Does anybody know how to measure heim joint tolerance ?

Good afternoon Everyone,

I currently race a off-road truck with mojave offroad race enthusiasts here in the U.S.A As we prep the truck for the new season we have some play in the different heim joints the truck was built with. In order to save a bit of cost I am trying to figure out how to test/measure the tolerance of the heim joints. If anybody has insight on this please reach out. Thank you in advance!

When you say that you have some play in the joint, are you meaning that the pivot ball is loose in the socket? When I was running my high downforce racecar any heim/rose joint that showed play was replaced as this showed that the internal lining had been damaged and had the potential to fail.

I would get the part numbers for each of the joints that you have and see if you can find the specifications for them, this will tell you what the manufactured and allowable tolerances are for the joints, but personally, any joint that shows movements outside of the designed movement would be considered suspect and replaced before it failed and caused a more serious incident.

It will depend on the specific design of the joint, as there are numerous options*, and usually when play is noticable they're due for replacement.

However, with an off-road truck you're more likely to have much bigger joints and less concern with the variations in accuracy wear will introduce.

As Stephen said, the manufacturer(s) should have some indication on their website and/or catalogue.

While you're at it, it may be a wise move to look at what design is best for the various applications on the vehicle, and options for protecting them against the dirt and dust that causes most of the wear - you may be able to find rubber seals that can be adapted to suit, or greased joints may be more effective than sealed as the greasing can be used to keep the joint relatively clean.

There may be another option as there are companies producing a sort of hybrid joint which functions like a normal "heim" but uses a polymer insert, which 'should' be more resistant to wear, such as - https://metalcloak.com/metalcloak-duroflex-joints-suspension-builder-parts.html

Thank you gentleman I appreciate the feedback!