58384: Subaru Brat from bugjammer showroom, Subaru Brat / Frog Front Stub Axle Fix

Model: (Click to see more) 58384: Subaru Brat
Status: How To Guide
Date: 23-Oct-2009
Comments: 5
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Hi all,
After having an afternoon at my local skate park spoilt by my front stub axle keep falling out of my Re-Release Brat I hatched a plan on the drive home.
I could fit SRB uprights but I'm running out of those! So I gave the stub axle a little wipe with a file and quite surprisingly it wasn't hardened - fab! Straight into the lathe with it and drilled a 2.5mm hole into the centre of the back, then tapped to M3.
I then used a 5mm drill bit and spun this by hand in the recess the stub axle fits into - this gave me the centre to drill a 3mm hole. There is a hole running top to bottom of the upright where the king pin screws run. I only drilled into this hole and not all the way through at this point, then I refitted the stub axle back into the upright and popped it back into the lathe - holding it by the axle.The back of the upright is rounded - holding it like this meant I could find the centre to continue the hole all the way through :-) while it was still mounted like this I countersunk the hole to suit the screw I was using. I did have to shorten the 2 king pin screws to clear the new screw I'd fitted but only by a thread or so.
It was then all assembled with lots of loctite and I went back to the skate park - where the other front wheel fell off.....