Rod End for Hydraulic Lift

[dale farley]

I need to replace one of the ends on one of the 250 lb hdyraulic struts that are attached to my front bumper. I assume these are the same 250 lb struts that raise the heavier bay doors.

I have been to every fastener and specialty shop in Pensacola and cannot find them. I called CC, and they didn't have them. Does anyone know a source for these?

[Jerry Winchester]

Go to the McMaster-Carr website http://www.mcmaster.com/ and select "Rod Ends and Joint Linkages" from the list.

Then select "Ball Joint Linkages"

Then select "Quick Disconnect Linkages" and pick out the size you need.

[dale farley]

Thanks Jerry. Ordered this morning and should receive tomorrow.

[Ray Davis]

Note, Prevost seems to carry those stock as well too. I ordered new struts awhile back, and they provided all new ends.

Ray

[dale farley]

Ray, Were the ones you ordered for the front bumper. I thought the ones on my bay doors that held my chairs would be the same size since the stuts are heavier, but the ball on the end of the rod is not the same.

The ones on the bumper have a 1/2" ball, and the ones on the bays look like a 5/16" or 7/16" ball. I ordered 4 new struts, hoping that the new ends would be with them, but they weren't. Glad you had better luck than I did.

[Ray Davis]

There were different ends for regular struts vs the high pressure struts. When I first purchased the high pressure struts, the balls did not fit, and I got them through Prevost. Luckily they are close to me, so it wasn't a big deal.

They were really cheap as I remember, so it was actually worth ordering new with the struts.

Ray

[Jerry Winchester]

Ray,

I think it is worth noting that I don't think the ball joints wear out very often. Secondly, since you don't have to swap them out when you change the air shocks, you can either do the quick change out with the screw driver or go thru the agony of pulling the hardware out with it.

I learned this the hard way, so unless it was broken or severely wore, I would not go to the hassle of changing them when I changed the cylinder.

I am mainly bringing this up for any NOOBs that are contemplating fixing a few of these. Don't make a rookie Krakman mistake.

[truk4u]

Keep in mind that the Turd Boy does all this maintenance while on the road during vacation.;)

[Jerry Winchester]

Since I don't have a fluffy job that lets me putter around in my underwear all morning and hang out with the bus all afternoon. While I aspire to be like the Trikeman, I'll have to make due working on my vintage Marathon when I can escape from work for a day or so.....

[tdelorme]

Since I don't have a fluffy job that lets me putter around in my underwear all morning and hang out with the bus all afternoon. While I aspire to be like the Trikeman, I'll have to make due working on my vintage Marathon when I can escape from work for a day or so.....

I thought your job was puttin fires out not starting starting um up :D

[dale farley]

I received the new parts today, and although they were significantly different from the original, I modified things a little, and the new struts are working fine. The bumper was previously crashing down when I hit the release. Now it just opens and goes down when I push it down.