I need to bring the back of my radius rods in 6" to meet the frame. Ron @ RPM told me to heat the bat wings, to bring them in, which I agree with. Looking at it, I would like to leave the batwings square with the axle. Any thoughts on heating the radius rods about 6" back of the clevis's, it would only be a slight bend, or would it severely compromise the strength?
Another way is to replace the clevis with good quality heim and bolt to the inside of the batwing. You may have to put a small dia washer between them to get the angle without binding the heim. The batwings are thick enough to withstand the single shear load but one could add another batwing to make it double shear.
After you get the 1st one bent to where you want it, get a scrap piece of plywood and trace the Radius Rods contour to it. This will give you a pattern to get the 2nd one done exactly like the 1st....
Like Bruce said, good quality Heim joints are the only way to go. They're more durable, and alot safer....
I don't know if bending the radius rods is the best of ideas. A picture may help me process this. I may be wrong with my thoughts, but I would think that bending the radius rods would cause strange flex. The axle is trying to go from side to side and if there where a bend in them the axle may also want to go forward and backwards. I would be more inclined to mount a new bat wing and remove the old.
I don't know if bending the radius rods is the best of ideas. A picture may help me process this. I may be wrong with my thoughts, but I would think that bending the radius rods would cause strange flex. The axle is trying to go from side to side and if there where a bend in them the axle may also want to go forward and backwards. I would be more inclined to mount a new bat wing and remove the old.
Another way is to replace the clevis with good quality heim and bolt to the inside of the batwing. You may have to put a small dia washer between them to get the angle without binding the heim. The batwings are thick enough to withstand the single shear load but one could add another batwing to make it double shear.
Bruce...I'm with you on this issue. I don't like the idea of bending the radius rods. Use the heim rods and put them in double shear. Single shear is for door handles, not for suspension pieces. I know people do put things in single shear and get away with it for years but it's a bad habit and a terrible design. The same goes for pushing or pulling a bent suspension link. As long as you don't exceed the yield limits of the material you'll get away with it. It's that unsuspected impact load from a rock or chuck hole in the dark you didn't see that will buckle your radius rod that will age you that I worry about. I know who you are are and what you do and we both are in the same line of work so I have a pretty good idea how you think. I hung my ole carcass under rotor blades for several years and and crawled all over them daily and never saw anything in single shear. Build and repaired T/F cars since the mid '70s. Now I build vintage replica road racing cars. Again, no single shear, no bent driving load suspension components. This stuff ain't rocket science. Just a little common sense as these cars are for the most part lite weight and torsional flexible. Just my thoughts on the subject for what they're worth.
Here is what I want to do. Bend the rods about 8" behind axle to bring rear of radius rod heim to edge of frame. I am using coil-over shocks, that is why Ron @ RPM moved the wings out for me. I am going to use the 3 adjusting holes that are on the wings for my initial ride height. All your points are valid and I appreciate all of them, thanks.
The rear mount for the radious rod is in single shear (using a crappy 2 peice heim) and has been done for years, so utilizing a single shear on the front batwing should not propose a problem. I would prefer a double shear batwing (2 pieces of 3/16) but doing a single shear over bending the radious rod is a far better solution
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