Best source for 7075 links??

kmcminn · Dec 27, 2015

stano said:
I helped pit crew on an ultra 4 team last year that ran .095 cromo uppers. I was shocked, he said he's never had one fail. I'm thinking it was only about 1 1/4".

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That pretty wild, makes sense though. I guess all the force goes from the back to the front of the tubing. Unlike lowers where the center will get pushed up from rocks and what not.

kboring · Dec 27, 2015

kmcminn said:
That pretty wild, makes sense though. I guess all the force goes from the back to the front of the tubing. Unlike lowers where the center will get pushed up from rocks and what not.

^^^ my uppers in the rear are 1 1/2 .120 wall with 7/8 JJ. In the rear the upper is for the most part just getting pulled on. Unless you're doing crazy **** it's not really seeing a lot of pushing force that can bend it.

Ended up buying some 2 1/4" off of eBay. Thanks pholmann

POR · Dec 29, 2015

Summit machine has great pricing and their turnaround is fast. WOD is also pretty cheap. I run 1 3/4" uppers and 2" lowers I run 7/8ths and 1 1/4's heims

pholmann · Dec 29, 2015

kboring said:
^^^ my uppers in the rear are 1 1/2 .120 wall with 7/8 JJ. In the rear the upper is for the most part just getting pulled on. Unless you're doing crazy **** it's not really seeing a lot of pushing force that can bend it.

Ended up buying some 2 1/4" off of eBay. Thanks pholmann

Yes sir!!

jeff150 · Dec 30, 2015

A little derail, but what's y'alls opinion on running 7075 lowers and 6061 uppers?
My thought is the uppers are much less likely to have deformation due to rocks, etc. so you don't need as much modulus of elasticity as 7075. I assume this is also the reason most people run smaller diameter upper links. Like said above, the upper links mainly just deal with a push/pull force.
You still have them blinging aluminum links but 6061 is considerably cheaper than 7075.

pholmann · Dec 30, 2015

That's a lot of push and pull on a softer alloy aluminum. I'd worry about pulling the threads out. Your not saving that much for good insurance.

On a different derail, make sure to keep your jam nuts good and tight. A buddy of mine didn't and they ate the threads out of his on one ride. Just the tiny bit of slop in the threads back and forth all day long chewed the aluminum to nothing. Rod end pulled out, front axle folded under the front end, broke both air shocks and the driveshaft. Driveshaft punctured the oil pan and busted the radiator. All because he didn't tighten the jam nuts. MAKE SURE YOUR JAM NUTS ARE TIGHT BEFORE EACH RIDE!!!!

Elliott · Dec 30, 2015

6061 works fine on uppers ive put several sets on them and never had a failure

patooyee · Dec 30, 2015

pholmann said:
That's a lot of push and pull on a softer alloy aluminum. I'd worry about pulling the threads out. Your not saving that much for good insurance.

On a different derail, make sure to keep your jam nuts good and tight. A buddy of mine didn't and they ate the threads out of his on one ride. Just the tiny bit of slop in the threads back and forth all day long chewed the aluminum to nothing. Rod end pulled out, front axle folded under the front end, broke both air shocks and the driveshaft. Driveshaft punctured the oil pan and busted the radiator. All because he didn't tighten the jam nuts. MAKE SURE YOUR JAM NUTS ARE TIGHT BEFORE EACH RIDE!!!!

I kind of feel like if his threads were loose enough to do that over the course of one ride, tight jam nuts wouldn't have prevented it in the long-run. That's just speculation though.

I've threaded a few 7075 links in my lathe using a good tap. The tightness of the resultant threads is pretty different from when I am in a hurry and don't stop to clean the threads and re- oil the tap vs when I take my time, stop many times through the tapping process, back out, lube, blow, etc. It takes about 4x the time to do a good tight tap than it does to do a shitty loose one on the same lathe with the same tap and same drill bit. I could definitely see what you said happened happening if someone just rammed a tap through a bore in a hurry.

pholmann · Dec 30, 2015

They were actually good and tight. I say one ride but it may have been two rides. He can also **** up an anvil with a cotton ball. We did them in a lathe and took plenty of time to relube and clean out the threads and tap. I'm telling you it doesn't take long if they are not tight. Aluminum vs steel is a no brainier. A very little bit of movement quickly become a lot of movement with aluminum.

al1tonyota · Dec 30, 2015

My old rig had 2-1/2" 6061 they were ran for several years 4-5 I think they finally got to where I was having to straiten them every couple of rides. I replaced all my lowers with 2-1/4" 7075 the uppers are still 6061 no problems even after some hard rolls!

redneckengineered · Dec 30, 2015

Here's all I have to add to this...

