Whats The Difference Between These Two?

[lows_13]

What are the differences between these two items?

Do they do different thing?

[bogcock]

one is red, and one is silver, and the silver one is longer han the red one. lol

[Roy]

The long one is a castor rod. Japanese call them tension rods. Essentially they are adjustable and change the castor of the front suspension. Basically castor changes the axis that the wheel pivots on...so when you turn the wheel the actual contact patch of the tyre changes.

Ppl typically tweek castor so that it gives them some camber(dynamic) whislt turning the wheel. When they straighten the wheel it goes back to normal so you are not havign to run excess static camber for corner grip, as thats the sort of camber you normally hear ppl complaining about giving them poor tyre wear.

The second shorter ones are tie rod ends. Basically they screw on the end of the steering tie rod that comes out of the steering rack and is fastened to the hub.

Both pics use ball joints which are pretty racey...some ppl like the directness and feel they give you, others complain about the noise and wear.

[lows_13]

Thanks for clearing that up Roy

[GTRgeoff]

Neither appear particularly good quality in the rose joint.

[lows_13]

Will most tension rods suit S13/180sx/R32?

I saw a set advertised as 'Tein Castor rods SUIT S13/180sx/HCR32 and Z32', am i to assume that other brands are also interchangable?

[BHDave]

yes. The r32/silvia castor rods are the same no matter the brand.

But not all castor rods are created equal As geoff said, neither of the pictured items look to be of particularly good quality.

[lows_13]

What about Cusco or Tein types?

What things do you look for when buying a second hand pair of adj castor rods?

Edited June 17, 2006 by lows_13

[lows_13]

Are these any good?

[BHDave]

They look like cusco's which have a quality rose joint. Mine are still fine after about 80,000km's. The dust boot makes a difference too.

[lows_13]

Can dust boots be purchased separately?

[BHDave]

Not that i've found locally. I have seen them on a jap tuner website sold individually. Can't remember where though....

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

i find the cheaper / generic castor rods to be better, because usually the rose joints are standard sizes and you can get much better quality bearings for them, ie teflon bearings. (i.e. hit up http://www.linearbearings.com.au/ to find info on better quality rod ends for automotive use)

I don't think Tien/cusco have standard sizes, which is why i've avoided them. Bearings are a wear and tear component and should be checked regularly.

(the rod ends www.garage-13.com sell as "dmax castor rods" are the ones i'm talking about they use standard 16L metric rod ends 16mm left hand thread)

Edited June 17, 2006 by MerlinTheHapyPig

[Duncan]

what makes a good or bad rose joint?

[lows_13]

what makes a good or bad rose joint?

What about the Justjap.com ones as pictured above?

Are rear traction arms effective?

Edited June 17, 2006 by lows_13

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

quality of rose joint.. I'm no expert, but there are several factors, basically the material and casting quality of the ball and housing, some have a race, some are raceless Some wear faster than others, are poorly lubricated and i've seen housings break. Buy ones which are specified for motorsport use and you'll be fine. The cheapo justjap/no name brands are usually fairly crappy, but you get what you pay for. "brand name" jap brands are probably better but who knows! the ones i'm using have a nice solid body construction, if you put a good bearing in them they are great. (even the cheapest replacement rod end you can buy ~$15-20 looks better than some of the jap brands)

Infact i broke one myself during a fairly nasty accident which involved hitting a ripplestrip front-on (this is what drove me to replace the bearings with something decent... though probably any rod end would do this after being hit hard enough)

In general, the more you pay the better! you can pay over $100 for a rod end.

Edited June 17, 2006 by MerlinTheHapyPig

[GTRgeoff]

ouldn't have said it better myself.

I get mine from SelectMaz. Sealed, teflon and $90 each.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

grease nipples would be nice too, something i forgot to look for when i got mine.

[lows_13]

Whats the benefit of having longer castor rods as pictured?

Edited June 18, 2006 by lows_13

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

i can't download that pic for some reason,

longer castor rod = less castor, which is probably not what you want

Most brands will allow for roughly the same level of adjustment, maybe it just looks longer in the different pics

keep in mind also. S13/r32/z32 are all the same, but awd r32's have different rods.