Was at the massive auto junkyard pulling a rear passenger caliper for my failed Accord one, and I spotted this gorgeous heavy duty suspension part out the side of a wrecked, stacked car.

I tried to remove it to get it for this purpose, but the accident / damage had made removal with normal hand tools not possible.
I returned a few days prior to my Albany NY big event and was able to hacksaw through the crushed subframe part and remove it! $20 cash.

I spent the better part of the next day on the Cape measuring carefully and machining off metal parts with my angle grinder. I scrounged 5/8″ bolts from the local scrap metal pile here, and then scavenged a downed electric main utility pole top that had sheared off and was laying at road side. The bolts used throughout? You guessed it. 5/8″
So I got this all going for next to nothing. Balancing and levels the Steadicam rig way better than the manufacture’s $55 version. And looks really nice, very custom. I got some compliments on the next big shoots on it.

In use in Los Angeles, July: