'03 Mastersbilt build suggestions.

**Krooser** · 07-09-2018, 05:29 PM

812-793-3666.

They certainly don't put much value in an online presence...barely answer the phone.

**Jim11h** · 07-09-2018, 11:51 PM

Appreciate it kroozer. He must have correct number cause said they haven't returned call and it's a 15 chassis

**Krooser** · 07-10-2018, 08:15 AM

Originally posted by Jim11h View Post

Appreciate it kroozer. He must have correct number cause said they haven't returned call and it's a 15 chassis

Really a shame they dont care about customer service.

**Matt49** · 07-10-2018, 09:15 AM

It isn't a matter of not caring. I was just there last week. Tader is now sole owner. He is in FULL rebuild mode.
They don't have the staff right now to have somebody sitting by the phone but that will likely change soon.
Keep calm. MasterSbilt ain't dead yet.

**Kromulous** · 07-10-2018, 09:21 AM

Thats good, seems like there new Chasiss is pretty fast.

Hopefully he can rebuild and get back to selling a lot of chassis.

**Krooser** · 07-10-2018, 10:25 AM

Originally posted by Kromulous View Post

Thats good, seems like there new Chasiss is pretty fast.

Hopefully he can rebuild and get back to selling a lot of chassis.

Amen to that....

**fastford** · 07-10-2018, 09:39 PM

Originally posted by Matt49 View Post

It isn't a matter of not caring. I was just there last week. Tader is now sole owner. He is in FULL rebuild mode.
They don't have the staff right now to have somebody sitting by the phone but that will likely change soon.
Keep calm. MasterSbilt ain't dead yet.

I an,t either , just trying to catch up........

**Krooser** · 07-12-2018, 03:22 AM

What rod ends are you guys using on the suspension? I used carbon steel zinc plated units from QSC on the '95 wide combo but some guys use chrome moly... my local chassis builder told me carbon steel is fine.

Also do you use a solid rod end on the inner lca? And the PO of this smackdown used two piece lowers... said the one piece he got from Jimmy Mars would bind up. Comments?

**billetbirdcage** · 07-12-2018, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by Krooser View Post

What rod ends are you guys using on the suspension? I used carbon steel zinc plated units from QSC on the '95 wide combo but some guys use chrome moly... my local chassis builder told me carbon steel is fine.

Also do you use a solid rod end on the inner lca? And the PO of this smackdown used two piece lowers... said the one piece he got from Jimmy Mars would bind up. Comments?

For what you doing, the cheap ones are probably as good as the rest of the car. They just get loose fast and need replaced quicker, but not sure how much your going to race. I'll generally recommend a mid line rodend to most guys if they race semi regularly and on a budget. For a mid line rod end, probably the best for the money is the QA1 black moly rod ends. There are better one's out there for sure, but for the price they are hard to beat. Using better ones on the tie rod ends is usually a good idea as they are the ones the will go the fastest, but I guess that depends on how long you use them before you wreck and bend one, lol.

As for the lower (again not a master guy at all and don't know the typical parts on them or styles) but if your talking the lower arm to the frame? Then yes a rod end not a solid, the only place a solid is used is if it has one on the strut rod to control arm instead of a hockey stick type mount.

**Matt49** · 07-12-2018, 03:11 PM

I'm a big fan of the FK economy high strength rod ends with the teflon liners. 5/8 stuff would be pert numbers CMX10T for right hand thread and CMXL10T for left hand They are relatively maintenance free because of the teflon liners. My only complain is that the bodies tend to oxidize over time and don't look all that great.
You definitely want a bearing rod end on the inner mount of the lower even if it is a two-piece lower. On the strut rod part of the two-piece deal, you can run a solid rod end where it mounts to the lower and obviously a bearing rod end on the chassis side.

**7uptruckracer** · 07-12-2018, 03:48 PM

Just to add to this I use mis- alignment spacers when I can to allow more travel before it might seize on the housing. Also in places where you have a bolt up against the heim on one side I will take a bench or hand grinder and put a nice rounded beveled edge on the bolt to accomplish the same thing. Some places are like Tie rod ends. Some cars that have welded bungs that shocks go through. Some styles of strut rods. Ideal is a bushing that allows free movement on both sides but you don't always have that.

Originally posted by Matt49 View Post

I'm a big fan of the FK economy high strength rod ends with the teflon liners. 5/8 stuff would be pert numbers CMX10T for right hand thread and CMXL10T for left hand They are relatively maintenance free because of the teflon liners. My only complain is that the bodies tend to oxidize over time and don't look all that great.
You definitely want a bearing rod end on the inner mount of the lower even if it is a two-piece lower. On the strut rod part of the two-piece deal, you can run a solid rod end where it mounts to the lower and obviously a bearing rod end on the chassis side.

**Matt49** · 07-12-2018, 04:12 PM

Good point 7up. We do the same thing on our single-shear bolts. I call it "crowning" the bolt. After I think I'm done with one on the grinder, I throw a rod end on the bolt and lay it all the way against the shoulder and just spin it around to make sure I can't feel any rough spots.

**7uptruckracer** · 07-12-2018, 04:46 PM

Yup thatâ€™s where I use it too my asphalt mod has some shock mounts and sway bar hookups Where are you donâ€™t have the clearance for a bushing on the other side so we just crown the bolt

Originally posted by Matt49 View Post

Good point 7up. We do the same thing on our single-shear bolts. I call it "crowning" the bolt. After I think I'm done with one on the grinder, I throw a rod end on the bolt and lay it all the way against the shoulder and just spin it around to make sure I can't feel any rough spots.

**Matt49** · 07-12-2018, 05:13 PM

One other note on heims that may seem obvious to most but may save someone reading this from having a bad night. Do NOT use a three-piece heim on any of your front suspension. By three-piece, I'm referring to the ones that have a main body and then another sleeve piece that holds the ball in the body which is then pressed into the main body. Ones like these, if my description is bad:

HJMX-T – FK Rod Ends

https://www.fkrodends.com/products/rod-ends/precision-series/hjmx-t-hrxmx-t/

They are not at all designed to take an axial load...which again, may seem obvious to some but I bolted one up to the left lower (front heim) and learned this the hard way. Two laps into hot laps, I had a bent spindle, bent shock, two bent ball joints, bent tie road, and it took two guys to get the front half of my lower control arm out of the race track. Don't do that...

**Krooser** · 07-13-2018, 10:22 PM

I bought some two piece steel rod ends from a guy on FB when I redid all the heims on my '95... used a moly end on the steering. The inner LCA has a rod end, too not a fixed end but some guys tell me I should have it the other way around... don't really agree with that.

Now a couple more questions... I'd like input on the lowers... one or two piece. And for the Mastesbilt experts... Smackdown or S7 spindles. I now have both in stock.

The steering servo on my old car os a 3.4... I assume a 4.0 would be preferable?

Thanks guys....

PS... going to pick up my engine parts Monday (resized/rebuilt rods, four new pistons and couple more pieces. Sold a bunch of needed hot rod parts and some excess shop equipment this weekend at a local swap meet... got a couple bucks to spend wisely right now.