I have a johnny joint at the axle end of my panhard rod (trac bar). It has only a 3/8" bolt. It has held up fine so far, but all of my friends think that it is death waiting to happen. A 3/8" bolt (grade 8) has these specs.

3/8 - 24 UNF
Shear strenght body 9940 lbf
Shear strength thread 7900 lbf

Seems o.k. to me, but then again I do not want to find out the hard way:eek: . FYI it is the same size bolt Rubicon Express and similar MFGs use on their Jeep Grand Cherokees.

I have plenty of room to make a larger hole for lets say a 1" spherical rod end (heim joint) with a 1" shank, I may also be able to replace the inner part of the new generation heim (aka johnny joint) with something with a larger bolt hole?

Been searching on the net and am having a hard time finding heims that are big with specs on them. I do not want a coarse thread large heim 12 threads per inch). I see lots of 1 1/4" heims, but I do not want to redo the rod and would just like to replace the end for an *easy* fix. I have lots of adjustment (see pic) so that shouldn't be a problem. I will have to check but, I think the threads per inch on current set-up is either 24 or 20. Thoughts? Would you gues a JJ is stronger or less strong in this set up? How much force do you think this bolt really gets. On the other end it is just a regular poly bushing BTW.

Way

Picture didn't attach...take two.

Thats all I got holding the one on my TJ to the axle. I personally think it is fine but I carry alot of extra hardware. :D

A TJ modified weighs around 4500 right?

Rover: 5740 Full Weight (2603.62 KG)

Way

Originally posted by Way
A TJ modified weighs around 4500 right?

Way

At least mine does anyway. About the only thing you could do is replace it with a 3/4" heim. A rover does way more but I think I put mine through a little more stress than the way yours is set-up.

If I re-do it I would put in a 1" heim as that would be the simplist solution. It wouls also wear better than a 3/4" heim. Anyone know if you can get the internal guts of a JJ to be the same as a 3/8" model but with a larger bolt hole? Or for that matter a good source for a high end heim that has the 1" shank with a fine thread???

Thanks Onsafari for the info.

Way

Just up size the JJ to a 9/16th's or a 5/8ths...Hell you could even go WAY overkill and use a 3/4" JJ.

However, I have to ask why do you have a JJ on your pan-hard? There is no lateral movement at all (at least not enough to worry about that a bush or regular old 3/4" heim couldn't handle).

Take a close look at mine...These are what I used with a 3/4" threaded insert into 1.5" x .25 tubing. The bush accepts a 3/4" bolt and is only approx. 1.25" wide.

--D

Currie JJ spec sheet (http://128.121.255.231/images/mfg/513/pdf/513_CE-9110.pdf?uid=34441506)

Thanks Doug! I like what you did, and would probably do it that way if I did it over again. My panhard rod is a modified Jeep WJ trac bar (not sure why they put a JJ joint in it, but seemed fine by me). Had one around Durango 4x4, and it already had the bend in it for the diff. It was super convienent to have a machine shop thread a piece of 6" or so chromoly tubing for me, buy two extra jam nuts, and a piece of all-thread (sp?) and be on my way. Durango 4x4s tube bender sucks ass and I didn't want to buy any parts for their machine so that I could bend the tubing size I wanted. After the vehicle was down so long, I wanted it on the road. I am sure you are experiencing that feeling right now!

The JJ spec sheet was helpful. I went out and measured mine. The only difference between the 7/16" model and my 3/8" model is the hole size. Unfortunately the bigger sizes wont fit the mount, and I would liek to avoid building a new one. It is a tight area currently to get a mount to fit in, and this one works.

Doug. What do you think about the 3/8" bolt. Scary or not? A 7/16 specs on shear are 13530 for body and 10680 for thread. A little better, but not by a huge margin. Wonder if I could mill it out so that I 1/2" bolt would fit thorugh?? I would feel plenty safe with that. But if I do that, I am probably looking at moving the weak link to the more expensive JJ though and if I broke it on the trail, it would be a pain in the ass trying to duplicate that set-up in the middle of nowhere.

Way

Also Doug, in your research on spherical rod ends (german heims, etc. Not the JJ ones is what I am getting at). Did you come across any places that had specs on a 1" heim. Usually the heim joint shank and the heim joint hole is the same. Need the one inch shank in my case. Male or female style makes no difference as I can unthread the althread and make a male heim work.

Did a few searches. Avalanche doesn't sell them, and searching on the internet most places skip between 3/4" to 1 1/4". I know that a 1" is made though, but the one site I found it on has no specs.

Way

Personally I wouldn't worry about it...If you are then go find yourself some 9L hardware and faagetaboutit. Look at it this way...It's lasted this long. Have you removed the bolt and inspected it for any signs of discoloration or stress?

Do a search on hiems and you'll find about 6 different suppliers that have ALL of them...Not like Avalanche and Spidertrax that only stock and sell popular sizes...The other thing you have to keep in mind is that typically you'll end up with a 7/8th's or 1" bolt (eyelet) with a hiem that large...And IMO that's just silly for a pan-hard.

Another thing, I've NEVER heard of a pan-hard failure. Look at the stock rover pan-hard and trailing links! MY GEAWD! If that can hold up then yours will...AND if it does fail I'd be certain it would be on the trail and not on the street. I'm sure you will have ample warning too because there will still be half of the bolt "working" in the mount. If that happens, hop out, replace, and keep going all while thinking of re-designing your PH.

--D

(then again I don't know how you drive on the street either! :flipoff2:

(then again I don't know how you drive on the street either!
Like a ballerina :flipoff2:

Thanks. Like the Italian faagetaboutit. LOL...

Way

Originally posted by RockRover
Take a close look at mine...These are what I used with a 3/4" threaded insert into 1.5" x .25 tubing. The bush accepts a 3/4" bolt and is only approx. 1.25" wide.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=799765
--D


Bringing up an old post, where did this bushing come from? I've seen similar like the Boulder Bushings from avalanche. Where'd you get this one? Do you know any specs on it?

--Dan

That is Avalanches bush.

Originally posted by RockRover
That is Avalanches bush.

Really? Maybe they changed them then. The Avalanche bushes look a lot wider:
http://www.avalancheengr.com/parts/suspension/imgb0079_med.jpg

I liked your's cause they looked a little narrower.

thanks
--Dan