heim joint questions
 

i have a few questions for the 3-day weekend. how loud are heim joints (spherical rod end suspension links) ? what does the maintenance of heim entail?

plan to have it for a daily driver + occassional track outtings. reason for going heim is top-secret but apparently a 'highly recommended' one

will share more w/ pics later.

in the meanwhile, thanks for your insights.

I used to have front tension rods, rear 4 links and panhard rod w/heim joints on my AE86 (trueno/corolla), it was loud but not that bad, I got used to is after a while... no maintenance for me since it's teflon lined as opposed to the one with the grease fittings.

my other car has a all metal-to-metal suspension connections- heims or sphericals, and there isnt any noise from them.

they will eventually get loose when used on the street, but are generally easy to replace.

dont use aluminum ones on a street car. i had one break on a rear control arm at 80mph- they dont stress cycle as well as steel.

james



james

You don't want rod ends that are greaseable. The grease opening creates a weak point in the rod end. If there is a failure, it will break there.

i think teflon may break for me. my car's going to get a new transplant and the rear rods are being modded to handle the additional torque.

thanks for the tip on the noise ophito. that's a very good news. so i guess teflon ones are loud and metal-to-metal one is not?

so do i need to wash/grease it every now and then? streets here are very bumpy, does this mean i have to change the spherical ends every year or so? i think i'll be installing cromoly joints if anything else. probably not aluminum.

i just don't want it to fall off when driving on freeway.

someone please help! any alternative?