Roto-Joints / Del-Sphere / Johnny Joints / Ballistic Joint - experience?

[carbuff]

Guys,

I've done some searching here and some Googling, but I'm not coming up with anything particularly definitive on this topic...

I'm looking to replace the poly bushings in the lower control arms of my rear suspension. I'm looking for good articulation while keeping the NVH as low as I can (I drive this car pretty regularly). So I'm looking at the poly/delrin lined joint options. I've found these 4 so far (there may be others), and I'm wondering if anyone has any specific experience with them, good or bad.

From what I've read, it seems that Currie's Johnny Joint was the first of this style joint, and the others are similar designs. Some are 'adjustable', meaning you can tighten them up as the bushings wear over time. That may or may not be an advantage. Some look like they might be easier to rebuild than the others. And there are different sizes available for each company, so it could come down to convenience unless I find a good reason to choose one over the other...

I'm leaning towards the UMI Roto-Joint at this point, as it may be closest to the size I need and I've read good customer service reviews. Next choice may be the Forged Johnny Joint, but it has a smaller bolt hole which may be a problem (need to check, but my current bushings may have a larger bolt hole already). Thoughts / suggestions?

While I'm on the subject... I have 4 rod ends I want to replace also on my Watt's Link rods. Again, after much Googling, I'm reading that the QA1 and Aurora brand rod ends seem to be the preferred options. I'm specifically hoping to cut down on some noise from these, so I want to get some quality pieces here. I'm happy to hear any thoughts you have on these as well...

Thanx!

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Guys,

I've done some searching here and some Googling, but I'm not coming up with anything particularly definitive on this topic...

I'm looking to replace the poly bushings in the lower control arms of my rear suspension. I'm looking for good articulation while keeping the NVH as low as I can (I drive this car pretty regularly). So I'm looking at the poly/delrin lined joint options. I've found these 4 so far (there may be others), and I'm wondering if anyone has any specific experience with them, good or bad.

From what I've read, it seems that Currie's Johnny Joint was the first of this style joint, and the others are similar designs. Some are 'adjustable', meaning you can tighten them up as the bushings wear over time. That may or may not be an advantage. Some look like they might be easier to rebuild than the others. And there are different sizes available for each company, so it could come down to convenience unless I find a good reason to choose one over the other...

I'm leaning towards the UMI Roto-Joint at this point, as it may be closest to the size I need and I've read good customer service reviews. Next choice may be the Forged Johnny Joint, but it has a smaller bolt hole which may be a problem (need to check, but my current bushings may have a larger bolt hole already). Thoughts / suggestions?

While I'm on the subject... I have 4 rod ends I want to replace also on my Watt's Link rods. Again, after much Googling, I'm reading that the QA1 and Aurora brand rod ends seem to be the preferred options. I'm specifically hoping to cut down on some noise from these, so I want to get some quality pieces here. I'm happy to hear any thoughts you have on these as well...

Thanx!

I have used all 4 and the UMI and Spohn look the same. UMI being a tad cheaper puts it in the lead.

The JJ's just don't have the size to make it a good choice.

[SSLance]

I went from old worn out stock flimsy arms with rubber bushings to the UMI arms with roto-joints and didn't notice any increase in NVH. All I noticed was a much greater feel of the rear end planting the tires and the car tracking straighter on launches. Big fan of the roto-joints here.

[carbuff]

So, it turns out my memory failed me. I thought that I had 2.5" wide bushings on each end of the the LCA's on my car. In fact, they are only 1.75" wide. This greatly limited my options on the ends I could use...

The other limit is the diameter of the body itself. The current bushings have a body that is about 1.5". There is about 1/4" clearance to a bolt at the closest point. I can use a shorter bolt, and will, but that still gives me about 3/8" of clearance, so the max body diameter appears to be around 2.25". Maybe a little more, but not much.

That pretty much narrowed my choice down to the Spohn Del-Sphere. At 2.25" housing diameter, 1.5" housing width, that one will just fit. The UMI's are 2.4" wide, so that's out. The Currie's are 2" wide, and only a 7/16" bolt (mine is 5/8"). And the Balistic Fab has a 2" mounting width also with a 1/2" bolt width.

The Spohn's have a 3/4" through hole, but they have a bushing to bring it down to 5/8". They also have spacers to get me to 1 7/8" width, but they said we can turn those down (Eric has a lathe, so that shouldn't be a problem).

So I have 4 of them on the way this week.

And after much other research, I've ordered a boat-load of QA1 XM-series rod ends. They seem to have almost universally good reviews, and the price seems right. I ordered direct from QA1, and they shipped today (with prices cheaper than Summit as well).

I have about $500 worth of suspension links on the way now!

Hopefully this is going to take care of my clunks and give me some improved rear axle articulation as well.