Spherical bearings/Rose joint Shock mounts

CJhaughey

I had to fit a set of new front shocks to my LC, the old ones had done a lot of miles and the rubber bush on the Passenger side had collapsed and the shock was wearing the wishbone away:eek: So I found a set on Ebay for £60stg delivered and fitted them on Saturday morning.
Easy enough job takes about 45 mins a side, the new shocks seem good but there is one difference to the old ones and that is the bottom bushing is not a rubber/steel item but a spherical bearing/Rose/Heim joint.
Now I have seen these used on Droplinks and the like but never on a shock.
Anyone ever use these? how do they hold up?
Just curious really, I am not to worried about the shocks they were cheaper nearly buying replacement bushes @€;20 ea from Mr T and then having press the old one out and still having old shocks after that.

101sean

Rose joints and the like are used a lot in the extreme off road fraternity so there's probably no worry with strength.

gofaster_s13

For day to day use rosejoints/spherical bearings will not last 1/4 as long as rubber bushes and will also transmit more noise and vibration to the vehicle, they are used in extreme off road vehicles and other competition vehicles because they give a more solid connection but they are considered a consumable

CJhaughey

gofaster_s13 wrote: »

For day to day use rosejoints/spherical bearings will not last 1/4 as long as rubber bushes and will also transmit more noise and vibration to the vehicle, they are used in extreme off road vehicles and other competition vehicles because they give a more solid connection but they are considered a consumable

Are not all bushes considered a consumable? You can buy replacement ones for the factory shocks from Toyota @20 ea, I guess you may be able to notice a harsher ride on a smooth road but I haven't been able to feel any difference on the roads I drive on.
The instructions say to tighten the bottom joint with weight on it not unloaded.
It should be a simple matter to replace them anyway, circlips each side and out they come.
I do know that Toyota do a lot of work on reducing NVH and I have a lot of faith in the factory suspension after all it has done 240k miles without leaking.

gofaster_s13

All bushes are considered consumable but its the length of time before you replace them thats important, I'd be surprised if you got more than 20/25,000 k/m out of rose jointed bottom shock bushes.