Replacing Ball Joints With Heim Joints ?

[RIjon]

I would like to replace the balljoints on my Burgard +2 Arms with Heim Joints (spherical joints)

Anyone Done this?

I need to replace the joints soon regardless due to rips in the boots, but I would like to hear what everyone has to say abo0t this

Where can I buy them ? Link?

Thanks

[hondaguy82]

this is a link to a site that sells them.. i was thanking about doing the same thing.. let me know if u do it and how it turns out..
http://www.totalperformance-llc.com/amstar.asp

[RIjon]

Thanks

Those prices are CRAZY for hiem joints though

Anyone else have some info ?

[forum]

that picture is so fake. its either been photoshoped or he put a 16 inch elka shock on the one side. you can tell the one shock is only a trple rate. the other a quadrate. asr sucks.. not to mention those mounts would snap rite off

[sharpshooter]

just wanted to know if this can be done and are the heim's as strong as the ball joints

[boogiechile]

most a arms with automotive type ball joints use a 14 or 16 mm shaft on the joint. When heims are used for ball joints a 3/4 inch shank is usually used. So the heim will not just thread in the a arm that has ball joints now. 16mm is only .629 inches and of course 14 is less. There may not be enough meat on the arm to drill and tap to 3/4.

Metric heims in good quality are hard to find and much more expensive than standard sizes. That is why everyone uses standard size heims. also I do not know anywhere you could get a king pin for a metric heim short of having them machined.

Heims are stronger and have more range of motion. I build my own arms using heims. I buy the king pins for them from janssen racing for 10 dollars each and buy the heims from www.aedmotorsport.com . The heims shown on the site for those ASR arms are the thin side type that are not as strong as the fat full around type that aedmotorsport has. You may have seen the fat ones on merrell or roll arms.

If your arms are very thick around the ball joint shafts you may be able to drill them out to 3/4 and use heims but make sure that there will be enough metal around the heim after the arm is drilled out.

[RIjon]

check this out

http://www.bakerprecision.com/rodhow.htm

NMB / NHBB

[boogiechile]

Yea I looked at bakerprecision.com when i first bought some but their prices are higher than aedmotorsport.com. A 3/4 inch JM12 FK rod end is 21.40 at baker but only 17.96 at aed. The service at aed is wonderful too.

[RIjon]

so the FK is up to the task ?

Pretty large price jump to the next level of joints...BUT if they are that much better it might be worth it

What am I looking at as far as Movement* (M) ?

And what of 'misalignment' ends :confused:

Few other Questions ....

where do you get the studs for the joints and do you have to drill out the spindle?

Thanks

[boogiechile]

The fk jm series should be more than up to the task. I have never broken one. Open heims can wear though due to dust and grit and may have to be replaced when they get a little slop. I have not yet been able to use mine to that point.

The movement of the standard jm 12 which is a 3/4 inch joint is enough for most long travel setups. I measured it before and it has much more range than a standard ball joint. I even posted it here on an old post about ball joints but can't remember how much more range it had. Seems like it was about 15 degrees more. I am running just over 12 inches of travel and I have to bevel the edges of the spindle boss where the ball joint studs go to keep the heim jam nut from binding on the edge of the spindle. The angle of the joint in relation to the arm is critical. But if you just want to change from ball to heim joints that is already set on your arms. The heims will give more travel than the ball joints before binding but will most likely not give you enough to make a standard into a long travel. The angle needs to be greater for long travel.

They make high misalignment joints but they typicaly give up strength and longevity to do it and they are not needed in a quad application.

As for the king pin studs you can buy them from most places that sell a arms that use them. They are machined to fit your spindles without reaming. The taller (longer) the stud is the more range of motion you can get before the jam nut hits, but the weaker the stud will be. Like I said in my earlier post, I buy the studs from Janssen Racing. They have the best price I can find and I like the studs. They are not as long as some and I have to bevel the spindles but that is nothing.

Not really sure what you are trying to do or why you want to change to heims, so i can't really offer any suggestions at this point. But if all you are wanting is heims instead of ball joints on standard travel arms, I don't know if I would go to the trouble. I would just get some high quality ball joints that fit. If you have 16 mm joints check out the ones that Ricky Stator has.

[RIjon]

thanks Boogie

All I am trying to do is improve

I have rips in my balljoint boots. So being as I have to replace them anyway .....

I was just thinking of switching to heims

Like I said in the first post , I have +2 Burgards (Reg Travel) which work great. I am not trying to make them Long Travel or anything .....just thinking heims would be a smarter replacement option

I will have to measure the sizes of the ball joints and see where that leads me

You can see them here http://members.cox.net/jfast50/quad/Quad27.jpg

Thanks for the great info

BTW, who makes the Good Quality Replacement balljoints ??