Motorsports

Manufacturing program

AURORA® rod ends and spherical bearings are manufactured to meet the following motorsports specifications: small size for space saving, high load capacity, wear resistance, long life, resistance to environmental conditions; last but not least, AURORA products are economical. The AURORA® program includes a number of manufacturing techniques and materials to ensure quality and versatility; currently the AURORA® series include the following:

• 27 ranges for different INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
• 12 ranges for MOTOR SPORT RACING, motorbikes and vehicles
• 6 ranges for MILITARY and AEROSPACE applications

The ranges include rod ends, both metric and inches, with male or female shaft, either right-hand or left-hand, UNF pitch (inches and metric) and spherical bearings without shaft.

Applications

The racing components include the following:

• high load capacity
• mixed radial-axial loads
• high resistance to shocks and vibrations
• no clearance, tight fit, wear resistance
• fine thread pitch for registration
• resistance to high temperatures
• small sizes and weight

Anti-friction liners

AURORA® liners have been designed and patended by Aurora Bearing Company; AT3200 liner is used also in parte for aerospace application and is qualified complying MILB81820 specifications, which set strict limits for wear and clearance increase in the gliding coupling. Liner is chemically bonded to the steel race; thanks to its surface hardness and very high resistance to specific pressure, AURORA® parts with this liner can be compared for load capacity and wear resistance to AURORA® of same sizes, but with steel/steel coupling.

Non-standard shapes

A number of AURORA rod ends and spherical bearings are manufactured in non-standard shapes to better meet the harsh requirements of motor racing. To increase load bearing capacity the head sections and shanks of the XAM.. rod ends range are larger than the standard version. In HAB-T spherical bearings and HXAM-T rod ends, the inner ring is wider than normal and equipped with two distancing collars to allow for an increased tipping angle.

Jam-nuts with UNF threads, suitable for our rod ends, are available on demand.

Manufacturing program

Designing rode ends and spherical bearings requires good engineering and know-how. The RODOBAL® manufacturing program hinges on the following key factors: small size for space saving, high load capacity, wear resistance, long life, resistance to environmental conditions and, last but not least, RODOBAL® products are economical. The design is based on the DIN 648K dimensional standards to ensure regular sizes, bores and threads.

RODOBAL® components can replace the majority of other metric units. The RODOBAL program includes rod ends with male or female shaft, either right-hand or left-hand, and spherical bearings without shaft.
A number of manufacturing techniques and materials are combined during the production phase to cater for different customer requirements. The range includes:

• BASIC range for general use
• HEAVY DUTY range for loads
• EXTRA HEAVY DUTY range for extreme loads
• STAINLESS range in case of corrosion
• STANDARD range for non-critical applications

The ranges include maintenance-free versions and versions reinforced with PTFE anti-friction liner; the liner is placed in the spherical coupling between the inner ring and the external race.

Applications

Units for racing applications must satisfy these needs:

• small sizes and weight
• high load capacity
• mixed axial / radial loads
• resistance to shocks and vibrations
• small clearance, wear resistance
• fine pitch thread
• resistance to high temperature
• corrosion resistance

The product

Rubber side seals RELS.., for use on rod ends, made out of high quality rubber compound, In their bore there is an integrated stainless steel washer, for positioning on face of rod end ball bore. The rubber outer rim provides sealing effect while pressing on the rod end eye rim.

Advantages

Use of RELS.. side seals protects the spherical gliding coupling from dirt and provides longer life for rod ends, especially in PTFE lined parts that do no require lubrication. Installation of side seals is easy and quick and inspection of rod ends easily possible.

Protections for rod ends

In some machinery, equipment or vehicle there may be the need for a barrier between the spherical gliding coupling of rod ends and the environment; this need may have two different reasons: protecting the rod ends from corrosion or contamination (humidity, dirt) and ensuring long life for PTFE lined rod ends or –when using rod end that need lubrication- preventing contamination of environment by the grease used for lubrication (food processing, textile machinery).

Rod ends protections are made by a neoprene rubber boot with three short sleeves, a bottom sleeve for the rod end shaft and two side sleeves for the pin or bolt passing through the bore of the spherical inner ring.

Specifically designed steel spacers (DR distance rings) allow tightening of bolt through the rod end without pressing on the rubber material.

For installation of RERS protections bottom sleeve must be spread enough to pass on rod end eye, use a bent plier and oil the rod end surface to perform this task easier.

Neoprene protections RERS can be used on both rod ends with female or male shaft, out of any production RODOBAL® and AURORA® series.

Jam-nuts with non-common threads

When using rod ends, hexagonal jam-nuts are often used for thightening and securing against getting loose.

Technically it is a very simple issue, but in case of rod ends with not so common threads (like left-hand, fine threads or –in Europe- imperial UNF threads) or stainless steel material, user may have issues with generic fasteners vendors trying to source limited quantities of low-profile (half nuts) jam-nuts with not so common threads or in stainless steel version.

To prevent this kind of frustrating experience with fasteners vendors, we have built up an inventory of not so common jam-nuts, in three main groups:

• Jam-nuts with fine thread pitch, for pneumatic cylinders or motorsports application (example metric fine M16x1,5)
• Stainless steel jam-nuts, right-hand and left-hand
• Jam-nuts, right-hand and left-hand with imperial UNF threads