Bill Verburg

monoballs come is standard sizes yours may be different but mine are FKSSX16T ~$61 ea from Kaman, they have a ware house near my house but they can get them in a day or 2 at most.

Bill Verburg

The above is an FK bearing

on the other side I have an Aurora bearing
AU-ANC-16T ~$132ea

both are quality bearings compared to what I see coming from various suspension suppliers

Magdaddy

a bearing is a bearing is a bearing, etc. Way back when with my Audi Coupe Quattro, it needed front wheel bearings so soon in it's life that Audi couldn't get them yet. I sourced them via my Pcar mail order shop on the Left coast with dimensions.

So, maybe remove, get dimensions...maybe a number, and go from there. Just because H&R doesn't any longer support individual replacement pieces, shouldn't mean a simple bearing isn't to be found.

many thanks Bill

Magdaddy

day two talking to H&R...they tell me they have a top mount w/monoball in hand...but can't give me the bearing info. All these are made in Germany, so that info has to come from them...IF they will provide it.

Un f"en believeable. This was a $4K system installed...just three years ago.


fun, fun, fun

AOW162435

Joe,
Someone other than H&R must know the specs of the spherical bearings they use(d). Maybe post in the Racing forum and on Pelican?



Andreas

mongrelcat

Sorry you're dealing with this, Joe...

Time for a new shop.

How far is Exotech (Plaistow, NH) from you? Just a thought.

Edit: Exotech is probably too far... (310 miles, 5 hours.)

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Magdaddy

genius! done, and done

well...it was a new shop. Bad memories from a very bad Audi service long ago, might have tempered my thoughts. Apparently, their diagnoses was correct...not wanting to fix it is still the issue. Can't take it anywhere, till I get the replacement pieces, just doesn't make sense.

Day two, and all I have to say is...H&R USA is a joke, I won't know till Monday if the homeland version if **** too.

Maybe it's just me but, the first contact should have gone something like this.

me " hi, I have frozen monnoballs in your RSS suspension system that cost almost $4K installed three years ago. Can I get replacement part info?"

H&R "sorry, we no longer support that system(pay no attention to the fact that many on-line places still have them in stock), but we used XYZ 12345678 bearings for the top mounts, you should be able to find them on-line."

me " thank you, for the great product support, and customer service"


but noooo, can't be that simple.

chsu74

This train wreck is depressing. Given that you live near Watkins Glen and Monticello, two of the nicest tracks in the Northeast, a decent shop is not close by.

Have you ask anyone in the Racing forum for suggestions? Hope you can resolve it to your satisfaction soon...

AOW162435

Joe,
If you know the diameter of the shock shaft, what would prevent you from using a spherical mount from a different manufacturer? Just a thought.



Andreas

Magdaddy

well...low and behold, the asshats at H&R USA found two monoballs for me. Granted, I have to pay full retail for them, plus an extra $10 for H&R to drop ship them to me, instead of from the retailler they made me buy them thru.

So, should I assume that these are the same **** quality "stainless" bearings that rusted up solid in just three years?

When I have them in my grubby little mits, I can get all the size details, and address quality.

The next service has been scheduled...two weeks out, at a race shop in Rochester. The shop was reccomended by Joel Reiser, and I had a very enjoyable conversation with the guy there today. Feel good about the place, so that's a good sign.

So to recap;

H&R bad
new shop good

AOW162435

Joe,
While there are certainly numerous ways that mono ball / spherical joints are manufactured, I would assume that ones used as strut mounts are equipped with a Teflon liner between the ball and the socket. You should see that once in hand.

In your case, the mounts probably experienced cathodic (dissimilar metals) corrosion from moisture, salt, etc. (over time). So if designed correctly, a Teflon liner should serve to both 'lubricate' the bearing surfaces, as well as isolate both metals from each other.

I'm interested in pics of your existing mounts, as well as the new versions.



Andreas

Magdaddy

same quality "stainless" as used in big box store gas grill burner plates...and oem exhaust systems, would be my guess.

Vandit

It'll be interesting to see if the current parts are really failed once they are off the car and replaced. What a mess if you learn that the parts are not even faulty. Looking forward to an update.

Magdaddy

follow up to a new thread started... replacement bearings have no markings on them, and no teflon lip. Outer is stainless, inner ball is cheap metal...magnet immediately attaches. Easy to see how "environmental" issues could develop in just three years.

I assume that FK, and Aurora are pure stainless inside and out? Also, with the I.D & O.D., I should be able to cross reference the better bearing.

H&R sucks