NHBB Rod End's

[rodrocket]

greetings all

just looking for somebody who sells New Hampshire Ball Bearing ( NHBB ) rod ends at competative price's, any ideas on were to look ?

regards
rod

[Leon Rennebaum]

Here is the NHBB Performance Rod end Distributors List: http://www.nhbb.com/contact/distrib.htm#racing
Baker Precision prices seem fairly good but these rodends are extremely expensive but touted to be the best!

[rodrocket]

thanks for that Leon, much appreciated

regards
rod

[Leon Rennebaum]

One thing I forgot to mention: NHBB rodends are stainless steel and as such are not as strong as the other companies chromoly steel pieces. Example: Aurora 3/4x5/8 chromoly has a radial load rating of 40,000 lbs where the comparable NHBB rodend is something like 26,000 lbs.

[rodrocket]

Originally Posted by Leon Rennebaum

One thing I forgot to mention: NHBB rodends are stainless steel and as such are not as strong as the other companies chromoly steel pieces. Example: Aurora 3/4x5/8 chromoly has a radial load rating of 40,000 lbs where the comparable NHBB rodend is something like 26,000 lbs.

thanks Leon

i have just been compairing specifications on these two & found to following differences

Part Number Head Ø Ball Ø Length CL to End Thread Length

ARHT10ECR 1.525 1.062 2.625 1.562

XAM10 1.750 1.125 2.875 1.750


the Aurora has a larger head with a bigger ball & has a longer thread engagement than the NHBB

the Aurora is also ⅓ the price of the NHBB

the reason i was going to use the NHBB was that my car has NHBB in it already but looking at to above specs i think the Aurora may be a better option

the only concern that i have is the load that they can handle & it may only be in how each Manufacturer have worded there individual spec's sheet

the NHBB list there rod end as 26,050 Ultimate Static Radial Load

the Aurora list there rod end at 40,572 Ultimate Radial Static Load Capacity Lbs

there seems to be a big difference in the two when you compare them this way but it may be in how they do there testing, i may need to look into this a bit further but it sure seems that the Aurora is far superior to the NHBB in this area

regards
rod

[Leon Rennebaum]

Rodrocket: I posed the strength difference question to the Baker Precision folks and their reply was that the NHBB are used exclusively by the top road race teams because of their reliability. This tells me that the fatigue life of the stainless vs chromoly must be greater. Perhaps you could query both Aurora and NHBB to confrim that the fatigue life is greater for the stainless material that NHBB uses! I will try to get some metallurgical info on the two materials.

[rodrocket]

Originally Posted by Leon Rennebaum

This tells me that the fatigue life of the stainless vs chromoly must be greater. Perhaps you could query both Aurora and NHBB to confrim that the fatigue life is greater for the stainless material that NHBB uses! I will try to get some metallurgical info on the two materials.

thanks Leon

i have emailed New Hampshire but they are wery slow in there reply & give very limited information

they tell me to refer to there catalog & that only lists what i have already found, i will be interested in reading the Metallurgy info if you find any

what is more common on the cars that you run over there NHBB or Aurora

regards
rod

[rodrocket]

i have done some more digging & found something that is interesting

i found this interchange chart for rod ends at the bottom of page 10 in the NHBB Catalog

http://www.nhbb.com/assets/pdfs/catalog/Racing.pdf

NHBB ................. Aurora

ARHT-ECR .............. PRXM-T


the load rating on the NHBB is 24,300 Lbs as we first had but the load rating on the Aurora is 25,909 Lbs

the Aurora info can be found here for the PRXM-T

http://aurora.thomasnet.com/viewitem...ned?&forward=1


it is the Aurora XAM Series that has a 40572 Lb rating that brings me to another question:

what is the better Aurora rod end to use for a 4 link the PRXM-T ot the XAM series rod ends

regards
rod

[Leon Rennebaum]

Originally Posted by rodrocket

i have done some more digging & found something that is interesting

i found this interchange chart for rod ends at the bottom of page 10 in the NHBB Catalog

http://www.nhbb.com/assets/pdfs/catalog/Racing.pdf

NHBB ................. Aurora

ARHT-ECR .............. PRXM-T


the load rating on the NHBB is 24,300 Lbs as we first had but the load rating on the Aurora is 25,909 Lbs

the Aurora info can be found here for the PRXM-T

http://aurora.thomasnet.com/viewitem...ned?&forward=1


it is the Aurora XAM Series that has a 40572 Lb rating that brings me to another question:

what is the better Aurora rod end to use for a 4 link the PRXM-T ot the XAM series rod ends

regards
rod

After some research I believe that the following applies: the Stainless Steel Materials used by NMB/NHBB are superior in terms of fatigue strength. SS also offers some corrosion protection. This is supported by the fact these materials are used in the aerospace industry extensively. The anomaly in strength differences for the XAM Series Aurora rodends stems from the fact that these ends use the larger size head with the next size smaller bearing while the NMB/NHBB use the smaller bearing head with a larger shank - hence the strength difference is due to the geometry not the material. In terms of strength I believe the two are basically equal - chromoly vs precipatation hardened stainless. In my opinion, a drag race 4 link, particulary the upper bars that are in tension, should address axial radial load strength and fatigue is a secondary consideration. This is the reason you see the recommendation by some that chromoly rodends be used in the upper links and lesser strength carbon steel can be used in the lower links although I wouldn't recommend this. Considering the expense of the NMB/NHBB I would say that the Aurora XAM series without the teflon liners (there isn,t much motion and no need to worry about pounding out the teflon) would be the best choice. Jerry Bickel uses Aurora bearings so they can't too bad. If a ladder bar front rodend then the bending load and fatigue would be the primary requirements: the bending maximum stress occurs in the threaded shank where it screws into the bar end so that radial strength would be a lesser concern - a NMB/NHBB would be my choice here. Certainly, a road race suspension application would require the maximu fatigue strength and thence the reason all major turn-racers run them. FK and QA1, as well as others sell rodends that are used apparently with success also. I hope I didn't drag this out too much - just my humble opinion!!!

[rodrocket]

thanks for the info Leon

i have bought the NHBB rod ends for my car

i based my decission on a few things

1/ the car has run very successfull for the last 10 years with NHBB rod ends

2/ if the rods ends are stronger that the 4 link plates or bars it will damage them long before i hurt a rod end

3/ the old NHBB rod ends feel a lot nicer than a New Aurora ( not that there is anything wrong with Aurora )

4/ Lamb Components carry the NHBB in stock & they are great to deal with & will send parts to Australia

thanks again
regards
rod