Rod end questions ...

[x-bird]

Rod ends, heims, rose joints ...
Trying to plan things well in advance for adding my upper arms and putting rod ends for the spindle mounts.
The tubing for my arms is 1 1/8th OD with 1/16th wall thickness. I need to bore through the tubing to install the rod end bung, but i can't find any that are long enough. I want to go through the tube and probably 1/2 to 1 inch into a rectangular notch in the steel gusset plate. So far the best piece i've found are internally threaded rods through grainger, a 6 inch length with 1.25 inch deep 1/2-20 threading on both sides runs about 14 dollars. 2 of those would be enough, but a bit pricey. They also don't list the OD, i'll ahve to call tomorrow. I want to stay around 3/4 to 7/8 max on OD.
Any suggestions for an alternative?

The other item in relation to these i'm considering is whether or not the rod ends that have the threaded stud integral with the ball are worth the extra expense and if they are considered to be stronger or weaker than regular ones attached to a grade 8 bolt welded to the spindle as a stud-type mount.

[Lyonsperf]

when I did mine, I holesawed through the control arm tube. I used a piece of 1" x .095 wall tube so a 1" hole saw made the cut. I then made a cross brace using the same 1" tube then notched the perpendicular tube to fit flush against it. Then I added tube inserts with 5/8-18 thread. drilled some rosette weld holes to lock the tube end in place and buzzed the rest together. One issue I ran into is interference with the coilover shock. Make sure the crossbrace clears the shock at full droop.

I sell the rod ends and inserts. All American Made. PM me if interested.

[metalstudman1]

Just a question- how long is the Heim threads?- usually only about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" max. and that's if no jam nut were installed, so threads beyond that is a waste. lyonperf has it right, use a piece of tubing to reach the length you want and then install the bung.

[x-bird]

I'm not worried so much about the length of the threaded section. my concern is that most of the bungs i'm seeing are too short to go all the way through my tube. if i use a bung in a tube, the size rod end i'd like to use forces the diameter of the tube too close to the diameter of my arm tubing. i'd also have to find/buy the tubing.

[x-bird]

Leave it to me to design something that needs a part that does not exist in the known universe! Who'd've thought internally threaded rod was such a specialty item. chasing down one last lead, then i may have to commit to the above method---i don't like it because i'm going to have to grind out the tubing for a large enough diameter for it to work.

[Lyonsperf]

What size rod ends are you using, what is the tube id and od.

[x-bird]

studded rod ends i'm looking at:
http://www.midwestcontrol.com/part.php?id=394
putting these in a bung then another tube makes it bigger than the OD of my arm tubes (1 1/8th)

what i'm thinking is taking these:
http://www.midwestcontrol.com/part.php?id=2261
and grinding/milling them down to the base OD diameter of .694, basically creating a 2-inch long tube that i can leave about 3/8ths sticking outside the arm.

if i do that, then i can simply (or not so simply as i only have step drills in sizes over 1/2) lol drill out my tubes, notch the plates and weld them in.

another option is to use their hex bar set
http://www.midwestcontrol.com/part.php?id=6125
but i don't like the idea of sticking the hex through a round hole in chrome moly tube and having pretty wide gap welds.

[Lyonsperf]

I can get you these

for 1-1/8 od tube .058, .065, .083 or.095 wall. 1/2-20 to 3/4-16 threads