What is a super flex joint and what does it do?

I tried searching on here, but was unclear as to what it is, and what it would do for me. I see it on the RE site and just want to know what it does. Many Thanx. --Chad--

Circular bearing; in other applications it might be called a "Johnnie Joint" but that's someone else's name for it. It allows the lower end of the control arm to drop much farther than the rubber bushing would have, but at the cost of a slightly rougher ride

How does it allow the arm to drop further? Please excuse my lack of knowledge in this department, I am just learning the science behind offroad suspension systems. Is it just due the there being less friction? Bearing vs. rubber bushing- makes sense to me...kinda. Please explain what I am missing.

think of a ball joint with a stud that goes all the way through. this is basically how a superflex will work when cycled. now think of a standard rubber bushing that only allows verticle movement, little or no twisting allowed.

It also allows for lateral movement of the axle!

It freely misaligns much more than a rubber or polyurethane bushing.

If you look at your control arm bushings when you get flexed up, you'll notice the control arm is all twisted up compared to the mounts, but the bolt holding it is no longer straight, it's very scewed inside the bushing. A super flex joint or johnny joint make this misalignment without problem, and go to a much larger angle.

This picture gives an idea of what it can do. A rubber or poly bushing could never do that without loads of force and wearing out very quickly.

OOOHHHHH... Thanks guys for stickin with my dumbness. After I saw the picture it makes perfect sense.... All the pictures i saw only showed the inned bearing part, not it inside the outer bushing housing thingy. Thanks a lot guys. --Chad--

There are some better pictures on a page I did about long arms.

http://www.4x4getaways.com

I've got to finish that page one of these days before I pull them off and do the D44 radius arm thing.