Barnes heims--FK or not?

ehall

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Looking at some heims for a thing and specifically looking for FK ends. I search for JMXL14T and find them on Barnes for less than half what most of the competitors are charging. I call Barnes to ask if they are FK, and the guy says he's not involved in the purchasing / acquisition and doesn't know and they don't usually disclose anyway.

Anybody know if these are FK for cheap or Barnes being clever with Google

barnes4wd.com

7/8"-7/8" 3-Piece Precision Heat Treated Chromoly Teflon Lined Left Hand Heim

If you are looking for a long lasting precision chromoly rod end, this is the one for you. This heim joint features a tough PTFE (Teflon) liner that is reinforced with Kevlar fibers for increased longevity over nylon lined heim joints.Threaded Shank 7/8-14 Bore 7/8"Static Radial Load...
barnes4wd.com barnes4wd.com
 
If your rig is heavy or your going to beat it hard, or it’s both heavy and your going to beat it hard, go with FK.

I know I sound like a brand snob right now but I’ll say I have probably spent more then 1000 dollars in rod ends BEFORE buying FK.

I tried parts Mike flex joints, Currie Johnny joints, Barnes heims, ruffstuff heims, Barnes “johnny joints” I’ve literally tried every damn joint under the sun and could destroy them all in a year or less.

It’s been 2.5 years on FK and I still can’t even move them in the bracket by hand. They are tight as can be.

While off topic but kind of on topic, other than FK, I’d trust EMF or TMR. They make FK look cheap but those damn Canucks make good ****. I was pissing through ruffstuff tie rod ends every 3-6 months, I bought EMF rod ends and it’s been 7 years and I think I had to tighten the adjuster nut on them once.

Edit: so are the Barnes heims FK or not? Idk, my buddy bought a set and they are tight like an FK but who knows how long they will last. They definitely seem to be tighter then their regular heims
 
I've heard QA1 makes good rod ends too....can't say. I have FK I bought from PolyPerformance back in the day before Poly got so expensive on everything and they are fantastic quality.
EDIT hmmm...looking at their X series 1 piece...they don't look as good as FK.

X Series Rod Ends | QA1

These alloy stee/chromoly steel rod ends are part of QA1's Endura Series, which are self-sealing and self-lubricating. Good for high-load suspension applications, like control arms and panhard bars.
www.qa1.net www.qa1.net
 
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IMG_0825.png


FK heim above

My buddy’s “fk equivalent” from Barnes

IMG_5358.jpeg


No FK marking on it. Idk what differences beyond that. Does FK make their own in house?
 
mobil1syn said:
this has been discussed, but that poorly made misalignment will destroy the highest quality heim no short order.

1715556212582.png
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Sorry for bringing up an older thread, but is this "poorly made" solely b/c of the fit or is it also a zinc plated (Barnes sells zinc plated steel for 1/3 less than most stainless steel high misalignment reducers) misalignment spacer and that's also a problem?

How does one know prior to buying if the fit up to the rod end you have is going to be correct (unless you get an engineering drawing from the place selling the spacer, maybe)?

Ballistic Fab has this schematic for their spacers:

ballisticfabrication.com

416 SS HARDENED High Misalignment Spacer for 1.0 in to 3/4 in

ballisticfabrication.com ballisticfabrication.com

1721266672745.png
 
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JFYI...Summit has FKs....the JMX16s are $82 each....they're $79 at Speedway Motorsports. Not sure who has the best prices.


www.summitracing.com

FK Rod Ends JMX16T FK JMX/JMXL Series Rod Ends | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - FK JMX/JMXL Series Rod Ends with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Rod Ends at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

Can't tell what's going on at Poly Performance....the JMX16s looks to be $182....or $100 or $82??

 
YotaAtieToo said:
Poly is always super expensive
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Yeah...it is now. At $82...I might give them business as I always had a great deal of respect for Pig....but it doesn't make sense if they aren't even close to competitive on stuff...and they usually aren't, even during a sale. Sad, as they were one of my biggest sources for parts when I built my first car.
 
Sean said:
Yeah...it is now. At $82...I might give them business as I always had a great deal of respect for Pig....but it doesn't make sense if they aren't even close to competitive on stuff...and they usually aren't, even during a sale. Sad, as they were one of my biggest sources for parts when I built my first car.
Click to expand...

I used to get everything from Poly back when I was building crawlers and ordering pallets of parts at a time. Tommy used to hook me up big time! :smokin:

Last time I looked on their site I was floored at the pricing. Must be a California thing.... :laughing:
 
Sean said:
Sorry for bringing up an older thread, but is this "poorly made" solely b/c of the fit
Click to expand...

fitment, it should look like this

IMG_1321.jpeg


IMG_1322.jpeg


Sean said:
How does one know prior to buying if the fit up to the rod end you have is going to be correct (unless you get an engineering drawing from the place selling the spacer, maybe)?
Click to expand...

call and ask 🤷

i am not a good person to ask because i buy 99% of my stuff from kartek because i can grab it on the way home or cruise over on sat morning.
 
mobil1syn said:
fitment, it should look like this

IMG_1321.jpeg


IMG_1322.jpeg




call and ask 🤷

i am not a good person to ask because i buy 99% of my stuff from kartek because i can grab it on the way home or cruise over on sat morning.
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So the much cheaper zinc plated steel ones from Barnes could be okay, provided they fit correctly?....b/c I was waaaay wrong. The pricing isn't a 1/3 less. It's like $9 for a pair vs. $28 for the heat treated ones...so 3X less.
 
