Strut rods..factory style or heim jointed

[5.7 hemi]

I went ahead and made my own strut rods at work on a cnc machine and I went quite a bit bigger than stock and then sent them over to our chrome shop to have our industrial chrome put on them, they look great. Now here is the dilemma, I want a great ride, well as best as I can get for the "old" technology, but just curious as to whether the heim jointed strut rods will react faster and smoother, hence a better ride, than the upgraded rods that I made? Lets hear the good, bad and the ugly.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Are your rods using the factory bushings? Are the heim jointed rods mounted solid to the K member? Anything mounted solid will transmit noise, and in my opinion, reduce the comfort level.

The amount of suspension movement while going down the road is pretty little I'm thinking so I doubt you will notice a difference between the factory type and the heim.

From what I understand the way to drastically change the way these cars drive is to increase the spring rate, add a ton of positive caster and have the box set up with more feel.

 

[dangina]

if you going the old school route - look at the stuff from hotchkiss - they seem to have the best out there for beefing up the oem suspension...it might be the route I go with if i don't feel like sinking 4g notes into a whole front end conversion..

 

[MprDoc]

I have read heim joints ride pretty rough compared to stock, thats why you generally don't see them on street cars.

 

[dangina]

I have read heim joints ride pretty rough compared to stock, thats why you generally don't see them on street cars.

A)heim improved (Best)performance but transfers more road noise and quicker reacting
B)poly improved performance without sacrificing on comfort and quieter

now if you can do a pillowball you get the best of both worlds - Its like a heim joint without all the road noise and not as harsh but for the strut rods your looking at A or B

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I went ahead and made my own strut rods at work on a cnc machine and I went quite a bit bigger than stock and then sent them over to our chrome shop to have our industrial chrome put on them, they look great. Now here is the dilemma, I want a great ride, well as best as I can get for the "old" technology, but just curious as to whether the heim jointed strut rods will react faster and smoother, hence a better ride, than the upgraded rods that I made? Lets hear the good, bad and the ugly.

Hey 5.7 Hemi! I got my torque boxes and subframe connectors in - will post those pics soon - but I wanted to give you some feedback here on the strut rods to this 1 yr old post.

Have you tried the heim joint strut rods yet? On my '68 satellite I replaced my old worn out strut rods with Hotchkis adjustable heim joint strut rods. They have no bushings. Long story short - I had to redo my hotchkis UCA's because the 1st shop installed them upside down, so I went to another shop and while assessing the situation, the 2nd shop talked me into swapping out the hotchkis strut rods for stock units with new bushings. He said that he's seen lots of broken k-frames from using the heim joint non-bushing strut rods. Now I'm not sure if that's true, but he was a pretty persuasive old timer at a local frame shop.

Bear in mind your post asks about a "great ride" which is subjective. I'll attempt to describe my experience. Here's my feedback on the feel of the two after driving less than 100 miles on each on the same car:

Hotckis heim joint non-bushing rods: I didn't notice how much these affected the feel of the car until I removed them and replaced with the stock type units. The Hotchkis rods felt solid and tight. I live in downtown San Jose where the roads have lots of bumps and potholes and I didn't feel like the ride was harsh at all. It was not PLUSH, but it wasn't jarring either. Maybe that's because I upgraded almost my entire suspension and put in Edelbrock IAS shocks, Hotchkis UCA's and steering rods, etc. I liked the way these felt a lot. The only thing I noticed is that they bounced a little more over bumps than the stock bushing type rods even with my new shocks.

New stock type rods with new bushings: These feel like they should - new bushings made things feel like new and better than before, but after having the hotchkis strut rods just prior, these now feel a bit too plush. I wish they were a bit tighter. I thought about switching to poly bushings, but only if I can do so without any squeaking noises.

The only thing I'm still not sure about is if the heim joint non-bushing style rods will in fact damage the k-frame over time with normal street driving. Anybody have any input on this?

I also just upgraded my torsion bars from .088" to .092". I heard this is one of the biggest "feel" improvements you can do also. It's better, but still a bit soft. I should have gone to .096" like many on here have recommended.

The grass is always greener until we try lots of options isn't it!
Hope this helps!

 

[BIGBLK_WP27_5 SPEED]

Are your rods using the factory bushings? Are the heim jointed rods mounted solid to the K member? Anything mounted solid will transmit noise, and in my opinion, reduce the comfort level.

The amount of suspension movement while going down the road is pretty little I'm thinking so I doubt you will notice a difference between the factory type and the heim.

From what I understand the way to drastically change the way these cars drive is to increase the spring rate, add a ton of positive caster and have the box set up with more feel.

YES... THAT IS CORRECT.... bigger strut rods using poly bushings, greasable lca pin, 4.5 degrees positive caster, 1.06 T bars, plated lower control arms (really make a big diff), there is a ton of flex on the factory LC arms. Talk to Dick Ross from FIRMFEEL. They make great stage 3 power streering boxes and tubular UC arms. I gussetted my K member with lazer cut peices from firmfeel, which the biggest part is making the power steering mount solid so it will not flex... tightening up your feel on the road.....

 

[5.7 hemi]

Well for now I'm gonna run what I have on the car.....3/4 inch strut rods (made these at work on a cnc) with poly bushings, reinforced tubular upper control arms, plate welded to the lower control arms to tie them together, 1 1/8 front sway bar, 3/4 sway bar in the rear, new power steering box, poly bushings everywhere except the lower control arm, stayed with the rubber, c body tie rods with solid stainless steel adjuster. I think this should be fine and give a more modern feel like that of the late model cars.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Well for now I'm gonna run what I have on the car.....3/4 inch strut rods (made these at work on a cnc) with poly bushings, reinforced tubular upper control arms, plate welded to the lower control arms to tie them together, 1 1/8 front sway bar, 3/4 sway bar in the rear, new power steering box, poly bushings everywhere except the lower control arm, stayed with the rubber, c body tie rods with solid stainless steel adjuster. I think this should be fine and give a more modern feel like that of the late model cars.

sounds good! by the way - this is the first i've heard about plating the LCA. 5.7 hemi do you have a photo of this installed and is it something i can order from firm feel or do I have to make one?

 

[5.7 hemi]

Here ya go. You can buy the plate from Mancini, or make you own out of some sheet metal. Also an up close view of the strut rods I made at work, then had hard chromed at our chrome shop. This should give you an idea of what I was talking about in regards to a more modern feel when I get to drive it.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

Here ya go. You can buy the plate from Mancini, or make you own out of some sheet metal. Also an up close view of the strut rods I made at work, then had hard chromed at our chrome shop. This should give you an idea of what I was talking about in regards to a more modern feel when I get to drive it.

Looks nice. For the LCA's, I can see the K-frame, but I don't see anything different about the LCA's than my stock ones. Is there a metal gusset or box you welded in that's not showing up in the photos? I'm probably just not seeing it.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I just ordered the LCA plates from Mancini. Hopefully there will be instruction included so I know how they're supposed to weld on. I learned that since I just installed a front sway bar these LCA plates are even more critical to prevent flex and optimize things.

 

[5.7 hemi]

The plate that is welded to the lower control arm "boxes" them. I take it by your most recent post, you see how they will look once the plate is welded on.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

The plates from Mancini came in the other day and I had them welded on by my mechanic. They came out nice. I'll post pics in a few days when the rain quits.