For the Aurora Bearing Company, the Performance Racing Industry Show is as much about educating retailers and consumers about rod-ends and spherical bearings as it is in displaying new products. In an effort to better illustrate its products in a drag racing application, Aurora teamed with esteemed European chassis-builder Andy Robinson on a display featuring a four-link and ladder bar installation. In doing so, Aurora can both show off its products in its natural environment but also strike up a conversation on how sizing needs and/or constraints can factor into the overall equation for a builder.
“On the upper link, we have the traditional 1/2-inch bore, 3/4-inch thread part, which is the size most builders have been using for the last decade or so. But, as those parts become more highly stressed by high-horsepower cars, a different product has been needed,” explains Aurora Race Car Product Manager John McCrory.
Aurora’s answer is a rod end with a more significant body and larger diameter race to spread the load out over a more extensive footprint. Though, as you might imagine, these pale in comparison to the size of a typical off-road racing suspension rod-end, at a 1-inch bore and 1-1/4-inch thread.
“The one thing the two parts have in common is a heat-treated, alloy-steel body, heat-treated raceway, and a PTFE liner that’s qualified to the U.S. governments’ AS81820-Type-A standard, which is the longest-wearing standard the U.S. military has . . . so, they’re a durable part. If you come right down to it, you see a ton of vibration and impact-loading on an off-road race vehicle, and what you see on a drag car with tire-shake are very similar. This is one of the things that our wide range of markers allow us to do is cross-pollinate.”
Skinny Kid Race Cars and Jerry Bickel Race Cars are excited about Aurora’s products — the latter of whom markets an exclusive spherical bearing for rear sway bars. To see Aurora’s full line of rod-ends, got to its website, HERE.
You might also like
Jimmy Taylor Discusses Pursuit Of the Fours, 300 MPH, And Doorslammer Infamy
Jimmy Taylor is chasing Pro Mod history. He's attempting to be the first person to record a 4-second, 300-mph run in a doorslammer.
