you need to post on here more
he he its off season, nothing to yabber about really 
Andrew said he would get your suspension…that way at least its in toronto…next time you see him, give him the $400 balance for the suspension, and I will give it to him
yup we worked something out already.
New heim joints came in.
$50 USD, a piece. So $100 USD in total.
Stainless ball
Stainless housing
PTFE (Teflon) self-lubricating liner
Overkill? Perhaps, but these are the absolute best joints money can buy, which puts me at ease after what happened.
Especially considering they are no famous name brand, but simply industrial quality, made in the USA, pieces of equipment.
Nevertheless, I am not putting complete trust in them. From this point forward, I will be inspecting my suspension on a regular basis. Doesn’t matter if the component is OEM, expensive name brand, or knockoff. Regular inspection for all.
Although stainless may not share the same strength properties as say 4130 (Chromoly), the corrosion resistance is paramount in this application.
There are a few lessons I have learned, and hopefully will serve others.
-
Never trust any brand of control arm simply because they are famous and/or expensive. Be educated. Look into the components as deeply as possible before putting them on your car. A name brand or price does not imply quality.
-
Understand the application for the component. Corrosive environment, or in-door use? Why go with stainless vs. mild vs. 4130 vs. etc?
-
Most important. INSPECT your components regularly. It doesn’t matter how expensive or what name brand the piece is from, it NEEDS to be inspected for signs of failure. I made this mistake myself. Had I done a regular inspection, this could have been avoided.
Lastly, I would like to elaborate on the whole “buying cheap” deal.
The heim joint was in no doubt, absolutely worthless for this application.
However, the construction of the RUCA itself, welding and fitting of tube, is fine. I would not be surprised if it matched that of more expensive brands.
If that is the case, by spending an additional $100, I have a RUCA that is on par, if not better then most expensive brands.
There is no excuse for risking peoples lives to save dollars. Absolutely none. I could have been killed, and for what? So someone could pocket a few days worth of lunch money.
I also agree it was partially my fault for not inspecting the component in the first place, but only partially.
Imagine if auto manufacturers decided to cheap out and risk peoples lives. Could you say, “Well, it’s your fault for buying a Hyundai. That’s what you get when you cheap out.”
It is fine to have cheap shifter knobs, seats, manifolds, etc. But when it comes to safety equipment, there is NO excuse. None.
good call…
for the $150 + $100 you could get genuine Bings…lol
i’ll post pics up of my new rod ends when i get them in, i think you guys will like them, my wallet sure didnt.
Yeah, but Bings RUCA’s don’t have $100 worth of premium heim joints.
Besides, I already bought RUCA’s off you once. Didn’t turn out so good, lol.
It’s true…
Nice find Titan…
beleive me, the rod ends i am using now are equivalent to what you have, 2 piece teflon, 7600 load rating.
i had the FK guide…
the ones i include (once they arrive this week) are far superior to the ones you have. not putting them down, they are a good rod end but as mentioned, the ones i am getting are the best i could get. the Aurora equivalent are $100 a piece in Canada through BDI. the Aurora equivalent of yours were about $43 each i think. but then again yours maybe better, i havent compared direct specs.
i listed the specs for the new bearings i am using on teh first page here.
3-piece, self sealing, kevlar / teflon lining pressed and assembled in the US, 18,000lb load rating. should compete directly with PEAK, BV and SPL…
SPL uses imported bearings, BV uses FK, Peak uses Aurora.
What are they made of…
i’ll show pics this week when i get em
I don’t want pics, I want to know what the heim joints are made of…
Because if they aren’t stainless or 3140, or hell even nickel plated, then the load ratings a teflon liners are just filler, because they wont be able to withstand the elements of a Canadian winter. Thus, they aren’t better then what Titan has.
So, what are they made of?
Thats good, but the most important part is the corrosion resistance, not the load.
As I mentioned on zilvia, the rod ends could have an axial capacity of 1,000,000 lbs., but if they corroide and seize, the suspension will bind and something will break.
Exactly. As well Stainless steel will need to be antiseized to prevent galling, and the same thing from happening. Then again, applying antiseize once, is far less of a hassle then what would be required of a person to keep an easily corroded heim joint for seizing.
pete sorry to ehar about your luck, good find on the joints.
hope you got it all worked out without incident.
cheers dude, see you soon
i tihnk i missed it but how did the joint break in the first place?
GT
corrosion of conformity
(rusted)
The ball corroded and seized in the liner.
This caused bind, where the RUCA acted like a solid link.
So when the suspension traveled. The weakest point gave in.
oh ok i understand.
is there a reason that no one has sugested just simply pulling the parts in question off durring the winter?
problem solved
GT
Not quite.
Water can do just as much damage over a longer period of time.
Point is, the original heim joints should have never been used for this application in the first place. Winter or not.
mmmm rusty car yummy
get cusco ones they are compleatly sealed.