Just FYI my Barnes steering kit on my JK has rusting heims after 4 months.

The heims I got from rod end supply for my CJ steering over 10 yrs ago still are free of corrosion and haven't been lubed once.

Go with SS
 
I was gonna say, go EMF and be done with it.

EDIT: Nevermind. ****ers stopped making Heims to just make balljoints.
 
westracing01 said:
I was gonna say, go EMF and be done with it.

EDIT: Nevermind. ****ers stopped making Heims to just make balljoints.
Click to expand...
Call or email them, they have tons of pieces to build "most" of them in stock. They don't like dealing with mouth breathers so they took them off the website.
 
I emailed them a couple years and asked, they are not FK or related to FK.

That said they've held up pretty well in my track bar for the money. Way better than their ****ty Enduro joints.
 
So obviously, the Barnes are not FK. How do the Barnes 3 piece stack up against the RuffStuff rod ends? I know both are low quality compared to FK, but there are some applications where I don't know that I can justify the cost difference.

Reference links:

Barnes 4WD JMX 3-Piece Rod End $47 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank

RuffStuff Specialties: ROD ENDS/HEIM JOINTS/UNIBALLS $62 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank.
 
Sean said:
So obviously, the Barnes are not FK. How do the Barnes 3 piece stack up against the RuffStuff rod ends? I know both are low quality compared to FK, but there are some applications where I don't know that I can justify the cost difference.

Reference links:

Barnes 4WD JMX 3-Piece Rod End $47 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank

RuffStuff Specialties: ROD ENDS/HEIM JOINTS/UNIBALLS $62 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank.
Click to expand...
Don't have any experience yet with the 1.25's, but just installed a 3 link Ruffstuff kit (heims, not enduro joints) on my Tacoma in April. Weekend driver since I have a work truck. Took it on vacation in June, (about 2k miles, mostly dirt roads), and have had to replace the panhard heims already. Im hoping the link heims (1.25's) hold up better...
 
Sean said:
So obviously, the Barnes are not FK. How do the Barnes 3 piece stack up against the RuffStuff rod ends? I know both are low quality compared to FK, but there are some applications where I don't know that I can justify the cost difference.

Reference links:

Barnes 4WD JMX 3-Piece Rod End $47 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank

RuffStuff Specialties: ROD ENDS/HEIM JOINTS/UNIBALLS $62 for the 1" bore x 1.25" shank.
Click to expand...
Those aren't the same thing. The Barnes is a 3 piece which should have a teflon liner. The ruffstuff rod ends are injection molded plastic. I can't say that either of these choices are good or bad, they just aren't the same thing. I would take a 3 piece over an injection rod end though.
 
Ghetto Fab. said:
Those aren't the same thing. The Barnes is a 3 piece which should have a teflon liner. The ruffstuff rod ends are injection molded plastic. I can't say that either of these choices are good or bad, they just aren't the same thing. I would take a 3 piece over an injection rod end though.
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Right. I know. They are not the same at all....similar in pricing and I find it odd too that the injection molded RuffStuff one is MORE expensive. I was trying to find out if one's on a budget, which is the better end and it sounds like your vote is for the Barnes 3 pc....which is how I'm leaning too. Frankly, I have a few different projects coming up and I'm thinking of buying different ones (provided they are all the same 2.63" mounting width) and running different ones to see how they hold up compared to one another. On my buggies, I'll be sticking with FK....but milder builds may get some 'test' joints to see how they hold up.
 
I will not use anything but Pro-am heat treated 17-4 misalignments. I've had way to many issues with cheaper brands. Not worth the hassle, buy once, cry once.
 
mdogg said:
Call or email them, they have tons of pieces to build "most" of them in stock. They don't like dealing with mouth breathers so they took them off the website.
Click to expand...

Good luck, I tried ordering enough hiems for 4 link f&r plus full hydro years ago. They said "4 weeks" then 2 more weeks, then I can't remember. Gave up and went with FK. They were at least cool enough to not take my money.
 
bdkw1 said:
I will not use anything but Pro-am heat treated 17-4 misalignments. I've had way to many issues with cheaper brands. Not worth the hassle, buy once, cry once.
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Is Mckenzies the best place to get them or do you have another recommendation:

www.mckenzies.com

ProAm 1in Misalignment Spacers

ProAm "HMA" Spacers for 1in ID Spherical Ball PRM-HMA10058N-THM > 5/8" ID X 1.27" Tall PRM-HMA10058RN > 5/8" ID X 1.38" Tall PRM-HMA10058TRN > 5/8" ID X 1.52" Tall PRM-HMA10058TR-HA > 5/8" ID X 1.52" Tall (HIGH-ANGLE CUT) PRM-HMA10034JR > 3/4" ID X 1.00" Tall PRM-HMA10034RN > 3/4" ID X 1.38"...
www.mckenzies.com www.mckenzies.com

Have you used the Ballistic Fab heat treated 416 SS misalignments?

Catalog - Suspension - Joint Accessories - High Misalignment Spacers - Ballistic Fabrication

ballisticfabrication.com ballisticfabrication.com
 
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