Technical rod ends to adjust camber

[bozothenutter]

Hi, probably just one of my silli idea's again, but has anybody ever converted/replaced the front balljoing by a rod end bearing?

it would just be sawing off the balljoint, machine in a slot > weld in some tapped rod > screw in the bearing and locknut and presto you'd have camber adjustment!

Tell me am I being silly again?

 

[dave]

you can get camber bolts or make the bottom shock hole an oval shape, both easier to to

 

[fingers99]

weld in some tapped rod

That's the issue. Welding will destroy the tensile strength of the rod and -- at least in the UK -- may cause MOT failure.

 

[bozothenutter]

the thing is ..it is not about easier, it's about the fun of tinkering


If I understand right, I would not weld in the bearing, just the rod the bearing screws into.
So If I welded teh rod into the arm , it would have to be tempered again....?

 

[fingers99]

Probably. The other issue is we don't know what the arm is made of (probably a forging) so you run into the issue of welding 2 dissimilar materials together.

 

[rallycinq]

Looked into this seriously a long time ago.

Disimilar materials are problem.

The original part is apparently very strong anyway.

Easier, if you haven't just bought nice new top mounts, to get adjustable ones.

Cheers

SPD

 

[ycming]

you get can camber bolts for around £40 here!

Ming

 

[balidey]

if you are skilled enough to do what you suggested, then surely the logical thing to do would be to fabricate new lower wishbones from scratch and make them with threaded bushes at the end.

 

[rallycinq]

They need a uniball at the outer end, a rose joint inner and a threaded joint to allow adjustment.

Then attached to that, an adjustable reaction rod.

Perfect, if you can be bothered.

Cheers

SPD

 

[bozothenutter]

If I look it up with google I get:

Rose joint: the one with the threaded shaft.

Uniball : No shaft, a thinner race/larger ball

Correct?

so the Uniball should be pressed in?
Don't the make 'large movement' rosejoints aswell?

 

[rallycinq]

We used to use Uniballs on the Nova (Corsa, your side of the channel) They are a large ball joint that can be rebuilt.

You would need spherical joints (Rose is a brand name that has become a generic term) at the inner ends to allow for the difference in orientatiuon of the two mounts.

Pictured below are a pair of Escort ones that give the sort of idea.

Cheers

SPD

 

[bozothenutter]

thanks, i'm learning every day here!

 

[fingers99]

The (magic) camber bolts. An easier alternative.

 

[bozothenutter]

i'm gonna order a set of them aswell, just thought it would be fun to make some.
Might still do it as I'm planning on replacing my front arms and I'll be left with a surplus set

 

[Pep0]

This is a question

I thought the rose joints were for improved location under load, relative to metal elastic and the stiffer plastic was intermediate between the two - for a small car like the sei?

Noel

 

[fingers99]

Pretty much it. While the Sei/Cinq is a small/light car, it's a fair bit heavier than (say) a hillclimb single seater (which will be stuffed full of rose joints, etc).

Of course, t'other thing about rose joints are that they bring adjustability with them. Downsides are NVH and wear rates!

 

[Pep0]

I did not undo my 'camber bolts' for 140k miles, and will now have to hack saw them to remove! So use some locktight or copper slip, or dismantle regular.

Noel

 

[bozothenutter]

anybody have an adress that actually sells them?

Here in NL they are a bit rare....

 

[fingers99]

anybody have an adress that actually sells them?

Here in NL they are a bit rare....

Your local Monroe (as in shock absorbers) dealer should be able to get them in.

Otherwise, people like Demon Tweeks, RallySport, etc. would probably export.

 

[ycming]

I email monroe direct and they gave me the details to a local dealer close to me!

Thanks
Ming