1) Don't cheap out on links.
2) Go to a trusted source. Not saying ebay dude isn't legit but if the price is too good to be true it may be. I've heard stories of guys getting 6061 when they thought there were ordering 7075. Unless you're going to have it tested there's no way to really tell.
3) Chromoly links can suck it. I've ripped adapters out of two of them from the Heretic fab dude. I know lots of people have had luck but whatever. They felt heavier than my 2.25 alum also but that's just anecdotal.
4) Just because you can get away with thinner wall whatever or shitter grade alum or having the high school apprentice kid at the machine shop down the road tap the ends on his day off doesn't mean you should. Busting a link offroad has to be one of the worst breaks recovery wise and is usually one of the most $$$ too.
5) My 7075 links from WOD have 4 years of hard abuse and are still going strong. He buys in major bulk so his prices are sharp and his Diddy does the machine work and that guy knows what the **** he is doing I can promise you that.

crawlin85cj · Dec 30, 2015

I run 2.5" 7075 lowers and 2" 7075 uppers. I have run them on multiple buggies for years. They will bend but are resilient as anything out there.

2012 Jim's Garage YJ
2013 Wide Open Design WFO
Next one is in the oven!

pholmann · Dec 30, 2015

All of the aluminum stock I've gotten off of eBay has the production stamping down it stating 7075. It's obvious it's done from the factory. Doesn't look tampered with or fishy. I always buy from the same seller.

redneckengineered said:
Here's all I have to add to this...

1) Don't cheap out on links.
2) Go to a trusted source. Not saying ebay dude isn't legit but if the price is too good to be true it may be. I've heard stories of guys getting 6061 when they thought there were ordering 7075. Unless you're going to have it tested there's no way to really tell.
3) Chromoly links can suck it. I've ripped adapters out of two of them from the Heretic fab dude. I know lots of people have had luck but whatever. They felt heavier than my 2.25 alum also but that's just anecdotal.
4) Just because you can get away with thinner wall whatever or shitter grade alum or having the high school apprentice kid at the machine shop down the road tap the ends on his day off doesn't mean you should. Busting a link offroad has to be one of the worst breaks recovery wise and is usually one of the most $$$ too.
5) My 7075 links from WOD have 4 years of hard abuse and are still going strong. He buys in major bulk so his prices are sharp and his Diddy does the machine work and that guy knows what the **** he is doing I can promise you that.

Rohlingoffroad · Dec 30, 2015

Bought mine from (traveler) HEMAN machine he beat everyone I checked with prices. I am running 2.50" 7075 upper and lowers and 2" 7075 steering links they have held up great to Rockwells and stickies with 100hp booyang

Hudson1 · Dec 30, 2015

I have left and right 1.25 x 12 taps and a big lathe. I still ordered Aluminum links from WOD. Beautiful machine work with a fair price v.s. my time and it only took a little over a week to get them to Knoxville.

tiny · Jan 1, 2016

6061 isn't strong enough. You will eventually pull the threads out.

al1tonyota · Jan 1, 2016

tiny said:
6061 isn't strong enough. You will eventually pull the threads out.

:

mtnride · Jan 3, 2016

Elliott said:
6061 works fine on uppers ive put several sets on them and never had a failure

6061 upper 7075 lower works fine.

pholmann · Jan 3, 2016

Why risk it over a few bucks?

slravenel · Jan 4, 2016

I may be the odd man out here...but I have always had luck with regular old steel links.

.375 lowers, .250 uppers (.188 wouldnt scare me, I just sleeve .120 with more .120 on uppers usually)

I have only ever bent one, and they are cheap enough to just have a spare on the trailer. Of course...it helps to not have links that are 6 feet long. My lowers are ~36" eye to eye and I havent ever had issues... even the bent one was just a slight bend wasnt bad enough that I felt i needed to change it out that day.

That all being said...I will eventually run alum (at least on the lowers) bc they are lighter (and blingier :spin: