More Heim Link Problems

[spydeyblue]

My husband Paul and I own a 2012 RT-S. During a recent ryde on some very twisty roads, we noticed a popping noise coming from the front left area of our Spyder, especially during hard left turns. (The ryde was up to the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton via Mines Road, then down to San Jose via CA-130, for those of you who are familar with the SF Bay Area). We found out about the Heim link recall a few weeks later, so we inspected our stock links. They had a number "2" stamped on them, so they should have been alright. Since we have one of BajaRon's anti-sway bars installed on our RT, we decided to buy a set of his Heim links, also. Once we had the new BajaRon Heim links installed, we repeated the ryde to the observatory, and guess what? No more popping noises! We inspected the stock plastic links, and found that the four ball joints were not consistent in terms of amount of force needed to turn them, plus they did not move smoothly. One ball joint was very tight, two were moderately tight, and one was much looser than the other three.

Our conclusion is that if you have a stiffer anti-sway bar installed, AND you are at the load limit for your Spyder, AND you ryde on roads that are in poor condition and have extremely tight turns, then you might want to get a set of BajaRon's Heim links. If you don't have a BajaRon anti-sway bar installed yet, but you are going to install one, you might as well install a set of his Heim links at the same time, and save yourself some potential trouble.




CA-130 (as seen from Lick Observatory)

Enjoy the Ryde,
Paul and Linda Horn

 

[Lamonster]

Seeing your RT is a 2012 it wouldn't fall into the bad link run, that was a 2013 only. The popping was most likely due to a loose bolt from the link to the swaybar. I've see this many times and fixed them in the parking lot just by tightening the bolt. Not to say that the steel links aren't better but chances are there was nothing wrong with the old ones.

 

[spydeyblue]

Thank you for your input, Lamont. I agree that there might not be anything wrong with the stock links, but to both of us, the stock links just didn't feel as smooth, or as uniform, as the steel ones did. Given how we like to push our RT to its limits, it probably didn't hurt to change them out.

 

[stewartj239]

Your point is valid as a week after installing the BajaRon sway bar on my 2013, I snapped a Heim joint. I replaced them with Ron's chromoly links. Even when I was installing the sway bar, I could not believe that those joints were made out of composite plastic. It was more like 3 days after that that I snapped one. I know there is a recall on the 2013s, but still, I don't think they are designed for the aftermarket sway bar.

 

[Bob Denman]

I had an end link loosen up on my 2010...
Rattigan-Roger tightened it up in the parking lot, and I was good to go! :thumbup:
but it was popping and sounding REAL ugly until he found and fixed it! :bowdown:

 

[spydeyblue]

Metal Heim Links

Your point is valid as a week after installing the BajaRon sway bar on my 2013, I snapped a Heim joint. I replaced them with Ron's chromoly links. Even when I was installing the sway bar, I could not believe that those joints were made out of composite plastic. It was more like 3 days after that that I snapped one. I know there is a recall on the 2013s, but still, I don't think they are designed for the aftermarket sway bar.

:agree:

I think the stiffer BajaRon anti-sway bar probably puts more load on the Heim links, than the stock links were designed for. I'm pretty certain none of the bolts were loose, since we had our local motorcycle speed shop install the Bajaron anti-sway bar, and later on, the metal Heim links. Paul was pushing our RT really hard on those switchbacks, coming down the mountain from the Lick observatory. That was the only time we ever heard a popping noise, and it was just on one side, after recovering from a tight left turn.

The replacement Heim links were very inexpensive, too, just like the anti-sway bar was. My point is if you have a BajaRon anti-sway installed, or you are going to install one, it might be prudent to replace the stock Heim links, as well. And of course, check the tightness of the Heim link bolts, to be sure they aren't causing any problems.

Linda

 

[coz]

try the HEIM LINK MANEUVER :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

 

[SNOOPY]

try the HEIM LINK MANEUVER :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

:wrong:




roflmao