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wishbone bushes or rose joint bearings?
degmwilliams - 6/6/12 at 08:16 PM

Iv done some searches on here and cant really find the answer. On the tiger wishbones the bottom rear uses bearings to attach to the chassis. Is there any reason that i cant use bearings for all the joints? The cost between them isnt massive, i would just need to work out the lengths abit different. I have found on here that some people believe they could bend? How true is this? Thanks


vipe - 6/6/12 at 08:34 PM

aBeen used on aircraft for decades without problems. Racecars have/had problems because of improper loading.


coyoteboy - 6/6/12 at 09:36 PM

If you size the bearings correctly and don't put them in a location that will see large radial spike loads I can't see any reason at all not to use them on all joints. Other than the increased cost and the issue with having to ensure the correct boots are used.


Strontium Dog - 6/6/12 at 09:38 PM

I left some bushes in the rear arms on my Avon scratch build to help keep transmission and drive vibrations to a minimum but the front bones are all rose jointed.

My front bones are longer than standard too. I suspect the chassis was originally designed for a live axle and when it was re designed for IRS the front bones weren't sorted to match. The front track is significantly narrower than the rear as standard which IMHO is a bit pants. I also repositioned the rear top arm mounts to provide a slightly wider mounting point and put the bending moments further towards the ends of the chassis tubes.

That is what I have done but it is perfectly reasonable to rose joint it all, especially if it's a race car, whereas mine is primarily being built as road car.


Mr Whippy - 7/6/12 at 11:00 AM

this has come up many times, basically rose joints are more suited to track use and require replacement much more often than a bushed joint, around a couple of thousand miles seemed to be the norm.

They transmit more road noise and vibration than bushes but give zero play and more accurate handling, plus let you alter the geometry quickly and offcourse look very pretty. So really it boils down to what you want to do with your car and the size of your wallet.


coyoteboy - 7/6/12 at 11:31 AM

Many normal road cars use full sphericals in their suspension, they last a long time (100K) if sized correctly and kept booted.


jrrsparky - 7/6/12 at 10:41 PM

"Motorsport rosejoints or they will break."
A quote from a well known manufacturer.

We used High Performance Rod End from www.mcgillmotorsports.co.uk