tube80z Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The QA-1s are called a slot bearing. They are a 2 piece design and not designed for the amount of vibration you'll see on the rear suspension. We used these first as they are low cost and they lasted one event and the liners pounded out. Then AM Auroras in 5/8 and they pounded out and then 3/4 X/Ms (not sure but their top lines) and they worked fine. I've done CMs on a street car and those seem to be working fine but it hasn't done a ton of mileage. It's your money but I don't think you need to spend $200 a rod end to get some that work. Hope this helps. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 No I definitely hope I am finding the wrong prices, granted I'm sure some may be worth quite a bit based on the material and specifications. Seems like NHBB in the 5/8 bore 3/4 thread is indeed north of 150$ a rod end. So out of the question and most likely overkill for me. I am having a hard time locating FAG rod ends, and seems like the lower priced ones are actually knock offs which scares me deeply. So do you think the slot style pounded out because of the style? Or do you think it was the 5/8 small bearing surface that caused it to pound out sooner? The high load ones from my parts supplier look to be two piece, but the radial load rating makes me really like them, but it is true these are meant for pan hard and 4 links which probably see much less movement then our rear suspension. I found the Aurora XM/XB 10 for ~30$ a piece. It says the load rating is only 16,000 lbs radial or 1,600 axial. I know our cars are light, and that it will be split a few ways with the 4 wheels on the ground and the two rod ends and such, is that enough? I know the first QA1 I posted is not recommended, but how about the second one I posted? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-hml10-12t 3 piece, 40,000 radial load, so 4,000 axial, it is a bit cheaper to boot, but more then double the rating. Really do appreciate all the input, I would have been sorely disappointed had I just gone with what I had planned originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) Parts ordered, I'll take the plunge with the QA1 3 piece chromoly rod ends, if they are terrible then I'll have to look for another supplier down the road. Steel ordered Total 126$ Tube adapters and spacers ordered Total 43$ Rod ends and jam nuts ordered 186$ Total so far 355$, not quite the vast savings I was hoping for, but hopefully it will be a fun project. Just have to order coilovers and I'll have a bolt in rear suspension solution. Edited July 31, 2015 by seattlejester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Congrats. What are you doing for CVs or halfshafts? Now is the time to widen the arms if you want to run CV shafts. I still have my jig for 15" arms, 1/2" wider than stock and fits 300ZXT shafts if that is useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 Thanks, I really enjoy implementing plans. Pretty excited, everything should be here next week sans coilover which I'm still figuring out. I was planning on making a jig, no point in spending all this effort if I have to start from scratch when I do it again. Now that I think about it, I didn't buy enough material to make a jig...I'll dig through my parts bin, if not, then maybe another order. I would love to see how your jig looks, if you aren't using it at the moment I could use it to get started (dimension wise). I'm really not too sure about half shafts. There is some appeal to making it a tad longer to free up the binding that I had read about on Johnc's website and as you mentioned some merit in being able to run the 300zx cv's without flipping cages. My short term plan was stock half shafts, then maybe wolf creek axles to make it somewhat more sturdy down the road. Truth be told, my original plan was to run the Infiniti J30 axles until they met the stub axle and either make a flange and weld it or something of that nature, but I have since been convinced that welding an axle is a terrible terrible idea. Not sure exactly I imagine the direction I'll end up going will depend on what I can get my hands on cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Just remembered my jig won't work for you. I cut off the inner control arm pivots and welded monoball holders to the chassis, so not compatible. How are you going to do the inboard end of the control arm? Cut up a stocker and build off of it, or ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Ah, didn't realize you went a different route for the inboard ones too. Yes, current plan is to reuse the stockers for the inboard portion. I didn't want to have to try and deal with also fabricating the inboard end and I already have poly bushings for them so I figured might as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I've got a pair of stockers with the outboard ends already cut off. You are welcome to them for the cost of shipping, if you want to save your complete stockers for any possible futrure use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 I wouldn't mind having another set and that is a hard offer to pass up. Take this to PM's? Jig material also ordered, I have a pretty solid idea of how I am going to make it standard square tube steel. Pretty excited. Welder is on loan to a friend so I'll just amass parts and layout a plan see how seamlessly I can get this done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 These are the ones I fabricated using a simple jig. Used a 3/4 x 5/8 for the front rod end and 5/8 x 5/8 for others. Used QA1 rod ends and have about 4 or 5 race weekends