It is too tight. It is probably about .25" short of going on completely. Is this something that normally requires some grinding to make it fit? Or will it go on by inserting the bolts and tightening them down? The smaller clam shell portion slips over the axle easily. I assume these parts shouldn't be too loose. FYI...I do have a VPM brace I am planning to use.

Thanks!

[broku518]

oh yes! sir! You can check my build, but basically you have to grind the s@#$ out the bracket part. It wouldn't go just by tightening the bolts.
(I also got a welder to put on an extra bead, just to be sure)

Broku518.

edit: just realized I didn't post about this...must have been easy peasy job :)

[DadofThree]

I had to grind off a little bit of the weld on the banana bracket to help its fit. even then, the bracket side didn't seat on the axle tube. But when aligning all four bolts and tightening as evenly as I could, the bracket set flush on the tube. You may need to get rid of the powder coat for the bolts to fit.

I hope you can see the photos. I'm trying the upload by url feature. I think if you click on them, they will enlarge. In the second photo you can see a small gap between the bracket and the tube.

82815

82813

82814

[rich grsc]

Clean up the powder coat and any weld spatter, other than that, you need to use the 4 bolts to force it on. Do not grind it to fit, it's designed to fit tight as sh-t.

[broku518]

This was my gap, no chance in hell I could pull this tight. Moser 8.8 rear end.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4532/38571550692_ede1d8d340_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21Lrhd5)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4536/37886998454_1e4cea7710_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZHWLFh)

[cnutting]

As I recall, that looks like mine. At minimum, you need to grind off the powder coat (just the coating) on the axle and the inside diameter of the bracket. Metal to metal contact is what you want. The bolts will pull it in.

I also ground off the coating on the sides of the bracket so that the welder could do his thing.

[Fixit]

Naw... making up 3/8" just isn't gonna happen pulling it down with bolts.
My guess is the bracket is:
1) Isn't cut from the correct I.D. of tubing to match the O.D. of the axle tube (probably not the case)
Or
2) The bracket isn't cut in an 180-deg "section" of the circle - it's more like 200-degs, and once you get it to "snap" over the axle, it'll bed in. (maybe)
Or
3) During weld-up the I.D. closed due to heat, and the bracket isn't a 1/2-circle anymore... it's an ellipse. (Yup!)

[Boydster]

I put my bracket in the "future for sale" pile cuz I got the Moser with the bracket welded. But I tried bolting the halves together with the hardware (so I wouldn't lose anything) and it wouldnt even go together like that. I suspect some movement during final welding?

[scottiec]

Mine was similar. I used the bolts and it clamped itself on. It wasn’t easy

[GFX2043mtu]

I used a Moser M88 rear end and it has 3" thick wall tubes. The stock ford 8.8 axle tubes are smaller then 3". you may want to measure the Moser axle tubes to see what size you have. Also Moser should have welded the bracket to the axle. If they did not call them and they should fix it.

[Yama-Bro]

Thanks for all the replies guys. You gave me a good idea on how this thing should fit. Mine has a gap, but not nearly as bad as Broku's. My axle is definitely OEM Ford tubes. My bracket has a bunch of weld spatter inside of it. I'm thinking if I take that out and remove a little paint it may be a lot closer to fitting. And maybe with some persuasion by tightening the bolts it will snug down.

[CraigS]

Naw... making up 3/8" just isn't gonna happen pulling it down with bolts.
My guess is the bracket is:
1) Isn't cut from the correct I.D. of tubing to match the O.D. of the axle tube (probably not the case)
Or
2) The bracket isn't cut in an 180-deg "section" of the circle - it's more like 200-degs, and once you get it to "snap" over the axle, it'll bed in. (maybe)
Or
3) During weld-up the I.D. closed due to heat, and the bracket isn't a 1/2-circle anymore... it's an ellipse. (Yup!)

