Adjustabe Rod Ends

[Roy]

I am worried about all the different brands there are around....which one is the best.

Please only comment if you have had persnal experience with a particular brand and they have taken a beating and not failed

[Ant97GTR]

Hey buddy....looking at some for my GTR....while I don't have personal experience with them most if not all the hard tuned R's use Cusco items....jack....snowie etc

[Kaido_RR]

i use Ikeya Formula

i've had no problem with mine and would 100% recommended them

[**RB2530**]

I put some 'no name' brand ones in my car about a year ago now and they have been fine. Every now and then I grease them as they get a bit squeaky. I think I got them from Unique Auto sports for about $200... I think the more expensive ones would be a bit lighter thats all...

I actually ground an extra 4-5mm off the centre adjustment nut and ended up getting around 9-10deg caster...Makes heaps of difference for turn in etc. One of the best handling mods for GTSt. Tyre wear has stayed the same too!!!

cheers

[Roy]

sold, where did you get them from?

[Kaido_RR]

if i remember right a drifter in perth had his china tie-rod ends or tie-rod snap when he was drifting... i didn't see it but my mate did and said it wasnt pretty

[**RB2530**]

Yeah you have a point. I wouldn't use any Chinese stuff that has been welded...caster rods are solid though. Replace the high tensile bolts with new ones and i would say you would be sweet for street use.

Also the caster rods are loaded mainly loaded under braking...stopping the wheel from moving forward / back ward under braking. If you are on the track and running slicks , ie very high braking forces I would run decent castor rods...

[**RB2530**]

Roy,

I also recently fitted JJR (Chinese origin but they atleast are branded with warranty) upper rear control arms from Just Jap. The guy who set up the rear end looked at them and thought they were top shelf. Welding and finish appeared to be top notch... China now turns out two different qualities. 1. Really cheap shit that you dont touch, and 2. Reasonable quality at reasonable pricing.

I'd say go the JJR.

[Beer Baron]

i have used chinese upper arms and chinese castor rods. not happy with either. switched to cusco castor rods and noltec upper arms and never looked back.

[BHDave]

ESP sport. Got them off japanese yahoo. They are chunky, sealed, and feature a spaced down ball joint to reduce bump steer.

They are a copy of the moon face racing tie rod end.

I would never even consider running one of those rose jointed ones as i hit too many ripple strips.

[tacker]

Had 2 runs with JJR front castor rods ( touch wood ) with full slicks and one with re55s ( and not hadling to well ) but seem to be ok.

The welds looked ok on the units i got but lets see.

Guess that i used cheap chinese crappy brakes so castor rods are the least of my problems LOL

[Abo Bob]

People seem to be talking about two different things. You say rod ends which makes me think of tie rod ends but you pictured caster rods Troy. Which is it?

Yeah you have a point. I wouldn't use any Chinese stuff that has been welded...caster rods are solid though. Replace the high tensile bolts with new ones and i would say you would be sweet for street use.

Also the caster rods are loaded mainly loaded under braking...stopping the wheel from moving forward / back ward under braking. If you are on the track and running slicks , ie very high braking forces I would run decent castor rods...

Duncan just snapped his second stock caster rod under brakes. Maybe the cheap chinese would be better.

I've got the JJ ones. When I asked they said they have cheaper ones but the main difference was that the ones I got have dust covers. I've only done a couple of thousand kays on them though and one track day. Hit plenty of ripple strips though.

[BHDave]

People seem to be talking about two different things. You say rod ends which makes me think of tie rod ends but you pictured caster rods Troy. Which is it?

The picture that he posted is a set of after market rose jointed tie rod ends, not castor rods as a lot of people seem to think

[Roy]

The picture that he posted is a set of after market rose jointed tie rod ends, not castor rods as a lot of people seem to think

Yeh, the pic isnt a castor rod....BHDave...good man. Im hunting some down now. Otherwise i will get some of those Ikeya jobbies

[dead32]

id trust dave's version over pillowball end's for steering, especialy with the amount of track time ur car see's roy. the pillow ball joints will eventualy knock and seize up a lil. just not my cup of tea for steering components.

[Roy]

BHDave...did you get only front or front and rear?

[BHDave]

Only front tie rod ends. they work really well with the roll center adjusters too as the line of the lower control arm and the tie rod remain close to parallel. I haven't looked at rear stuff yet but i suspect i'd need a modded hicas lock bar to move the inner ball joint upwards rather than the outer down as it's fixed in the hub.

http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s15581679 here's a yahoo link if you have a japan contact. pm me if you don't and i can give you details of the guy i use.

http://www.moonface-int.com/mfr/tie/tierod/adjusttierod.htm and the original. check the japanese version of the site for prices

hope that helps

[Roy]

LOL..thanks. just found it. Trying to find rears Anyone have FAST and able to confirm whether they are the same part numbers?

[noone]

If ya post or pm ya vin can fast it for ya but i think you will find they are much different

are for a gtr anyway

ya need to press them out too not at all like a normal tierod end

[Cubes]

and the blanket fix begins.