Reliability evaluation of transport vehicles sub-assemblies, is one of the most important goals pursued by carriers, this indicator being part of the quality in terms of services offered. The possibilities to maintain the high level of sub-assemblies reliability, obtained by the reliability evaluations, lead to an increase in the general level of transport vehicles reliability, with positive effects on reducing the need for corrective maintenance therefore, reduction of inactivity time waste for unplanned repairs, reduction of repair costs and underlying, increasing financial profits of transport companies. However, another very important objective to be achieved by maintaining a high level of transport vehicles reliability is raising safety and security in transport and road traffic.\n Rod ends of urban buses steering mechanisms, have an important role in ensuring the safety of the passengers� carriage. Thus, in present paper, with the aim of finding ways to control and increase the reliability level of those parts, it have been carried out reliability evaluations on a sample of rod ends from a batch of urban buses, belonging to a transport company. Reliability evaluations were performed under laboratory conditions, through reproduction requests arising from exploitation process, and development of cycles of accelerated reliability tests. In this way, it has been carried out modernization of a stand for managing the rod end reliability tests, adapted to the model of tested subassemblies, it have been built a device for measurement the rod end pivot axial gap and it were performed a series of reliability tests, followed by measurements of the gap value resulted. Upon reaching the maximum gap value, the rod end elements were disassembled and it were evaluated the microstructures of pivots spherical surfaces, with the purpose of identifying the types, displacement directions and dimensions of wears formed.\n As a result of data achieved by the reliability evaluations, it could be established measures to improve the reliability of rod ends used on the urban transport buses analyzed.

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