The previous suspension rocker links for our car were supposed to be a simple part. We planned on water-jetting the majority of the geometry with with clearances for rod-end bearings machined afterwards. In reality, each of these pockets required the part to be indicated square, the mill to be zeroed and finally two tool paths to be run which all takes time.
This year, I fully eliminated milled features by separating the rocker into two plates. This allows each side to be exclusively waterjet. I also selected bearings with an integral flange allowing the bearings to simply sit in a clearance hole. Finally, I used threaded spacers to set the distance between the two parts. In total, these changes eliminated approximately 8 hours of CNC programming and shop time across the car.
Updated suspension rocker that eliminates CNC milling
Old suspension rocker that proved to be a challenge to manufacture