For Sale Rag joints on Ebay - in case you are in the market...

[mr. fix it]

I happened to find these on Ebay this morning.
Has anyone used one of these?
they look like the rag joint used on the slab c-body as well.

1973 Satellite Road Runner Charger Coronet NOS MoPar RAG JOINT COUPLER Chryco | eBay

 

[70NEWYORKER]

$200.

 

[moparnutcase]

If NOS is what you seek, not much else is out there. When I replaced the one on my old '65 Monaco I installed a billet aluminum one from Bouchillon(spelling?)Performance. Will never break. Think it was around $120 or so, that was about 5-6 years ago.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

As a wise old man once said, "if it is the only one, it is the cheapest one"


Alan

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Yes I got one, it is a correct NOS piece.


Alan

 

[330dTA]

I prefer the Land Rover part instead. It’s something like $7.

 

[65Fury440]

Looks pretty ragged.
X2 on the LR part.

 

[commando1]

Looks pretty ragged.

It's not like there's a freshness code on these things.

 

[65Fury440]

It's not like there's a freshness code on these things.

LOL

I'd say age and dryness is what kills these things.
This guy had like 11 available, he probably hunts them in junkyards like truffles.

 

[65Fury440]

PS first time I red Xed anyone.
It was meant in the most respectful way!

 

[330dTA]

I would not replace that piece with a billett aluminum one. The OEM piece was put there for a reason. Namely, to isolate at least some of the vibration coming from the TB suspension.

Same thing as the rubber bushing in the idler arm: it is there to isolate the vibration. I had the Firm Feel bearing assy installed in place of the bushing in my former ’ 70 NY’er. It is the only ”upgrade” that I regretted: ”road feel” certainly increased, but so did the vibration coming through to the steering wheel. To an annoying degree. A New Yorker should glide on the tarmac, with no vibrations coming from anywhere else besides the upgraded AM-FM stereo.

 

[crazyboutwagons]

care to elaborate more on the Land Rover part. don't recall reading about that one.

 

[saforwardlook]

care to elaborate more on the Land Rover part. don't recall reading about that one.

Read this thread, as it explains it all. I bought a bunch of the Land Rover ones. They only require slight modification to work very well:

Steering coupler needed

BTW, there is a reference in one of the posts in that thread about me having a Bouchilin coupler for sale at one time, but that is not correct. I never bought, sold or used one of those hard couplers. They defeat the purpose of the joint.

 

[sixpkrt]

I bought these several years ago, cheap. They're still available, but I am not sure why I bought them, or if they'll be a less expensive alternative to something that will work for this application.
If I recall, I was told 2 were needed, and to use both when replacing the old one.

 

[rapidtrans]

If NOS is what you seek, not much else is out there. When I replaced the one on my old '65 Monaco I installed a billet aluminum one from Bouchillon(spelling?)Performance. Will never break. Think it was around $120 or so, that was about 5-6 years ago.

And that car rides smoother than my new car!
I don’t really notice any harshness at the wheel.

 

[moparnutcase]

Plus that new front end helps also, Dan! LOL

 

[fury fan]

PS first time I red Xed anyone.
It was meant in the most respectful way!

It's serendipitous (or some other emotional word) that your first red-X went to Commando1!

I'm also of the opinion that putting a piece of metal where the factory had rubber, a highly specialized piece of rubber, is putting faith in an aftermarket supplier that likely did no testing whatsoever except 'feels OK in the first car, let's sell them'.

 

[Big_John]

It's not like there's a freshness code on these things.

I gotta agree with Stan. You have no idea how long that has been sitting on the shelf. Frank Mitchell hisself might have found them under a pile of Dodge Colt quarter panels 30 years ago... and they might have been 20 years old then. The new guys that own Frank's place now probably found them in the back of the warehouse and figured they better sell them before somebody drops and breaks them...

NOS rubber is not like fine wine.... It does not get better with age.

 

[fury fan]

True, but rubber deteriorates more in sunlight/heat, so storage in a warehouse might not hurt them as much as we'd think.
And they are probably going to be better than ones living underhood for 100k+ miles, and exposed to oil from leaking VC gaskets.
And I'm seeing that car tires are getting cracks in them far sooner than older tires did.

I'm not saying that freshness isn't a thing, just that if they look OK they probably are.

 

[Big_John]

True, but rubber deteriorates more in sunlight/heat, so storage in a warehouse might not hurt them as much as we'd think.
And they are probably going to be better than ones living underhood for 100k+ miles, and exposed to oil from leaking VC gaskets.
And I'm seeing that car tires are getting cracks in them far sooner than older tires did.

I'm not saying that freshness isn't a thing, just that if they look OK they probably are.

Rubber is continually degrading from oxidation and crystallization. It's something that never stops... regardless of if they are in use or not. You can slow oxidation by storing someplace cold, but the crystallization gets worse. Crystallization will mean that the rubber will break down when it's flexed.

You never are going to know where NOS parts are stored either... Frank used to buy up obsolete dealer parts from all over the country. They could have spent 25 years sitting next to a window.

So, while I agree that they are probably going to be better than one that's been under your hood, the factors of heat and oil aren't in the equation, you're kidding yourself that a 50 year old rubber piece is going to behave and perform anything like a new part.