Just wondering what are your thoughts on Moog's advertisement of them using the gusher bearing design in chassis parts. For anyone unfamiliar, it's a powdered metal ball that is porous for grease to penetrate/soak through. The ball usually also has grease grooves and is housed in a metal seat.
If you move a brand new Moog joint, there is a lot of friction in the movement. In comparison, most OEM chassis parts use a polished heat treated ball in a teflon seat which provides a smoother low friction movement. I read somewhere that this is a 50 year old design? I'm also not convinced that a part made from "powdered metal" would be as strong as a conventional forged steel ball with heat treatment. The heat treatment process, when done properly, would allow for the control of hardness or ductile properties in the material. I'm not sure if heat treatment can even be applied in the same fashion to powdered metal.
So is this really a superior design over an OEM style ball/seat, or just an excuse to cut costs? I know back in the day, Moog was known for quality parts but nowadays all their stuff is made in China.
If you move a brand new Moog joint, there is a lot of friction in the movement. In comparison, most OEM chassis parts use a polished heat treated ball in a teflon seat which provides a smoother low friction movement. I read somewhere that this is a 50 year old design? I'm also not convinced that a part made from "powdered metal" would be as strong as a conventional forged steel ball with heat treatment. The heat treatment process, when done properly, would allow for the control of hardness or ductile properties in the material. I'm not sure if heat treatment can even be applied in the same fashion to powdered metal.
So is this really a superior design over an OEM style ball/seat, or just an excuse to cut costs? I know back in the day, Moog was known for quality parts but nowadays all their stuff is made in China.