Anyone know a good source to purchase Heim joint rear strut rods from? I'm planning on putting my car back together and want to upgrade.

2/20 - Have parts, new question. Does is make a difference if I have the left or right treaded joint near to pumpkin or the wheels?

 

I probably have a used set-up around the shop somwhere if your interested. Most kits sold have light duty heim ends and I wouldn't use them, good heim ends run about $20-30 each for stuff I would trust my life with. I'll steer you in the right direction for these. Email zeohsix2002@yahoo.com

 

I had Vette Brakes make me some heavy duty ones years ago for my oddball Dana 60 IRS setup and they are great. Price was good and they have taken the abuse. In fact mine ended up very close to stock C-4 dimensions!

JIM

 

I used parts from Summit when I did mine. Cost half what a "kit" would have, but I did need to make up some spacers to keep the joints centered at each end. The part numbers I used are on my website on the Suspension page.

 

I've got Guldstrands, but others offer good ones. The big thing to look out for is getting ones with top quality heims, w/o zerks. I've actually broken inferior ends (non-Corvette drag application) and IMCO it's hard to beat genuine NMB's. Also, as long as you're already going to the trouble, I suggest following thru with a set which uses camber lock plates in lieu of eccentric adjuster cams, even if that means fabbing up an extra set or two to facilitate finer adjustment.


TSW

 

Here's my current set-up. I'm hoping I can just replace the rods and keep the piece that bolts to the pumpkin.

The rod on the pictured right is slightly bent from alignment shop.

 

I have on my car competition Heim joint strut rods from Midamerica, no zerk fittings BTW (paid $189 3 years ago for them on sale)! They are quite beefy and the heim joints have been perfect. They were a big improvement over the OEM strut rods that had poly bushings in both ends-they squeaked and I am sure flexed under load. The competition strut rods are perfectly quiet and I am sure the actual strut rod does not flex now under load.

 

This thread was brought up about a year ago and I thought about doing the same thing with mine Brad.

I found Day Motorsports had rod ends that would work with our current strut rods. I have the same setup as yours pictured.

Here is a link to the rod ends. You would probably need some spacers to take up some room at the ends to keep them from moving back and forth in their mounts.

http://www.daymotorsports.com/produc...STEEL-ROD-ENDS

Also here is another thread where a few guys made their own and they turned out really nice. I think all you would need are the rod ends and spacers though.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-rod-ends.html

 

Checked out their online store, all I find in poly strut rods. I'm surprised VBP or VanSteel don't have them either.

I am going to cleanup what I have, inspect and see if I can get parts as Eddie suggests. But I think I have a bent rod.

 

You might consider a local Bearing Store...as a possible source for the Heim Joints...

 

here you go from mid america parts:

http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette...-157-1436.html

Super Heavy Duty Competition Strut Rods

​
The ultimate in rear strut rods, our tubular steel, racing quality units are manufactured with nylon fiberglass composite spherical bearing ends. These strut rods are far stronger than stock and stop handling irregularities due to strut rod flex and bushing compression. Not recommended for street use because of harsh ride.


​

Part Year Description Price Availability
1963-1982 Corvette Super Heavy Duty Competition Strut Rods With Heim Joints
602-910 1963-82 Competition Strut Rod Kit
Tech Instructions
$199.99 In Stock

 

Order them on Nov 1; still on backorder.

 

I have had mine for 3 years and worth the wait!!! Hope you get them soon.

 

https://www.racerswholesale.com/category.cfm?cat=35

 

I buy most of my hardware from MSC http://www1.mscdirect.com/industrial...07=Search&008=

 

I got mine from Tom's Differentials. Very nice ends....like your avitar.

 

Because you need the rods as well as the ends, the Mid-America setup is probably the best deal.

I bought the setup similar to yours and decided to replace one end with heim joints. These are 3/4" left-hand thread, 5/8" hole Chrome-Moly with Kevlar/teflon liners. I just used the sleeves from the poly ends for spacers. Cut the sleeve with a hacksaw and adjusted the thickness with a flat file.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Chrome...eims,1536.html

 

Speedway Motors and Coleman Racing are cheap sites for rod and rod ends if you want to piece it together.

 

I do too, but it won't last. There are too many fairies on this forum that will cry about it.

 

The Tom's Differential heim strut rods also include an modified OEM strut rod/differential bracket. The OEM strut rod differential attach bracket is modified by welding flanges to drop down geometry where the inboard heim strut rod attaches to the bracket. This drop down geometry is exactly what you get with other vendors brackets. However, the advantage of using the OEM strut rod differential attach bracket is that the attaching holes to the differential are very exact. Tom's uses used brackets, purchased usually from J and D Corvettes. The corresponding other vendor brackets using repro brackets have attach holes that are slightly larger in diameter, allowing the bracket to slip sideways. I've bought both and can see the difference.

I bought a Tom's Differential heim strut rod assembly for my 68 when Tom was still in Bellflower Ca and Kenny was in charge of the Corvette side of the business. It was a very nice unit. I bought one not too long ago from Tom at his Idaho address, and Kenny has died of a heart attack. The strut rod attach bracket looked very ugly. The drop down flanges had been welded on without cleaning the used bracket of grease and dirt. I was disappointed since I'd always thought that Tom wouldn't sell anything that wasn't just the very best. The Tom's unit I purchased for my 1970 was pretty pricey.