Quick Heim Question

Thinking about ditching the TRE idea for a set of heim joints. Is there any problem with tapping the tubing directly for the heims instead of using inserts? Also, thinking bout this for the the trac bar, i'm not happy with the stock one at all. I'm thinking a 3/4" heim for everything?

 

[IZwack]

Heim's are very sensitive to dirt and will eventually wear out on trail rides. They are great for competition vehicles because they are usually replaced after a few competitions. I would stick to TRE's for an all around rig.

Having said that however, I do run one heim on the panhard's axle mount because I needed something narrow and heims are slightly narrower than the usual RE-SuperFlex joints I used everywhere else.

 

[CodePoet]

Yeah, i know of the downsides to using heims. This will basically be a trail only rig. May get a drive into town once every couple of weeks just to keep it moving. If I need to clean them out every couple of runs it's not going to be a big deal.

I forgot to mention that I do have machine shop connections to the actual tapping shouldn't require me any pricey tap.

 

[IZwack]

Thats the thing, even for a dedicated trail rig .. you have to try not to dip it in mud as much as possible.

 

[CodePoet]

Fortunately mud and I do not mix Hate that stuff!

I get what you're saying though. Everything is still up for debate when it comes how I setup my steering.

 

[IZwack]

I'm on the same boat as you .. I plan to put heims on all ends of the steering

 

[CodePoet]

So ya think there's any issue with directly tapping the tubing for my joints? I see no reason why I couldn't. Thinking 3/4x3/4 joints, maybe 1-1/4 OD x .250 wall x .750 ID DOM, Somewhere in the 200 range for the steering and trac bar...not bad I don't think

 

[IZwack]

A 0.75" ID tube can not be tapped for a .75" thread . You either need tube with a smaller ID or a larger heim.

In addition, when you thread the inside of the tube, the weakest point of the tube will be at the thread because the wall thickness is now "thinner". It probably wont make much of a difference but if this was a competition rig, I would sleeve the ends of the tube where the tube was tapped.

EDIT -- i just looked at drill-tap sizes and in order to tap 3/4", you need an 11/16" ID tube

 

[CodePoet]

Uhhh...yeah I knew that. It was WAAAAYYY too late last night when I wrote that.

Do you need to use misalignment spacers at the knuckles? I would think that they would never move that much (talking about twisting)...well...maybe not, i'm sure it'd change as the axle traveled.