Spherical bearing source

Hi All,

I'm working on a suspension project for my '72 Capri. Can anyone point me to a source for spherical bearings appropriate for camber plates? You can stop reading now if you have no further interest in what I'm doing and thanks for your help!

When I was putting struts in my '91 MR2 I looked at one of the rear inserts and thought "that looks like it would fit in a Capri front housing". Struts for Capris are very hard to find and there's not much selection, so we're always looking for an interchange. I had a strut housing in the garage so I tried it real quick and it was indeed a perfect fit.

The top of the MR2 struts is a larger diamater than the Capri struts, and the Capri upper strut mounts aren't anything to write home about anway. So I just ordered a really cheap set of Mookeeh strut plates - they actually have them with no moutning holes drilled so I can make it fit the Capri. Cool.

I need to turn a bushing to make the MR2 strut fit in the Mookeeh plates, but everything I've read about these plates says the bearing is crap. So I might as well replace it with something decent before I go to the work of turning bushings. But when I'm done I should be able to put any MR2 rear strut in the front of my Capri. Rear interchanges with Fox Mustangs, so there are any number of adjustable strut/shock set ups I'll be able to use.

Thanks for your help,

Ed

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/grassroots-heim-joints/4417/page1/

Thanks-

Well, I don't see what I need. Seems metric is difficult to come by, and the ones I can find are the wrong size. If I could find someone who actually sells the Aurora COM-M14 I believe it would do the trick, but I can't actually find a vendor that has them.

google.... Aurora COM-M14... the first thing that came up .... seems to be what you're looking for

COM-M Series Spherical Bearings - Metric, (Ptfe Liners Available ... COM-M14, 14, 34, 13.50, 19, 16.86, 1.0, 25.40, 16, 141845 ... 2006 Aurora Bearing | 970 S. Lake Street, Aurora, IL 60506 ...

Pile of links, using "monoball" in the search will find a lot more.

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=SPHERICAL

http://www.victorypp.com/item/1183

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/susp3.htm

McMaster-Carr has both SAE and Metric bearings. http://www.mcmaster.com/#rod-ends/=8lw0jt

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/susp3.htm was gonna be my suggestion, since i've seen them there. Curry (of Curry 9 inch Ford fame...) has what they call the Jonny Joint, but those may be too large. They're really big, used for suspension links in rock crawlers.

wbjones wrote: google.... Aurora COM-M14... the first thing that came up .... seems to be what you're looking for COM-M Series Spherical Bearings - Metric, (Ptfe Liners Available ... COM-M14, 14, 34, 13.50, 19, 16.86, 1.0, 25.40, 16, 141845 ... 2006 Aurora Bearing | 970 S. Lake Street, Aurora, IL 60506 ...

Yes, that's how I found the bearing. I don't believe Aurora sell direct to the public. I did send an "inquiry" asking them where I could buy two of those bearings. We'll see if I hear back from them.

jimbbski wrote: McMaster-Carr has both SAE and Metric bearings. http://www.mcmaster.com/#rod-ends/=8lw0jt

This seems to be the best option so far. They have thrust rated bearings and they have one that looks like I can work with it. They just don't say what brand they are. I was hoping to find a source for the Aurora bearing. But this looks like it might work.

I seem to recall an ad in GRM (see ads DO work) that advertised just this thing. I think it even states "hard to find..."

Appleseed wrote: I seem to recall an ad in GRM (see ads DO work) that advertised just this thing. I think it even states "hard to find..."

GRM? You get that rag? lol. Really? In the back somewhere? I'll have a look. Thanks.

What about the "other" kind. I've heard them referred to as johnny-joints. They are much like heim joints, but the race material is poly and the ball has extensions on it.

Like this:

Maybe?

Tralfaz wrote: Maybe?

Ah! Looks like it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! And cheaper than I feared.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Hi All, I'm working on a suspension project for my '72 Capri. Can anyone point me to a source for spherical bearings appropriate for camber plates? When I was putting struts in my '91 MR2 I looked at one of the rear inserts and thought "that looks like it would fit in a Capri front housing". Struts for Capris are very hard to find and there's not much selection, so we're always looking for an interchange. I had a strut housing in the garage so I tried it real quick and it was indeed a perfect fit. Ed

Does this have a build log somewhere????

No, I've been working on the Capri for 10 years. I've only been posting here for a few weeks. Got it started a week or so ago! But the carb needs a kit which I ordered this weekend. I think the needle valve got hard while it was in storage. Running really bad. Hope that's all it is.

Anyhow, you can see pics of the Capri here:

http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n311/fast_eddie_72/Capri/

Take care,

Ed

We use bearings in a similar product. We found that we had to specify a tighter tolerance ("F1 fit", whatever that means) to prevent premature wear of the bearing. As for the metric problem - we use a 9/16" bearing and sleeve it down to 12mm or 10mm depending on the shock being used. Our bearings are FK.

Spend some time talking to the vendor. They will probably have some very useful input.

Thanks Keith. Never heard of "F1 fit" before that post. Did a little google work and learned some things.

I'd like to find a bearing I can bush down- I have access to a lathe so that would be a great solution. But I'm working with an otherwise complete product, so I have to work to the OD they used. Finding something that will fit the part but have enough ID to fit the strut is turning into a challange. But I did find something after doing so research on the "F1 fit" deal-e-o.

Thanks,

Ed

Just to share what I learned- found this on a forum post:

"tell the supplier to send you FIT 1 or F1-fit rod ends. These are the tightest fit (read: no play). I worked with FK Bearings for my application. They have a great selection and quality bearings. "

And this on another- written by a parts vendor:

"The spherical rod ends we use are a very high quality 3 piece Teflon lined rod end. We are very particular in what we put our name on which is why we require a F1 fit on the rod ends and a F2 fit on spherical bearings. For those who do not know what the fit is, it is the break away torque required to rotate the ball in the race. A F1 fit requires 7-24 in/lbs to rotate the ball in the race and the F2 spherical bearings require 2-6 in/lbs. The reason we use a looser spherical bearing for our camber plates and non adjustable lower control arms is they are a .0008" press fit which tightens them up to a F1 rating. All of our bearing cups are machined to plus or minus .0003". You can find the specifications on the rod ends at www.fkrodends.com the part numbers are JM12T and JML12T."

This was a little bigger project than I thought. Got some COM-M14 bearings. Had to turn the shaft of the struts down to 14mm from 15. Turned the carrier for the bearing to accept the OD of the new bearings. Made some spacers for the carriers since the new ones were a tic thinner. Spacers to go under the bearings so the top hat could move. Spacers for the strut tubes so the MR2 struts would fit the Capri housings. Still need to make spacers for the tops so the gland nuts (from an '84 Toyota Celica) will fit right. Other than that, here's what it'll kinda look like.

Oh, the mounting plates were just a tic too small. A friend is TIG welding some tabs on them for me. Whew. And I thought this would be easy...