It will fit. that 3/8 gap isn't the problem. If the ends of the half circle (out where the bolt sleeves are welded on) open up by less than 1/8 inch, then it will slip
into place. Grind the tube and the inside of the bracket like has been recommended and I bet it will work. Get all the bolts and nuts installed and then tighten them in a sequence maybe one turn at a time. Watch the gap between the ends of each half so, if it gets out of parallel, you know which nut to tighten and extra turn or two.

[AC Bill]

Certainly is frustrating, but it will clamp up tight with enough applied force, via the bolt tightening. I stripped one bolt the first time, as there was no way it would line up straight.

You'd think this could be engineered better to save so many builders the frustration.

[RoadRacer]

kinda obvious but before you try to install, make sure the tubes line up perfectly. I had to drill mine out just a little to get the bolts through..

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24163-Roadracer-s-997-build&p=278874&viewfull=1#post278874

[Ian G]

I used 4 sacrificial bolts & nuts to pull it all together & then replaced them one at a time with new unstressed ones. I then added all the VPM bars (no welding). Haven't had a problem in 8000 miles of "spirited" driving.

[rich grsc]

Thats the way mine looked, and YES it went on. I too damaged one bolt and had to replace it. If its not that tight, then it'll never stay in place.

[Yama-Bro]

Thanks for the replies guys. Just in case someone else is looking at this post in the future I decided to post my experience. I have a few more details in my build thread. Based on the advice in this post, here's what I ended up doing...

My first step was to remove the weld spatter, burrs, and some paint from the inside of the clam shell internal diameter. I used a rough half round file....
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/813/40054536005_365181e21e_b.jpg

After cleaning up the ID, I placed the bracket on the axle tube. The fit was better, but it still has about .125" to .187" to be tightened down.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/799/40948579381_c05a34af9e_b.jpg

The bolt holes didn't line up very good at all. I ended up lining it up with a couple bolts and running a .500" drill thru all the holes so I could get the bolts thru.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4794/40948582521_b3f2a27ef5_b.jpg

I threaded the nuts on and tightened one at a time. It slowly squeezed the two halves together. These were very tight. I was starting to get worried about breaking the bolts off. (I'm still a little worried they are going to snap). But in the end, the part clamped down like others said it would.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4772/40054537155_83e9261a6d_b.jpg

I will also bolt the VPM brace to this to support it further.

[DadofThree]

Well Done

[brewha]

Are you going to get the bracket welded on? You may have wanted to grind the paint off the edges and the axle before bolting it on..

[Yama-Bro]

Instead of welding, I'm going to go with the VPM brace...

http://www.vintageperformancemotorcars.com/

[DadofThree]

I don't autocross, but a guy in my office does with his FFR Mk3 with the 3 link. Autocross is ALL he does with his roadster. He didn't weld his 9 years ago, and he's still going. Again, not first hand experience.

[Yama-Bro]

I don't autocross, but a guy in my office does with his FFR Mk3 with the 3 link. Autocross is ALL he does with his roadster. He didn't weld his 9 years ago, and he's still going. Again, not first hand experience.

Good feedback. Thanks!

[CraigS]

Now as one said above, remove the bolts one at a time and replace them w/ Grade 8 bolts and nylock nuts.

[greenbaygreg]

Hi Guys,

I did a test fit of my banana bracket to my axle this weekend. When fitting it up by hand, the ID of the bracket does not seat up against the axle tube completely. It is too tight. It is probably about .25" short of going on completely. Is this something that normally requires some grinding to make it fit? Or will it go on by inserting the bolts and tightening them down? The smaller clam shell portion slips over the axle easily. I assume these parts shouldn't be too loose. FYI...I do have a VPM brace I am planning to use.

Thanks!

Mark at Breeze Auto has a detailed description on how to install the banana bracket.

[brewha]

I followed Mark’s tech write up which was pretty complete. It cost me $70 to have it welded. I’ve seen a bracket that twisted at an auto cross during a hard lock up of the brakes. It convinced me to get it welded.