Cartridge Joints

mark · May 10, 2012

I'm seriously considering redoing my radius arms and mounts, sleaving the stock Ford radius arms with box tube for strength and loosing the stock bushing arrangement for some sort of cartridge joint for durability and to allow me to re-shape and smooth the mounts so I don't get hung up on them before.

So what joint to people recommend? Nice compromise between cost (cheap is always good), serviceability (can be assembled with out major additional tools) and durability (I'm not kind on my crap).

This style that I can weld direct to the tube. 3" mounting width would be awesome as then I can just plate down each side of the frame.

Local vendors are more than welcome.

CHOP SHOP · May 10, 2012

Those joints as fun to assemble as a punch yourself in the face contest.

Hip · May 10, 2012

CHOP SHOP said:
Those joints as fun to assemble as a punch yourself in the face contest.

:haha::haha::haha:

that is the type of joints i used on my links.:awesomework:

havent beat on them all that much but they seem fine so far.

after punching myself in the face a few times :redneck: i learned to assemble them using the 20T press.

mark · May 10, 2012

The johnny joint pictured was just an example, I know there are other manufactures that make a screw-together style assembly instead of Curries "push together".

There's just so many shops now I don't know who is making and selling what and whats any good.

Binder · May 10, 2012

Currie JJ for the win!...Use a vice to put them together if you're like me and too poor to own a press.:redneck:

CHOP SHOP · May 10, 2012

mark said:
serviceability (can be assembled with out major additional tools.)

Binder said:
Currie JJ for the win!...Use a vice to put them together if you're like me and too poor to own a press.:redneck:

Im not very fond of cussing at JJs on the bench and Im sure I would invent new cuss words if I had to change one in the woods or at an event.

They are tough and last along time. I have nothing bad to say about quality. The two things I hate about a JJ are the size (apparently a bonus in your case) and the assembly/rebuild.

There used to be a guy selling a small hand held JJ press that was pretty snazzy. Think I used to see him at the swapmeets.

KarlVP · May 12, 2012

I have the *gasp* ballistic joints in my links and they seem to perform well. When I first put them in they were stupid noisy. After breaking them in I tightened them down and gave them a squirt of grease and they continue to perform well.

Zing photos of mine and what we did.

fastbarryracing · May 12, 2012

i say just go with some good ol' heim joints and carry a couple spares. no trailside rebuilding, no messing around with assebling a joint. just swap in a new one and you are on your way.

my heims take a hell of a beating.

mark · May 12, 2012

fastbarryracing said:
i say just go with some good ol' heim joints and carry a couple spares. no trailside rebuilding, no messing around with assebling a joint. just swap in a new one and you are on your way.

my heims take a hell of a beating.

I thought about that. But I really didn't need or want to deal with any sort of threaded shank and insert or anything. Also a non-shanked 3" joint is cheaper than a beefy 1.25" or so heim that I would want to use to take the load.

So who makes Joints?
Currie obviously
I found Summit Machine's joints with threaded spanner nuts on Poly Performance's site.
Ruff Stuff doesn't seem to offer anything.
I haven't checked Balistic's yet.
There are a ****-ton of 4x4 sites now, but must sell the same stuff. So who makes what?

TreeClimber · May 12, 2012

mark said:
I thought about that. But I really didn't need or want to deal with any sort of threaded shank and insert or anything. Also a non-shanked 3" joint is cheaper than a beefy 1.25" or so heim that I would want to use to take the load.

So who makes Joints?
Currie obviously
I found Summit Machine's joints with threaded spanner nuts on Poly Performance's site.
Ruff Stuff doesn't seem to offer anything.
I haven't checked Balistic's yet.
There are a ****-ton of 4x4 sites now, but must sell the same stuff. So who makes what?

My TJ is equipped with this:
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Forged-Chromoly-263-Ballistic-Joint_p_1636.html
But in preperation for TTC, I had some extra arms made up, and switched to this:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/125RESET.html
As I'm not confident that anything I order from Ballistic will ship in a timely fashion.
I looked as Summit, but I already have my brackets built for 5/8 bolts, and the Summit was 9/16th. Ballistic & Ruff Stuff allow you to go larger bolts.

bobbed_84_toy · May 13, 2012

TreeClimber said:
As I'm not confident that anything I order from Ballistic will ship in a timely fashion.

I heard that they were doing pretty good after their big reorganization. I was a bit leary, but put in a small order and it showed up in less than a week.

Binder · May 13, 2012

You will never have to rebuild a JJ on the trail and probably never have to do it at all....Honestly Mark if you get a different brand you will regret it later.

KarlVP · May 13, 2012

Like Binder said.

And the Poly Performance ones are just rebranded Summit Machine joints so whomever you can get the price cheaper through.

mark · May 14, 2012

KarlVP said:
Like Binder said.

And the Poly Performance ones are just rebranded Summit Machine joints so whomever you can get the price cheaper through.

Hey, and the Jonny's are the "cheapest" of the bunch (by like a dollar

)

I think I'll just go that route if I proceed. I'm a little torn as to how to go. The frames bent, so investing any more money/time into this truck is debatable. I'm seriously thinking of just fixing some of the broken crap and just beating it for the rest of the season then building a (reinforced) new one. But its also tempting to continue to experiment and try a couple things to incorporate in the next one.

We'll see how the Father's Day race on the 17th fares.

YotaMike · May 14, 2012

I just put johhny joints on my toyota and chevy 63's, first time out will be memorial day, but have heard they do good from a few buddies that run them.