Longevity of a Spherical Ball Joint

[LostInTransit]

We're nearing a mile stone in our build and I need information form those who've installed spherical ball joints on their cars/truck as end links or other steering components. Before I buy a set of spherical ball joint end links I need to know what I can or could expect. I have heard that these will start making a knocking or grinding sound at or about 7K miles. if this true and is there something else I should be aware of if we end up getting a set of these ball joints instead of the typical or common place end links.

[DanStokes]

I don't have specific info but I do know there are differences in quality and you want the "good" ones. Some are lined with Teflon or similar material and while they work smoothly and quietly that lining does wear out. In any case, look for joints with a grease fitting - lube is your friend. I suspect that if you lube them regularly they'll hold up but I have no personal experience. I've used them but not in applications that move much.

[cstmwgn]

IF your talking about heim joints at the end of tubular A-Arms - then I have been running them on my wagon for ~100k miles! I have changed the lowers twice and the uppers are the originals as they don't seem to see that much load. Even the ones that I replaced did not grind, bang or clunk! You can get seals for them if you are going to run them in hash conditions (off road / mud). As Dan said, buy good quality do periodic inspections but they work WAY BETTER than all the poly bushed stuff that I have tried.

[LostInTransit]

great thanks to you both and thats what I wanted to hear. Again I've heard these are called spherical ball joints but I believe heim joints are more what we're talkign about. I've seen end links with these spinal ball joints at the end of the links and as you've said I'm wanting something different and more durable than the poly type I've had to replace 3 times in the last 4 years already.


One reason for this change is that we're not able to locate a slim line end link because all the performance ones we've installed are too wide at the ball joint and cause issues with the inner wheel well. These Bimmer links should do the trick assuming the bolt is an M10

[cstmwgn]

I've had good luck with QA1 and S&W hiems. They offer a varying degree of quality (expense) and should be somewhat standard on on ball width. With that said, I can't guarantee their support for metric sizing. Best to call to see what they might be able to help with

[LostInTransit]

yes, I've already contact QA1 and they informed me that they would forward my request to engineering.. I've yet to hear anything back..

[LostInTransit]

Spoke with bimmerworld via a chat screen yesterday. I asked what was the size of the ball joint stud.. they spouted off some numbers which I couldn't comprehend.. but later said these studs are slightly smaller than M10's. So would a shim be needed on this to fill the void around the Bilstein B6 end link mount and what about the sway bar mount holes?

[Huskinhano]

My whole front suspension on my 66 Mustang is a road race type from a company called “Street or Track” the upper arms use spherical ends, the struts use spherical ends, the lower arm uses a mono bearing, the spring perches use bearings the outer tie rod are spherical ends. Even my idler arm uses bearings. All of this has been on my car for about 10 years without any issues. I’ve found they are no noisier than stock components. Ride quality is much, much better. Now it just glides over bumps and pot holes. There is no longer that snap back rubber band feeling as there are no bushings releasing stored energy from twisting. No harshness either. The most I can detect is if I’m consciously looking for it and then it’s only noticeable sometimes at low speeds but only if you knew what you were looking for. If I gave you a ride in my 66 and didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know.

The only quirk that I never thought about was the impact on spring rate. Because the spherical ends remove a lot of binding and friction, the springs will feel soft.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Just a note. Heim is the first company in the US to make spherical rod ends. The company that originated them was Rose something or other in the U.K. for aircraft control linkages. Across the pond they generically call them, are you ready for this, Rose joints, just like we use Heim joints as the Kleenex name.

like everyone has mentioned, get the best spherical rod ends you can find. Most of the company's have specifications for each series that they make/sell, which will list the working load limits and maximum load limits for a given size and series. The teflon lined joints hold up reasonably well, and don't attract dirt, like a greased/greasable joint. In suspensions I've tended to be conservative in specifying rod ends, going a size or 2 larger than what seems adequate, if possible. Also the manufacturers recommend double shear when designing mounting bracketry.

If double shear is not possible, then I like the mounting bolt to go thru a boss at least the same thickness as the bearing.
look at this picture and you can see various rod ends mounted in both single shear and double shear. Just above the front tire attached to the chassis is the left side front radius rod. That rod end is in single shear and the bolt goes thru a tube passing thru the 2 inch part of the frame rail. Looking further to the rear theres another radius rod, the front attaches to the frame rail the same way, however the rear rod end is sandwiched between 2 plates attached to the axle, putting that rod end in doubleshear. One weak point if you look really closely at the center section of the rear axle is the panhard bar axle end attachment. The bolt holding the rod end to the bracket is in single shear and the plate is 3/8 hrs. At final welding I'll add a piece of 1/2×1 bar stock to it to get the a little more thickness. And thru drill it and use a self locking nut on the back side, in an effort to reduce the rocking motion in the bolt. Oh well what can I say limited room...

[Huskinhano]

Just a note. Heim is the first company in the US to make spherical rod ends. The company that originated them was Rose something or other in the U.K. for aircraft control linkages. Across the pond they generically call them, are you ready for this, Rose joints, just like we use Heim joints as the Kleenex name.

like everyone has mentioned, get the best spherical rod ends you can find. Most of the company's have specifications for each series that they make/sell, which will list the working load limits and maximum load limits for a given size and series. The teflon lined joints hold up reasonably well, and don't attract dirt, like a greased/greasable joint. In suspensions I've tended to be conservative in specifying rod ends, going a size or 2 larger than what seems adequate, if possible. Also the manufacturers recommend double shear when designing mounting bracketry.

If double shear is not possible, then I like the mounting bolt to go thru a boss at least the same thickness as the bearing.
look at this picture and you can see various rod ends mounted in both single shear and double shear. Just above the front tire attached to the chassis is the left side front radius rod. That rod end is in single shear and the bolt goes thru a tube passing thru the 2 inch part of the frame rail. Looking further to the rear theres another radius rod, the front attaches to the frame rail the same way, however the rear rod end is sandwiched between 2 plates attached to the axle, putting that rod end in doubleshear. One weak point if you look really closely at the center section of the rear axle is the panhard bar axle end attachment. The bolt holding the rod end to the bracket is in single shear and the plate is 3/8 hrs. At final welding I'll add a piece of 1/2×1 bar stock to it to get the a little more thickness. And thru drill it and use a self locking nut on the back side, in an effort to reduce the rocking motion in the bolt. Oh well what can I say limited room...

Ah, that’s interesting why we call the Heim and in the UK Rose.

[taylor167]

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