Rose joints (rod ends): sizes, male vs female, and left vs right thread

A rose joint is a rod end: a ball with a bore through it, held in an eye on a threaded shank, sized by its bore and thread (for example, a 10 mm bore with an M10 thread). Male ones are threaded outside, female ones inside. We sell female and male metric rose joints in 5 to 25 mm bores.

If you only needed to know what one is, you can stop here. The sizes we list are in the table below.

Rose joint sizes we list

Both listings sell rose joints in pairs: two right-hand, two left-hand, or one of each. The code in each option is the listing's own name for that size.

Source: our product listings for the female and male rose joints (titles, descriptions and options), read 2 October 2026. Both listings describe a bronze-lined outer ring, a chromium-lined inner ring, zinc plating and a grease nipple. In our codes, SI is the female body, SA is the male, and an L marks the left-hand version.

Male vs female rod ends

The parts have plain names. The spherical plain bearing (the ball and the ring it swivels in) sits in the eye-shaped head of the rod end housing, and the shank carries the thread.

• A male rod end has an external thread on its shank. It screws into a threaded tube, a cylinder or a nut.
• A female rod end has an internal thread in its body. It screws onto a threaded rod.

That is why a "rose joint bearing" and a rod end are the same part: the bearing is the ball and its ring inside the eye.

Left-hand vs right-hand thread

Right-hand is the standard. Bearing makers mark a left-hand thread with an L in the part number (SIL and SAL in place of SI and SA, or GIL and GAL in place of GIR and GAR), and our codes add an L the same way.

Why buy a left-hand one? Put a right-hand rod end at one end of a link and a left-hand one at the other, and turning the rod lengthens or shortens the link without unbolting either end. Both our listings offer a one right, one left pair for this job. Use a lock nut on the rod or on the rod end's male thread, tightened against the rod end or tube.

The bore and the thread are two different numbers

A "10 mm rose joint" tells you the bore. It doesn't tell you the thread. Here is what one bearing maker lists for its steel/bronze rod ends in the same bores we sell. These are that maker's figures, not confirmed for our rod ends.

Source: bearing makers' published rod end tables and a rod end maker's thread pitch table (see Sources), read 2 October 2026.

Three things follow from it:

1. From 18 mm up, the pitch changes, and at 25 mm the diameter does too. In that range the 18 and 20 mm bores take fine-pitch M18 x 1.5 and M20 x 1.5, not the coarse M18 and M20, and the 25 mm bore takes an M24 x 2 thread.
2. Other ranges differ again. In another maker's rod end range a 15 mm bore takes M14 and a 17 mm bore takes M16.
3. The same M10 comes in two pitches. The maker in the table lists its 10 mm female rod end in M10 and in M10 x 1.25. Standard M10 is 1.5 mm pitch and fine M10 is 1.25 mm, so the two don't screw together. Our Greenfield tie rod ends, for example, are listed as M10 x 1.25.

Our rose joint listings give the bore, male or female, and the hand, but not the thread. If the pitch matters for your job, ask us before you order.

How to choose a rose joint

1. Measure the bore. Use vernier callipers on the bolt or pin that goes through the ball. Our listings run 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 25.
2. Pick male or female. If it screws into something, you need a male. If it screws onto a rod, you need a female.
3. Measure the thread. Measure the outside diameter of the male thread (on a female rod end, measure the rod it screws onto) with the callipers, and check the pitch with a thread pitch gauge. Don't assume it from the bore.
4. Check the hand. Look for an L (or LH) in the old rod end's part number. If there's no number, ask us before you order.
5. Choose the pair. Choose two right-hand, two left-hand, or one of each for an adjustable link.
6. Fit a lock nut against the rod end, as bearing makers advise.

Which BES product fits

• Pick the female metric rose joints, left and right (pair) if the rod end screws onto a threaded rod.
• Pick the male metric rose joints, left and right (pair) if it screws into a tube, cylinder or nut.
• Pick the one right, one left option on either listing if you're building a link you want to adjust by turning the rod.
• Pick the Greenfield tie rod end GT06044 if your Greenfield ride-on uses that part. It's a ball joint, not a rose joint, with an M10 x 1.25 male right-hand thread and an M10 x 1.25 female right-hand thread.
• Pick the Greenfield tie rod GT02294 left hand for the models its listing names. It has an M10 x 1.25 male right-hand thread and an M10 x 1.25 female left-hand thread.

Both rose joint listings are in rod ends. Our listings describe them as zinc plated, and none is listed as stainless steel.

Questions people also ask

Is a rose joint the same as a rod end or a Heim joint?

Yes. Australia's vehicle modification code (VSB 14) says Heim joints are also known as rose joints and spherical rod ends. "Heim" comes from Lewis Heim, who founded Heim Bearings in 1932, and "Rose" (from Rose Bearings in Lincolnshire) had become a generic term for rod ends by 1965.

What's the difference between a rose joint and a ball joint?

A rose joint has a bore through the ball for a bolt to pass through, as VSB 14 describes it. Our Greenfield tie rod ends are ball joints: their listings give a male thread at one end and a female thread at the other instead of a bore.

Can I use rose joints in steering or suspension, like rose-jointed track rod ends?

Only within the rules. VSB 14 Section LS says they may be used in critical applications such as steering and suspension only if all three of these hold:

• the movement stays within the rose joint maker's allowable articulation angle;
• the joint doesn't hang up on other parts;
• a signatory confirms it is strong and durable enough for its intended purpose.

Our listings don't give an articulation angle.

Follow your vehicle maker and get a qualified mechanic or certifier involved. Our listings say all parts should be fitted by a licensed technician.

Do you sell 6 mm and 12 mm rose joints?

Yes, both male and female, in right- and left-hand versions (codes SIBP6S, SABP6S, SIBP12S and SABP12S, with L for left-hand). The listing names the bore. Measure your thread and pitch too.

Do you sell imperial rod ends, like 1/4 inch or 5/8 inch?

Our listings are metric only. Imperial sizes can be ordered in on request, so ask us.

Do rose joints need greasing?

Our listings describe a grease nipple. Bearing makers say steel/bronze rod ends need relubrication too, but the requirements are less stringent than for steel/steel ones, because bronze is more forgiving when lubrication runs short.

Related reading

• Bearing size chart: 6000, 6200 and 6300 series
• Thrust ball bearing sizes: 51100 and 51200

Sources

• SKF, Spherical plain bearings and rod ends, PUB BU/P1 06116/1 EN (May 2013): pp. 15, 17, 27, 95, 168, 184 to 186 (cdn.skfmediahub.skf.com), read 2 October 2026.
• Schaeffler, Spherical plain bearings, plain bushes, rod ends, catalogue 238: rod ends GIR..UK table, PDF p. 133 (schaeffler.com), read 2 October 2026.
• igus, igubal rod ends catalogue: thread pitch table, PDF p. 5 (igus.com), and igubal TDGM coupling-rod inserts product page (igus.com), read 2 October 2026.
• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, VSB 14 National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification, Section LS, Version 2.1 (1 November 2015), section 4.10, p. 25 (infrastructure.gov.au), read 2 October 2026.
• RBC Bearings, HEIM Bearings page (rbcbearings.com), read 2 October 2026.
• NMB Minebea UK, Our history (nmb-minebea.co.uk), read 2 October 2026.

Checked against the SKF, Schaeffler and igus rod end catalogues, VSB 14 Section LS and our own product data on 2 October 2026.