Blowing through track bar heims

I run FK heims now and they are killer. have been for a year. I only run RS heims if I feel like cheaping out, knowing they will be bad very soon.


On a 3 link I would run hard joint on the trackbar, just run quality joints. if you have to run a bushing, look into super hard durometer bushings.
 
ie: FKrodends ?
How sure are you about this? Will a quality heim really survive several years, where say, an RS heim would not?
I got no problem spending the money, just been through so many "upgrades" that didn't actually upgrade anything, so I fall back on basic material science at the cost of performance. I REALLY like the responsiveness of my steering with heims on both ends. :p.
Just seems suspicious that pretty near everyone on Pirate says RS are absolutely fine for their rock buggies, but I'm blowing through them on stuff they'd laugh at.
 
Last edited:
I was blowing through RS heims on the trackbar. went to FK. seemed to help.

getting years if you are DD only then its fine. Wheeling it hard, heims are a wear item that might blow out once a season.

I run FK JMX and RMX . I am a fan.

If you can, consider going to a 2" wide johnnie joint at one end or both . Also, consider the super hard durometer bushings if you do bushings . if you are set on heims on the trackbar, run FK JMX . I run RS 7/8 on my tie rod since they don't see steep angles, they seem to last a long time on the tie rod, but not on the drag link or trackbar, so keep that in mind. the FK seem to last a while longer.

rock climber has a point on the different misalignments.
 
I hadn't even noticed Rockclimbers comment about the misalignments, and it SOUNDS like it makes sense, but unfortunately for me (I was hoping that was the right answer), I'm not running misalignment spacers on the end that keeps getting destroyed. It's pretty consistently the frame side, and because the mount I have is only 1.5", I couldn't fit a 7/8 joint with the misalignment spacers. Just threw in some old non-misalignments in.
That said, i did throw a camera under there to make sure it wasn't just binding up or something on articulation. I got no idea. Maybe just unlucky, or maybe the silt just destroys heims.

Hey, there's a question for ya. What are you wheeling in primarily? We see a LOT of silty crap and it absolutely destroys bearings/seals. That was actually my first suspicion and I keep trying to find a way to make a boot for the heims.
 
Here's the deal. Run a quality heim such as FK. I also made the switch from ruffstuff. I only wheel in socal so it's sand and rocks. They will last longer than ruffstuff. There is not one solution that will survive everything you can possibly throw at it. If your heims last only a year or two then you may have to live with it. Joints wear and need replacing, eventually. No joint will last forever nor will the same joints work for every person in every situation
 
I've heard good & bad concerning RS rod ends... as mentioned above I've had very good luck with Aurora and good luck with FK.
I differ in the sense that I like greasable... have for years... while I don't consider my wheeling "hard core" I do twist the hell out of mine I certainly wheel it... There are seals & boots for heims...
I'm in the dusty ass So. Cal. desert... sand to talcum... very little mud...
I get a couple years out of the set... I don't put ALLOT of miles on them, but it is a combo of street, highway & desert...
There was a company who built/builds just steering links & they have their own rod end that is supposed to be super tight with good longevity...
I can't remember what their name was... I think Jeeper John runs some of their stuff... Found it... Bullet Proof Steering

Curt
 
Last edited:
Emailed RS to discuss. They said the same as I've suspected. Real fine silt just gets into the joint and wears out the teflon liner. Makes sense because it's always the exact same amount of slop in the joint every time (barely noticeable when checking by hand, but you can definitely feel it while wheeling).

Most of the guys I've talked to in Pirate who have no problems with heims, are all trailer queens. Seems most guys with heims wearing out, are the guys putting on a lot of road miles on top of wheeling, so the dirt intrusion makes sense. I'm not arguing that RS is a good joint, or that there aren't better joints, just that for my application, the RS 7/8 should be more than sufficient, given they're used by buggies all the time.

I think I'm going to just throw on another RS joint and try to seal the shit out of it somehow. May get away with just a big bead of RTV connecting the socket to the spacers. MIGHT stretch enough to not tear? :)
 
I am stoked if I get more than like 4 runs out of my trackbar heims. This current set of FK JMX heims has 3 runs and so far so good so shooting for more than 5 runs on these and will keep track.

My tie rod heims will last a year or two.

drag link maybe 6 runs.


they do make heim protective boots you can try out- here are some examples:
http://www.mooreparts.com/fk-7-8-to...vThMTK7T_Kmc66moJL12ywSJru2TjIKYUAaArVO8P8HAQ

I think FK make them?
 
Those boots I think are the answer. I really can't imagine any reason why my track bar joints are blowing out, other than silt intrusion wearing out the liner. Considering my RoughCountry x-flex joints are still perfect after 4 years of hard wheeling, and they've gotta be taking pretty near the same abuse as the track bar, the only difference is the grease being able to clean stuff out.

Just heard there's a fab/cnc shop on the island (not too far away) who sell (make?) heims as well. May give them a shot instead of RS, and grab some boots and load'm up with grease.
 
yeah I might try these boots to see if they really help at all.

I think if you went to FK heims over RS you would be happy.
 
I have boots on my heims... some have ripped...
As I mentioned I use greasable heims... I made a slight incision where the zerk came through the boot... that MIGHT have compromised the boot... some are fine as well... These folks have both the boots & seals... I didn't get my boots from them, but have used their seals
https://www.sealsitoffroad.com/rod-end-seals.html

I think your issue might be the teflon wick or liner (or a large part of it) it gets beat out... you might look into a heim without the liner...

Curt
 
Xtreme XJ said:
I think your issue might be the teflon wick or liner (or a large part of it) it gets beat out

Curt
Click to expand...

This. Wearing them out has nothing to do with dirt contamination.

The FK's are ideal because of the full encasing liner. The RS heims (like most low cost heims) have just the sides of the joint lined. As it get's shock loaded, it will push the plastic out the sides leaving room for the ball to move around. Look at your old heims! If the plastic on the ball side has a ridge built up, this is exactly whats happening.

Again... those boots will not make the RS joints last longer if shock loading is the issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Steering Redo.... Questions before I dive in.
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
RCP Phx
R
N
  • Locked
What Causes Bump-Steer?
Replies
0
Views
1K
NAXJA_Archives
N
J
Lower track bar mount issues
Replies
17
Views
5K
xcm
xcm
P
Track bar bracket (frame)
Replies
15
Views
4K
Evan03
E
N
Track bar and bracket issue
2 3
Replies
59
Views
9K
Nomad Nate
N
Back
Top