JFK straight ball joints

JFK straight ball joints are connection components designed to transmit predominantly linear tensile or compressive loads along rods and tie rods, while the integrated spherical head compensates for the small angular misalignments that naturally occur between connected components during operation. Unlike angular spherical joints, the spherical head here serves to correct alignment rather than define a fixed working angle.

This configuration makes them particularly suitable for connecting actuators, cylinders, and control rods where the main movement is linear, but small alignment errors between the connected components need to be absorbed without introducing parasitic loads into the system. In particular, they compensate for the lack of parallelism and concentricity typically found at the ends of hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. The pairing consists of a zinc-alloy housing with a PTFE-bronze composite liner, a die-cast body, and a steel ball stud welded to the pin; a rubber seal maintains the seal and protects the lubricating grease (RBI..RS series). They are available with either male or female threaded shanks to suit different mounting configurations.