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View Full Version : What link ends should I use?



ptownTSI
11-07-2005, 08:49 PM
been looking at the FK 1" rod ends but they are freakin pricey. are their other ends i should look at getting instead. Who has the best price on the FK's? Maybe i dont need the 1" size or only need that big on the lowers?

looking at doing a 4 link rear with 1/4 ellip. need idea's for the front.

Jcbzj
11-07-2005, 09:01 PM
I got some new teraflex joints that are supposedly pretty good, havent run them yet obviously but they are beefy. Cant go wrong with Johnny Joints

Troy
11-07-2005, 09:05 PM
I run 2.5" Johnny joints for all of my LCA ends and the track bar. I run Baja Concepts heims from my tie rod. A bunch of my fellow clubbers run Baja Concepts heims too, including their CAs. The 3/4" heims seem to work fine... they're expensive but hold up and are load rated well.

Kraqa
11-07-2005, 11:19 PM
use a johny joint. the tera ones are huge and crappy. i woudl stear clear of the tera stuff. i got a chance to pick them arapt at GSW05 and i was extremly un impressed.

Kraqa
11-07-2005, 11:21 PM
looking at doing a 4 link rear with 1/4 ellip. need idea's for the front.

if you have any q's let me knwo i'l be glad to help youon the 1/4 ellip. I've decided to do a 1/4 ellip bible in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned...

Tommy
11-08-2005, 01:54 PM
We used all heims on my rig. I think they were 1 and 1/4"..

JeepinHank
11-08-2005, 03:22 PM
I used 2" and 2 1/2" RE Superflex 2 joints on the frame side of my arms, and stock rubber bushings on the axle side. I've been pretty happy with this setup so far. I welded 5" of 1.25" and 1" fine threaded B7 rod the the RE joints for adjustability, and haven't had any problems with it. If you do decide to go this route, be very careful not to warp the housings of the RE joints. I got one a little too hot and warped the housing, which made re-assembling the joint a royal PITA. I ended up just threading it in the best I could and tacking it in place. That particular joint is now officially my trail spare - I keep one of each size in the back of the Jeep, just in case.

Kraqa
11-08-2005, 03:22 PM
wait in 6 months when it sounds liek your truck is fallign apart.

I used heims, the good teflon lined ones like 80$ a peice. they go noisy after one year of DDing.

John (AKA Zebra ZJ) Used heims after 6 months they got super noisy.

i woudl waist yoru time with heims.

deadman
11-08-2005, 05:26 PM
I'll go with M36 (1.40") heims on mine... I don't care about noise, its gonna get trailered anyways. What sucks is the price of them when ya need 16.

zjeepin
11-09-2005, 11:52 AM
another vote for johnny joints, i run them and know of alot of other rigs running them and have never heard of a problem. they are quiet and tough. save yourself some cash and use a rubber or poly bushing on one end of your ca's, the JJ's will have enough misalignment for mad flex.

as far as your front suspension just stick with the 4 link and track bar, just figure out how to make your uppers and lowers as long as possible. trying to get fancy with triangulated 4 links up front ends up being extremely hard to set up, its hard to get around bumpsteer without going hydro or assist steering and with the track bar you can always adjust your axle laterally because you'll never get it perfectly centered on your first try,

Kraqa
11-09-2005, 12:23 PM
as far as your front suspension just stick with the 4 link and track bar, just figure out how to make your uppers and lowers as long as possible. trying to get fancy with triangulated 4 links up front ends up being extremely hard to set up, its hard to get around bumpsteer without going hydro or assist steering and with the track bar you can always adjust your axle laterally because you'll never get it perfectly centered on your first try,

do you have any information to back up this open ended statement? all of the problems you state here are easily avoidable if you knwo how to properly set-up a suspension system. setting up a 4 link with a track bar is just as hard to make room for as a tri 4 link. Most people use a 3 link with a track bar.

Cody
11-09-2005, 03:19 PM
I use 1.25" heims on my lowers and .75" heims on the uppers. I think they are aurora brand but I'm not sure.

I think the X joints that hendrix makes look pretty good. I've never had any problems with my heims, but I think my uppers need to be replaced after 3 years of pretty hard abuse.