on them so far with no problems. Also made some oil-lite bronze bearings for the inner pivot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Hmm what wall square tubing did you use? I have a couple sets of control arms and wouldn't mind having a backup set in that fashion as that seems pretty quick and easy to modify. Good to hear that the QA1's held up. I just went with the same size throughout to keep it consistent. I have been hearing and reading more that the rear does not support as much and could get away with using a smaller rod bearing. Picked up all the metal today as well as a brand new tank of welding gas. Only two of the rod ends came in today. Hopefully the other 4 are in the mail. Tube adapters should be arriving this week as well as the final rear wheel bearing. I'm going to call fastenal to see if they can get the bolt I need as well. So on top of the cost so far... 50$ for welding tank refill 33$ for jig building material Still need hardware. So far this is costing me more then a set of TTT arms, still some great fun to look forward to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Friend borrowed my welder, I thought it would be for a day, but I just got it back today. It has been slow progress as I had to go to his house to use my welder, I think there's a seinfield joke in there somewhere. I built a negative off a factory control arm. And with the control arm removed I have a pretty decent starting point. Started welding my tube adapters to the tubes and making measurements for the cuts. I'll have to dig out my tube notcher and chop saw, but hopefully should finish at least the first one next week. After I finish the first one I plan on making alignment points on my jig and measurements to make the second one faster and identical to the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Screw the tubing notcher. 240hoke turned me onto this, works much better: http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 That's pretty useful. I figured a notcher would be faster, I'll have to give both a shot and see how I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Screw the tubing notcher. 240hoke turned me onto this, works much better: http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi That is cool as cold beer. I've got to try that out today. Thanks Jon. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Actually if you make two cuts to the centerline at angles it makes a cope. Lay a coped tube on a flat surface and you'll see. There are tables of what angles to use. The paper method is pretty cool too. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 (edited) Bummer that this took a while. Took me a while to find some space where I could really make some noise and grind some pieces. A couple friends very kindly offered so I think I cut out all the pieces I needed. Tube280z, that is kind of what I ended up doing. My notcher maxed out at 60* and seems like it was close, but very cumbersome. Ended up notching with two cuts using a die grinder and grinding a bit of the outside for fitment. Tacked everything together yesterday. Had a few questions for you folks. The question is regarding the sway bar mount. Currently it sits below the tube as pictured, I figured this would make it easier to clear any custom type of axle by lowering the sway bar away. At the same time I am a little concerned it won't be quite as strong as it would be more of a cap rather then a brace type situation. Additionally I had some thoughts of running another piece of pipe from the bottom of the sway bar mount perpendicular to the bottom bar using the sway bar mounting plate to meet up, I haven't seen anyone else do that though, probably overkill? Edited September 28, 2015 by seattlejester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 You want long end links if possible, and get rid of poly or rubber bushings if possible. What I'd suggest is using two pieces of angle welded to bottom of the arm. This would make your arms left and right specific if that matters to you, but you'd get a double shear attachment and a longer end link and it's easy enough to do. I'd leave room for rod end spacers to make sure that they don't bind. If you want to keep the stock style bushings then you're probably fine as is, or could add the perpendicular piece at one or either end to stiffen it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 I did order rod end spacers for the rear toe link and planned on having it deflect back a bit, I didn't really think of using any for the front, shoot. I can kind of imagine what you are referring to regarding the angle iron in the arm. Two 90* pieces that would capture a rod end that would connect to the sway bar. Question is how would the sway bar articulate on the sway bar end? Arg, wished I had planned this a bit more out. I was so set on copying the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Well, you could get female rod ends and run a stud with poly on the bar side, but what I did was to cut the end of the bar off and then weld on a .25" x 1.25" piece of just plain ol bar stock, then drilled the holes in that to mount the rod end. I had pics of all this stuff when I did it about 10 years ago, but can't find the threads anymore. Here are some of the pictures. None of this is on the car anymore. We did another thread with A-arm and toe link stuff and I redid all of it and decided to run springs stiff enough that I don't need a rear bar. Might still have to adapt one later on, but hoping not to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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