Re: Re: Front Ball Joints

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have only just joined the forum but have been a TOC member since the dawn of time membership no 15.I am a little concerned about the advice given about the adjustment of the front suspension ball joints. These joints are only adjustable by the removal of shims between the upper and lower cups. The cups should be clamped together so they cannot move within their housings. For the top joint the cap should be tightened to 36 foot pounds and then the locking ring to 57.5 foot pounds. The workshop manual is a bit wooly in this area. It would appear that the purpose of the cap and lock ring is to adjust the ball joint but this is not the case. If adjustment is made by just tightening the cap until the play disappears and the cups are not clamped up tight it allows the cups to move within the housing and this will cause excessive wear and judder under braking as the balls and caps chatter in their housings.

Ideally the cups and balls should be lapped in, using valve grinding paste, a lathe and special tools to hold the ball and cups, then the large spacer should be surface ground to give the correct clearance between the ball and cups. I have recently done this job on my car and been involved with another member who has also done this. It is a terrible job that is extremely time consuming. If done properly the results are spectacular and the improvement in steering and brake judder very noticeable. I hope this helps.

p.s. The bottom joint is exactly the same principle but the cups are clamped together by introducing shims and spacers between the cup and the bottom cap which is held on with bolts.