used for flexible mounts and stuff.  They're like an eye bolt with a drilled ball in the middle.  You see them on shift rods, the ride height adjustment link on Ducatis, on the steering dampers of TL1000's and just about every other damper'ed bike ever made, etc.  Kinda like ball joints.

I'm needing some with 3/4" eyes so that I can make a spiffy kart but I have no idea what they're called and thus no way to order them.

heim joints.  I found it before you guys told me so I still rock.

Come on, Mak!  I can't believe that you didn't know the proper name for a heim joint.  Although, maybe the proper name isn't widespread.  Everyone here in Kansas calls them "rod ends" and thinks I'm crazy when I call them heim joints.

-Turd.

yeah but if you do a search for rod ends in online catalogs and on ebay do you have any idea the VAST number of things that come up that AREN'T heim joints?  You can't find them just looking for rod ends.

I've always called them rod ends, though...it's just not a proper term for that particular variety.

They are used for suspension and steering pivots on pretty much every form of racecar as well.

Racecar is a palindrome. [/amazing useless fact]

-Turd.

I don't think I need 3/4" eyes afterall...those are crazy expensive.

I can use 3/8" eyes.  Kind of sucks needing eight per wheel, though...full independent double a-arm suspension is costly.  Plus I need four for steering and then two for the shift linkage.

Anyone know where to get any for real cheap?  I only need 38 of them.

Mak Try www.aircraftspruce.com or www.mcmaster.com

thnx jugman...I'l hit them up after work and see what they can offer.

Mcmaster Carr has metric from 5mm-10mm the 8mm 1.25 Pitch with Female threads is only $6.00 Ea.They have Both left and right hand threads.

mcmaster is generally cheaper for heims. i used to order hundreds at a time when i worked for chenowth racing. most of our cars had anywhere from 40 to 50 heims total. thats a lot of bungs i got to chase threads on after they got welded. then after they got painted. then after the customer was retarded and f-edup the car and came back and we fixed it.  oh well, at least i got to build and play with fast attack cars and baja cars.

I'll gladly take any left overs you guys have...

I'd give a "wheel" discount for a good 40 count...lol

the ones that were leftover were always thrashed and unusable. besides, not only do i no longer work there, but i now live 600 miles away and the owner (good family friend) died. sorry man. damn the lack of ability to get a wheel discount...

...bugger...

well hey since you have experience...

I'm going to ditch the double a-arm rear...I not making it so much a road kart so it doesn't anything more complex than a solid rear and a swingarm.  Front's still going to be double bones...the arms are going to be about 24" long and I'm hoping for at least 12" of travel before my struts bottom out.  How beefy you think the heims should be?

Goal wet weight is 400lbs, 40hp Yami twin.

Drop me a PM if you need some advice on the kart. Or detailed pictures of a race kart so you can get ideas or whatever else.

I think I just decided not to start a new frame.  I have these visions of a kart that's virtually weightless but that has real brakes, can carry two people, and versatile.  Just not really going to happen my way.  Maybe if I can find a few grand and a GSXR1000 engine I can pull it off nicely but not really on a basically free budget lol.

I already have one frame that I built around a GS750 engine.  It's got double wishbones up front and a swingarm setup for the rear...the rear is made from the trailing arms and stuff from an RX-7 along with Tokico dampers and Eibach coils.  The front is made from the lowers from an RX-7, fabbed uppers that allow about 5* camber at maximum compression, and a set of showa struts.  This suspension lets me use the 4X114.3 hubs from the seven...which means I can also use the wheels, rotors, and calipers.  I'll have to built a new cradle for the 400cc motor I have and setup the rear axle...I'm going to cut the RX-7 half shafts just after the u-join by the wheel and tie them together by bolting on a hollow, titanium drive axle.  Not sure how to make a sprocket carrier bolt up to it, though.

The biggest downside to this kart is that it's a bit bigger than I had wanted and it weighs 800lbs (with GS block in it).  I can shave some of that weight by pulling either the front or rear rotors (I think I'd rather keep the bigguns up front) and cutting out some of the reinforcement I don't really need.  Since I've got to chop the roll cage off anyway (originally made as a single-seater) I may go back with some lighter gauge material.  If I can get the weight under 800lbs wet then I think I'd be happy.  20lbs/hp is suitable for now and slapping in a bigger motor later won't be that difficult.

biggest benefits I see are cheap tires, easy to find and replace bearings, and the thing's beefy enough to handle more power later.  May be fun...especially if I gear her for about 75mph.

i'd have to see what it looks like and know what you want to use it for. everything i always built was designed on autocad first, then i'd build it (i spent a month building a 2seat version of one of out 4/5 seat chassis), we'd test it, then come back, take it back down to bare chassis and i'd fix the few things wrong with the chassis itself (i spent a 3 weeks on the 2seat because i had to completely redo where the a-arms mounted, then remake the shock mounts and so on and so forth) then rebuild it, then test it, then take it alllllll back apart and make jigs and $h1t for mass production.

but i had a sizable budget. i installed LQ9s or LS1s or wrx motors and the occasional VW paired up with sequentially geared transaxels. for rear i did either a-arm or trailing arms, personally i prefer trailing arms. all of them ran front aarms.

the fast attack cars i just built by build sheet. it was cut here, bend here, weld here crap.

well if I had a sizeable budget I'd be putting together a 1/2 scale indy car lol.  I really don't have a budget.  I'd just wanting to put something together, basically...I don't care much what it is.  Earlier today I entertained plans to turn the motor into a can crusher/shredder.