Heim joint modders ...

[x-bird]

Picked up a good safety "tip" from the guy who made my spindle bolts. Along with those and the heims, he gave me a pair of machined high misalignment washers for on top of the heim. They're oversize diameter. (you can see it zip-tied to the heim) Now initially they made contact with the heim body preventing it from reaching the angle i need for my arms. Gave him a call this morning about it, he said no problem to turn them down (nutted it on a bolt, chucked it in the drill and ran it against my disc sander) just said to keep the OD just a little larger than the heim's ball race--which i did and the interference is gone and i have the angle i want.

He told me that any heim being used in a critical area like a suspension arm should have an oversize washer on its bolt in case of ball/race failure. It'll keep the spindle in place and prevent it and the tire from flopping over and tearing away the lower arm. The entire job he did for me was done in trade which for me is a really really good deal. While some may consider it overkill, he is an engineer and his work runs in indy cars, dirt tracks, lemans etc, so it's not a case of being sold something i don't really need.

Just something very low cost to consider adding to your setup. Won't do anything for the bolt shearing off (which is why he steered me away from using a heim on the lower arm, said it's just pushing the failure risk factor for no good reason when other equally suitable, safer alternatives exist.) More work to create what he felt i should go with, but now that i've built the first arm/spindle and am nearly done with the second, am glad i followed through on.

[Lyonsperf]

Yes that is a very important thing. I have seen rodend failures on steering components where there was no washer and the driver lost all steering control. I always put a fender washer on the non supported side of any rod end. If it is a suspension link it should have a safety strap to prevent the end from digging into the ground.