Technical Rod End Lubrication?

I've got several rod ends on the front suspension / steering on my 30 pickup. There are no grease zerks to apply grease. Do you guys spray any lube on them? Here's a couple of examples:



I was thinking some kind of dry lube would be best, something like this maybe:

https://www.zoro.com/lps-dry-film-p...gclid=CJSwrI-Tqc4CFQeRfgodj-IBYg&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Those are not made to be greased. Least I've not seen any that had zerts. You may also hear some noises like clunking from them. I would not use them for street car. But I'm very hard headed.

 

I have them on the tie rod and drag link, and rear traction bars, on my Chevy II, so far with 12k miles they are holding up ok. No lube. Inspect them regularly for wear.

 

The top photo is a tie rod end, the bottom photo is a hairpin mount.

 

I would replace them both with a proper tie rod end.

If they have the common 5/8" thread size that a lot of rod ends do, So-Cal sell tie rod ends in that size specifically for replacing rod ends.

 

I never use those on anything that sees time on a public road.

 

I use "seals it". They are available from Speedway motors and right from the manufacturer. http://www.sealsit.com/rod-end-seals.html
Slather on the grey moly lube and they are good to go for a few years. You could even sneak a grease needle under the rubber every spring. I agree with the inspection comment and the comment about not really being designed for street use (heim joints). Run them unprotected? No thanks.

 

By the time that they are showing rust, they are past the time that they need to be thrown in the dumpster.

 

These? http://www.est1946.com/tierodend-58-18thread.aspx

No way to lube these either, eh?

 

The life of heim joints used on the street can be greatly extended with the rubber seals sold by Speedway. Keeps dirt out, lubrication in.

And please ignore those who sneer at heims; since they hate them so much, I doubt any have actually used them! I've used them on street-driven hot rods for many years; never actually had one wear out (cuz I use the seals?) but if they do just unscrew the old one and screw in the new one - much easier than replacing a tapered tie rod end, so you're more likely to do it.

 

I have a large one (3/4") on my rear suspension. It has a hole in the threaded shaft that allows grease to be forced up to the spherical part. I have a zerk in the shaft the rod end screws into that allows me to force grease into it. I don't have any experience with smaller ones to know if they have this feature or not.

 

And some of us have. I have been a successful chassis and suspension builder for a couple of decades.

 

I never use them on steering systems. I have used teflon lined ones for rear suspension links, but they are 3/4 shank and 5/8" hole. Those look tiny and inadequate.

 

I try not to use them on street cars but on our race cars I reach in and wiggle them back and forth between every race. For lube I use one of those needle lube pens from Pro-Long.
Also there are many rod end bearings that should never be used for auto use. There is a web site for racing ones which are much better. Good luck

 

I've run those on everything with zero problems. The ones on my 27 have been on the road for about 26 years, and are all over the car, front and rear.

In fact, we just installed a Steeda front end setup under my sons OT Mustang, and it comes with rod ends instead of tie rod ends.

Don

 

Yes those.
I bought 4 polished SS ones to replace the rod ends that I had originally started my build with on the wishbone to frame ends.
While there is no way to lubricate the tie rod ends they have the advantage of being sealed from the weather and internally lubed so should be better and last longer than a rod end.

 

Are they sealed Don? Do you lubricate them periodically?

 

So I'm thinking about this, but tie rod ends have a tapered shaft, don't they? How did you deal with that?

 

If you want to use a ball type rod end , thats fine, but the one that is shown (2 piece) is the cheapest one made and some chinese ones are starting to come in (cheaper yet). Stick with names like Auroua, FK, NMB, FAFNIR, HEIM(that is the brand name) and go with the 4130 housing and teflon lined, the Seals-it is a plus. They are going to be a lot more than $11 each, but isnt your ride worth it?

 

Should you choose to use a quality rod end on street driven applications, in my opinion, you should run a heavy washer under the bolt head of sufficient OD to prevent the rod end body from coming off the bolt should the rod end come apart.

 

This isn't aimed at me, is it? Just a point being made in general, right? I'm not arguing about using rod ends or tie rod ends, just asking questions.

 

I bought a tie rod reamer from Speedway.
The taper is 7 degrees, so you can ream the hole to fit the taper of the tie rod.

On my frame since the tie rod fits the frame differently than the rod ends I had to modify the mounting points and made new plates with the 7 Degree tapered hole cut with the reamer starting with a 1/2" hole.
Then I welded them into the frame.
It's all in my build thread.

You can ream out a 5/8" hole in a tie rod end and as long as you can get the 7 Degree taper for 1/2 the thickness of the steering arm, a tie rod end will seat on that taper and work fine.
Starting with a 5/8" hole like you have in the tie rod ends going 1/2 way through will give you a perfect taper for the tie rod ends.

There are actually pitman arms that are sold that way with the taper cut 1/2 way through from both sides so that you can connect to them from either side.


http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Tapered-Ball-Joint-Reamer-7-Degree,2918.html

 

Here are mine with Zerk fittings

 

Glad that someone mentioned about washer of sufficient dia. So if one bearing goes it won't allow the joint io fall apart or off. I think it's a requirement. For some racing events.

 

I would not use them on a street car but if I did I would use a flat washer on them like Jmountainjr said.Use to run them on stock cars with a flat washer.

 

With the rust coming out of the hairpin one looks like the ball and bolt connection must have some movement in it.
And as dreracecar said don't shortcut on these parts.

 

We used these on dirt modifieds and lubed them with the CRC white lithium grease in a spray can. But these were washed and lubed every week. They usually got bent or broke from wheel contact before they ever wore out.
Part of the reason we used them on the tie rod was so we could drill the spindle out and use a spacer to help with the bump steer, not really a concern for you. Good Luck

 

The thing about some spray lubes is it will let the dirt stick to it so you would have to wash and re'lube after every trip.

 

that's why I don't bother lubing mine...

 

Yeah, that was my concern, and why I thought the dry PTFE lube might be best, it shouldn't attract dirt.