Would these be up to the job?

Linky thing

TIA,

Mart.

PS. If I was going to screw these straight into the trailing arm ends with lock nuts (R/H thread at one end and L/H thread at the other so I could set the arm lengths precisely), how do I work out what internal/external diameter tubing I need? These particular rod ends are 1/2 inch x 20 UNF - 3A

[Edited on 19/4/06 by Cheffy]

Yes.

Bl**dy hell that was quick -

Thanks Flak Monkey.

Someone will come along and say they arent now, just you wait

As for your thread sizes the tapping drill sized for 1/2"UNF is 11.4mm. So just add the wall thickness to 5.7mm to get the radius of the tube.

What you will probably need to do is turn some inserts to weld into the ends of the tubes. Also, bear in mind the cost of a LH tap, they can be quite pricey.

David

Ive been looking at these. Is there any reason why you cant use R/H all round ?

Nope. Except you would have to undo one end of the trailing arm to adjust its length.

David

Not really.

It's just that if one end of each trailing arm had a R/H rod end and a L/H rod end at the other end it would simply be a matter of rotating the trailing arm one way or the other to wind the rod ends in and out to get all four arms exactly the same length. This would then be fixed in place with lock nuts.

Given the importance stressed in previous posts regarding getting the trailing arms exactly the same length it seemed like a good idea.

And no, it wasn't my idea!

Cheers,

Mart.

yep that does seem like a good idea

According to the description on eBay they come in packs of ten but you can select any combination of threads.

An average price of £3.80 seems pretty good. In actual fact I need 12 anyway (6 of each) as I'm going with inboard front shocks and need rod ends for the tie rod between the inner and outer wishbones.

The only problem is the one David raises about the cost of the L/H tap. As I don't have the kit to do the tapping myself I shall have to get it done elsewhere anyway. I assume that a decent engineering outfit would have a 1/2" L/H tap?

Mart.

Ahh......found it. Credit to Craig1410 for the idea.

Hope you don't mind me quoting you Craig. Just wanted to make sure the right person got the credit!

quote:

---

Out of interest, my links are adjustable and have a left hand threaded rod end at one end and a right hand threaded rod end at the other (with locknuts both ends). This means I can adjust the length in situ by loosening the locknuts and turning the arm itself. To get them all the same length I just made a jig from a piece of square tubing with two 1/2" bolts welded to it the desired distance apart. It is then just a case of adjusting the length of each link until they slide on to the jig. Any subsequent adjustment is done on a 1/2 turn at a time basis equally on each link.

---

seems a rather cheap price, which is always good, but good joints arent usually cheap. Maybe worth some research or a few good questions, ie what liner and are they 2 or 3 piece? Or whatever it is nick keeps describing his good ones as!

Those joints ARE cheap, but from the description fairly low spec. 4.49 tons radial load is low...ish for a 1/2" rodend.

Still, that means you could hold up 8 or more locosts on one end alone. More than strong enough.

Contrary to what all of the armchair 'EXPERTS' will now scream about, try and get them bronze/brass or metal lined, with the ability to fit grease nipples.

When you grease them, it forces out any contamination, then make sure you wipe off the excess squeezed out. This will give them a life longer than the car. A little care and maintenance goes a long way. Better still, fit rubber boots over them.

The competition cars I work with use only metal/metal joints, and they are like new after a good few days of rough handling.

The teflon lined items tend to flog out, then spit the liners out and are, obviously, quite sloppy very suddenly. Think about it, what is harder and tougher? Metal, or teflon(which is only a plastic after all is considered)?

Track racecars use teflon lined for the 'no maintenance', but replace them every race. Ask yourself why.

Cheers,
Syd.

[Edited on 20/4/06 by Syd Bridge]

Will second the use of metal on metal joints.

I have teflon or carbon fibre injected liner ones on my grasser and they are fine, but on the rally car we used to knacker ptfe ones really fast, but metal on metal ones lasted fine.

only prob with using boots is getting really good ones! Some don't fit that well and are worse than no boot at all as water gets in and can't get out, then the joint corrodes while the car is stood and the joint then eats itself.

ive thought about using a universal CV joint boot to cover the entire joint and bracket. it wouldnt be pretty, but should offer good protection.

Paul

If you used two right hand threads, not only would you have to disassemble to change the length, but also you would not have 'infinitely variable' adjustment - because you would have to rotate at least half a turn each time.

But I don't know if you could set four trailing arms to within a 1/4 of a thread pitch anyway. So it's probably irrelevant.

Just developing this thread a little more.......

With regard to fastening the rod ends to the trailing arms, and just picking up on what David (Flak Monkey) said:-

quote:

---

What you will probably need to do is turn some inserts to weld into the ends of the tubes.

---

I'm sure Rally Design sell top hat bushes machined 1/2" UNF in both R/H and L/H thread even sell the locking nuts and rubber boots for them.

Ordered this morning!!!

Thanks Triton.