rear trailing arms

[mindhive]

Hey all,

Nees some opinions here. I took the rear end out of my 70 SWB c-10 the other day and finally got around to wire brushing the trailing arms today. I discovered they are both cracked at the spring seat. What I want to know is has anybody made their own arms out of some appropriately sized rectangular tubing. I thought this may an option to clean things up under there a little bit and not sacrifice any strength.

I would radius and weld a stock size bushing shell into the forward end and at the rear cut out a pie peice to get the angle and weld it up then drill the holes for the spring bolt and u-bolt and weld in sleeves so it doesn't crush when tightened. I would also incorporate the trac arm bolt into the end of the arm and mount up some bags at the same time.

I am open to suggestions but am avoiding 4-links, etc. I know I can just buy new arms but I think I can do better for less money myself. I'm just a tinkerer by nature.

Tim