I have been doing some research on places to purchase heims, and yes, that included doing a search on this bb.
Several places have been suggested, and some of those have been highly suggested.
Here is a list of places that I have found so far.
Rod end supply
Aurora
QA-1
National Rod ends
Baker Precision bearings
www.spidertrax.com (from what I can tell, they deal mostly with Aurora)
Sealmaster brand (can't find a website for these)
www.speedwaymotors.com
www.polyperformance.com

And lastly someone pointed out Radial Bearing Corporation. I have one of their catalogs, but I don't know of anyone who has bought from them.
The most highly suggested are the QA-1's.

My question is this, from the people that actually use these products, what do feel is the best out there? I am looking for some 3/4x 5/8's heims for a decent price. Also, what is better, heims with just a body and ball, or heims with a body, race and ball? Last question is who out there has used the Radial Bearing Corp heims and what is your impressions of them? Any help that you guys have would be great.

I have been buying and using Radial Bearing Corps stuff of years and im way happy with them. Service is super good and the product is great. I've beat the shit out of thier stuff in several rigs and I know some desert racers who use them as well. He also supplies rod ends for a couple of monster trucks (dont know which ones, give him a call and ask) so you know they make tough stuff. Best of all, they have the best price I've ever found on them. I pay just over $50.00 for 1.25" chromoly/teflon lined.

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Can you supply some contact information for radial bearing? I have heard of them several times on the board, but have not been able to get in contact with them. Do they have an online website/catalog?

Thanks,
Sean

All i know is cromo 2 piece heims are way stronger that steel ones. I have heard bad things about the three piece joints but have no personal experience with them. I bought mine from Porter Race in Oxnard,Ca. I paid $45.00 a piece for them. I've seen the ones kevin uses and those things are fuckin huge.

There contact info is Radial Bearing Corp, phone 203-744-0323, or 1-800-377-1937 and the fax # 203-744-1691
address: 21 Taylor St. Danbury, CT 06810
email: radialbearing@snet.net
web site: www.radialbearing.thomasregister.com
HTH

Thank for the input Ramstein, that helps a lot.

I've ordered these from Baker with good results. Reasonable prices and good availability.

http://www.bakerprecision.com/fk6c.htm

No, 3pc are not as strong as two. They typically have better wear resistance (hardened outer race), especially with the Teflon! :) They work very well as steering (we've run them on tie rods for rigs with Rockwell's, 44" TSL's and full hydro steering). Would not recommend 3/4 heims for suspension components (unless your rigs is under 3,000 lbs ;) ).

Why not use the 3/4" heims? The ones that I am looking at are CroMo and have a Max. Ult. Static Radial Load of 40,500 (lbs). These are also the ones that Avalanche uses for most of there suspension setups from what I understand. This seems like it would be more than adequate to handle what I am looking to do. I am only currently going to run 35's and maybe 37's in the future. I am running a cruiser which is a little bit heavier than some, but most of the interior is stripped out and I will cut a lot of body off. It just seems like the 3/4" heims will be fine.

3/4" x 5/8" heims for links and such is fine. If i recall that's what Eric @ Fat City uses for links. Just make sure they are Chromoly not hardened steel.

Actually, Eric was one of the ones that suggested that I use the 3/4x 5/8" heims from QA-1. He said that was what he uses for most of his suspension setups. I am also pretty sure that is what Avalanche uses as well.

As stated above, most 3/4's are fine in the area of strength (compresion & tension) when used for links. However, I think most of you are missing the point with using big rod ends. It comes down to wear resistance. Over time all rod ends develop slop. Having a larger surface area on the ball of the rod end will significantly increase the the amount of time it will take for the rod end to develop slop. Also, placement of links (lowers specifically) in harms way is definatly something to think about. As 3/4's are not gonna take as much abuse on the bearing housing as a big 1.25"er.

Pigg, do you work for poly performance? Just curious.

Originally posted by ouibus
Pigg, do you work for poly performance? Just curious.

yes.

I have been to your guys web site a couple of times and I can't find very much on it. I see that you guys deal with Aurora heims, but I didn't see any prices. Would it be better just to call, or get a catalog some how?

Check the web site. If there are items that you don't see listed, email or call. We are more than willing to do special orders for items that we do not regularly stock. Email is the best way to contact us. Please keep in mind we are a new company and our product line is still relatively small but constantly growing.

Dave

That is part of the problem. I can't seem to find anything about what parts you do stock. I see the products page, but nothing shows up when I click on it. Maybe it is something wrong with my computer, or maybe something is wrong with your web site. I don't know what's up, but that is where I am.

ouibus,

On some PC's the text is hard to see. I have been meaning to change it but have just been swamped lately. Click here (http://www.polyperformance.com/rod_ends.htm)

Ahhhh, that would explain why I couldn't see anything. Thanks for the help on that one. Now you site makes a lot more sense. Thanks for that.