Where To By Quality Rod Ends For Lower Control Arms?

[GregTas]

My car has adjustable LCAs that use an M20 rod end. Unfortunately the rod ends are rusty on the ball due to sitting outside for a long time. So I need some new M20 male rod ends.

 

I obviously need something that's high strength. I wouldn't take my changes on buying something with out some detail behind it.  I recall somewhere on the web seeing the spec sheet for the ones Techno Toy use and at the time people thought they were extremely good, but can't I find the page.

 

Who supplies decent rod ends?

 

Regards,

 

Greg

Edited September 26, 2017 by GregTas

[aircobra]

warren at allzparts has them locally. if you can get him on the phone

[aircobra]

sorry didnt read the post properly. thought you needed standard parts

[GregTas]

I don't know enough about the loads to know if any M20 rod end will do if it's from a reputable supplier or a higher grade is required.

[PeterAllen]

You have further confirmed my suspicions about spherical rod ends on road cars.

 

Have a think about going this route.

 

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/11329-adjustable-rear-control-arm/?p=163678

[GregTas]

What thoughts Peter? That they can rust? or do you have some other concerns about their use?

 

If it's the rust, then yes they have some rust on them now but in 15 years they have done a lot better than the rest of the car. I have some photos of my car from about 15 years ago and done a comparison with what it looks like now.

 

 I'm not big on rod ends, but how else could I get the adjustability in my camber?

[PeterAllen]

The suggestion was to CONSIDER using 'Bushed' rod ends rather than the spherical rod ends. They are still rod ends and allow camber adjustment.

 

My thinking is that rod ends are great if you are constantly altering the suspension set-up, but for road cars the reality is the suspension is very rarely altered from one setting to another. In that scenario why not use a more durable item.

 

Spherical rod ends are precision engineered item and thus required an operating environment to complement that degree of preciseness. It is many years ago but I used spherical rod ends on racing cars and they were high maintenance items with not much longevity, but that's the nature of racing equipment.

 

Look, I just made the post with the intention of providing information, it was not a directive. If you don't like the idea don't take it up. 

Edited September 27, 2017 by PeterAllen

[GregTas]

Hi Peter,

 

By 'bushed' rod end do you mean something that looks the same, but has a brass, teflon or similar liner in there? If so do you have a web link to where I might get these from? They sound better than a rattly metal rod end.

[d3c0y]

To add to this I want to know if someone has a good sealing boot/dust boot to use with these too. Felt it was still relevant to the thread.

[PeterAllen]

Hi Peter,

 

By 'bushed' rod end do you mean something that looks the same, but has a brass, teflon or similar liner in there? If so do you have a web link to where I might get these from? They sound better than a rattly metal rod end.

They have little similarity in appearance but they perform the same task. Just a few posts down from the link I provided earlier.

 

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/11329-adjustable-rear-control-arm/?p=195414

[PeterAllen]

To add to this I want to know if someone has a good sealing boot/dust boot to use with these too. Felt it was still relevant to the thread.

 

Plenty of eBay from the UK

e.g.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sealing-Boot-for-M14-M16-or-M18-Male-or-Female-rose-joint-rod-end-Dust-boot-/182744806248?hash=item2a8c707368:g:li0AAOSwvzRXztLk

[Cozza]

My understanding is that whilst more durable, bushed rod ends work best when the mounting point is at 90' to the lca. I think GregTas requires an angle change to accomodate + castor angles.

 

I recommend you try contact zcar63 on this forum, who supplies adjustable lca's with rod ends included.

 

Cheers

Mick

Edited September 27, 2017 by Cozza

[GregTas]

Those bushed rods ends do look nice, but yes if I have a bit of castor on they may get strained. As my car is in bits I don't know how far out of square the LCA will be.

 

Thanks for the contact Mick. I contact zcar63 and see what he uses for rod ends.

Edited September 27, 2017 by GregTas

[PeterAllen]

Yes, you're right Mick. Greg didn't state front LCA in the first post and I assumed (!) he was referring to the rear. I've found one is struggling to move the outer end of an OEM front LCA 15 mm, so I'd be guessing a bushed rod end would be the same.

 

I can see from the photos Greg has the Ford radius arm so is looking for extra castor.

 

Out of interest, how much do you push the front LCA forward (increasing the wheelbase) to achieve a desired amount of castor for road use and again for track use?

[Groundhog]

I saaw a few items at the local farm machinery store that fit the bill as suitable for outdoor uses.
They were made for tractor take-off's, implements and PTO's by Bare Co.

 

I can't vouch for the tolerances being suitable but definitely worth a look for the rod ends.

http://www.bareco.com.au/home.aspx

[GregTas]

Thanks GroundHog.

 

I just found these which should do the job. http://www.mcgillmotorsport.com/m20-x-1-5mm-right-hand-male-ultra-high-performance-rod-end-large-9752/

 

I can see from the photos Greg has the Ford radius arm so is looking for extra castor.

 

I decided not to use the Falcon rods because I saw some comments on here that when hard bushes are used solid rods can break from the vertical movement of strut end.. So I decided to go with these bad boys form Techno Toy.