Windsor,
With the wheel on the ground, the lower ball (swivel) joint carries the
full wheel load in tension. Jacking up the lower A-arm relieves this
tension. You can just look at the lower ball joint while you jack up the
A-arm and see if there is any movement. Of course, using the pry bar as per
the Shop Manual works well too. But, it appears that you understand this
part already. As for the upper joint, the way I see it, it's basically
unloaded all the time, at least in any static situation. Thus, you can
check the looseness of the upper swivel joint either with the wheel jacked
up or not. I just tried jacking my car up part way at the center of the
cross-member, but with the wheels still on the ground, and checking as per
the Manual (which says nothing about jacking up the car, but you need to on
mine to have enough room). I think ideally it would be good to pull up and
down on the upper A-arm to check looseness, but if the joint is loose,
which mine isn't, then it's enough just to push down to feel it.
As for the alternator, I used a Ford unit with no internal regulator, but
others on the List have used the "one wire" types with internal regulator
which sounds like the preferred solution. Probably the more complicated
question is how to mount it, who's bracket to use, etc. I have a pretty
simple setup with a simple homemade bracket that bolts to the front of the
cylinder head with a nut welded to it that the main alternator support bolt
screws into. I have a brace from the front of this bolt to a water pump
bolt and the upper belt tension adjustment brace which, taken together
provide enough stability. I understand CAT has a cast aluminum bracket
similar to the original Mk II bracket if you want to go that way. There are
others on the List that I'm sure can give you more info about this and
other sources though.
Enjoy the ride,
Bob
At 09:24 AM 2/6/00 -0800, Windsor Owens wrote:
>
> Is there a better test one can do on the upper ball joint?
>Does anybody understand what I'm babbling about and where my confusion
>may lie?
>
>snip, snip, snip,
>
> What is the lowest hassle alternator replacement for a stock
>generator? Does anyone make a kit/custom brackets to go with a
>particular alternator, or is it time to buy an alternator @ Kragens
>and get out the hand drill, rat tail file and dremel?
>
>
>Windsor
>
Robert L. Palmer
UCSD, Dept. of AMES
619-822-1037 (o)
760-599-9927 (h)
rpalmer@ucsd.edu
rpalmer@cts.com
rlpalmer@lyonlyon.com
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