Cody

zjeepin
11-09-2005, 04:08 PM
do you have any information to back up this open ended statement? all of the problems you state here are easily avoidable if you knwo how to properly set-up a suspension system. setting up a 4 link with a track bar is just as hard to make room for as a tri 4 link. Most people use a 3 link with a track bar.

what im getting at is if a guy is asking about what rod ends are best then he probably doesn't have teh experience needed to get all the critical aspects of the suspension correct on the first shot as is required with a tri 4 link. its much harder to re-center the axle when triangulation is used to center the axle rather than a track bar. these were problems i ran into when i built my first suspension, just tryin to help the guy out

are you talking about radius arms when you say 3 link w/track bar or two lowers with one upper? theres' just too many different names for these suspension setups

Kraqa
11-09-2005, 04:56 PM
two lowers one upper, plus a track bar.

zjeepin
11-09-2005, 05:35 PM
mine was setup like that at first, broke a couple of stock 44 shafts and never broke the upper but was never really comfortable wheeling it with just one upper, so i added a second

Kraqa
11-09-2005, 08:15 PM
the second one will onyl creat more binding when you flex.

and i don't see how running one upper could be the leading cause for your axle shafts to break. i'v run one upper for abotu 3 years now with no problem. if done correctly it shoudl be fine

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock004.jpg

StinkoMan20X6_
11-10-2005, 12:44 AM
That entire setup looks super hard core man. I've gotta see more of that shit. Those axle brackets look super strong as well as the arms.

zjeepin
11-10-2005, 09:21 AM
the second one will onyl creat more binding when you flex.

and i don't see how running one upper could be the leading cause for your axle shafts to break. i'v run one upper for abotu 3 years now with no problem. if done correctly it shoudl be fine

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock004.jpg

you are correct, a second upper in your radius arm setup does cause alot of binding, i've actually seen it not allow a suspension to flex at all when heims were used at both ends and two uppers were used. i think we are still talking about different suspensions, i'll try to get some pics up.

im not saying that one upper caused my axle shafts to break, im saying that the one upper was strong enough to withstand the forces that broke the shaft

luvthejeep
11-10-2005, 05:28 PM
polyperformance.com has got a cool selecion of joints-


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Kraqa/Suspension/KraqRock004.jpg

what the hell were you banging on your lower arm to leave all those marks??? dont be mad at it b/c its ugly :j/k:

SLO MO
11-14-2005, 01:45 PM
Evolution machine joints. They make regular heims look like baby rattles. And they are rebuildable ( not that you'd have to).
Pure beef. I've actually held these joints in their shop......gave me instant wood. I will be using these on the rear of my setup soon.

Brett

P.S. There is a write-up on Pirate by Billavista. Check it out.

Kraqa
11-14-2005, 03:57 PM
if you can afford them there nuts.

SLO MO
11-15-2005, 01:38 PM
The "smaller" ones are only about $80 Canadian. They are rebuildable too. When I was there I talked to Chris (Sageman) and he said their proto type set is still in use and has only been adjusted 1 notch in just over a year. They have a delrin race too so they won't be as noisy as a heim and will last way longer than a poly or UHMW race with less slop. They would pretty much be the last joints you'd ever buy.
Ya the Rubicon/ Johnny joints are cheap but then you have to weld them to a stud or whatever, no welding on these things.

JMO

Brett

I have their card with some prices, I'll try to locate it and post up.

Kraqa
11-15-2005, 02:19 PM
you can buy RE or JJ with studs on them. These ones just come with studs tig welded on from the factory. My impression for that is because it is machined to such tight tolerences they have to weld them on so you dont' warp the casing.

ptownTSI
11-20-2005, 06:11 AM
i think i'll just go with FK rod ends. What sizes do you think I will need?

Kraqa
11-20-2005, 08:23 AM
i woudl go with 1". but Fro ends arew stupid. i mean why pay 80 for a fucking heim joint that will go bad within a year of Driving. Johny joits are proven, Clayton uses tham and there revuildable for abronf 15$ i hink / fuck like eriously drop the zero and get with the heoro.

I'm drunk

ptownTSI
12-11-2005, 06:12 PM
kraqa is clayton using one johnny joint and one rubber joint for $ reasons to keep the price of the kits down, for DD reasons or what.

will it flex better with johnny joints at all ends of the links.

Kraqa
12-11-2005, 08:35 PM
i do not knwo exactly why he uses one john joint. but it provides enough flex and a superior ride over heims. Remember the longer yoru arms the better flex you will have aswell.