Home Made Heim Joint Struts
#1
Hello All,

What follows is a post I did on another forum and I thought it might be useful to some here. It was done on a 69 Fastback but it applies to multiple years.

I've been researching and designing a heim jointed strut for a little bit and have just finished making one so I figured I'd share my knowledge.
 
Here is the design I got off of Dazecars http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/adjustable It's a really cool site and it got my brain thinking on several suspension projects.
 
I modeled it up and made a drawing of the parts.

   
   


There were a couple of things that I didn't like about the design.
1. I didn't want to try to make the Spacer (Item 9) have an internal hex shape.
2. I wanted to make sure that the washer that fits onto the Clevis (Item 1) laid flat. The clevis would have draft (an angle where the mold splits) and would make the Washer (Item 7) "rock".
3. This design required that you have a fairly precise measurement of the thickness of the metal where the strut mounts to the frame. I wanted to make it so you wouldn't have to worry about this. This would also remove the need for washers to make up the space behind the Front Washer (Item 8) so it would deflect when mounted.

So, this is what I came up with. I used Dazecars recipe for the purchased parts. It was kind of funny when I ordered the Threaded Clevis. You have to call them to order them. I wasn't sure if they only dealt with big orders so I asked the guy if they sold to residential places and he said, If you've got money, I'll sell you anything. When I told him the part number and that I needed just two of them, he said, "Do you have an old mustang?". So apparently, they get this request a lot.
   
   

Here are drawings of all the parts I was going to need to make or modify. If anyone wants a full size copy of them, let me know and I will get you pdf files of them.
 
Here is the Modified Clevis (Item 1). It's important to keep a radius in the corner to avoid a stress concentration. These strut rods deal mostly with a tension load on breaking and acceleration. They see some compression/tension loads on bumps and pot holes.
   
 
Here is the Washer/Spacer (Item 6). Since I was making these parts, I figured I could make the washer and spacer one piece thus the brilliant name Spacer/Washer. This also allowed me to make the diameter match closer to the hole in the frame where it mounts. Note the chamfer to allow for clearance of the radius on the Modified Clevis.
   
 
Here is the Front Washer (Item 5). Making this thicker than a standard washer allowed me to put a counter bore that it deeper than the spacer part of the Spacer/Washer. This eliminates the need for having to match the thickness of the mounting metal. I also don't need the backing washers since the piece will no flex inward when mounted.
   
 
Bronze Insert (Item 3). Straight from the hardware store, just needs to be trimmed. Accurately!
   
 
Here is the Modified Strut (Item 8). Again, the nice thing about turning this on the lathe was being able to put a chamfer on it where it tapers down to reduce stress concentration.
   
 
Two bolt modification drawings (Items 11&13).
   
   

This ends part 1.
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Messages In This Thread
Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 03:45 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 03:53 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 04:08 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 04:18 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 04:27 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 04:37 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by 1969_Mach1 - 03-19-2018, 01:24 PM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by JTS71 Mach1 - 03-19-2018, 03:23 PM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Jimjific22 - 03-19-2018, 11:40 PM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by 1969_Mach1 - 03-20-2018, 03:13 AM
RE: Home Made Heim Joint Struts - by Mustangmike - 03-20-2018, 11:09 AM

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