At 07:15 PM 6/21/00 -0400, you wrote:
>I have finally worked my way to the front end of my hangar queen. I noticed
>that in the archives that there was lots of discussion last year around
>potentially defective ball joints that were coming apart. I have a set of
>uppers and lowers that were purchased quite a bit ago(mid 80's) and would
>like to know if there is any reason that I should not use them.
>
>I actually can't even remember who I bought them from! The mind is a terrible
>thing!
>They have the nylock nut on top and are stamped made in great Britain on the
>underside. Any way to tell a good from a bad?
I also forgot to ask for advice considering the fulcrum pin and bushing.
Should I replace the pin? As far as I know, they are all original- ca 1966.
What is a good source for the pin and associated bushings?
>Thanks....
>
>Paul
>b382001944
The Nylock nuts came on the Ball joints sold by most Sunbeam parts
suppliers of that era. We have had a running argument with the
manufacturer for several years about these nuts as used on the lower ball
joints. The ball joints may or may not be the "best" of all designs (there
have been about 6 different designs) but in any case you should toss the
nuts and drill the threaded shanks for cotter keys at least on the
lowers. The uppers have not been problematical but the lowers have had
several reports of unscrewing themselves while you drove down the road. I
know cause it happened to my daughter's Alpine.
The second point is that none of the Nylock nutted ball joints had the OEM
copper plating. As a result, the are much more prone to internal
rusting. This in fact was the ultimate cause of the ball joints unscrewing
the Nylock nuts. Be sure that your ball joints are rust free under the
rubber boots and that you can turn (twist) the ball shank reasonably easily
in the housing. If not, I would toss them. In any case, these latter
designs without the copper rust protection should be lubricated with a
marine style grease that includes lots of rust inhibitors. You might also
look for the alternative rubber boots to begin with as the originals were
lot long lived. You can find part numbers on archives of this list.
Rick's (SS) new ball joints are made so that the ball can not pass through
the slot even if the internal components fail. They will likely require
more frequent lubrication as they have less plastic bearing surface than
some earlier designs. As long as your down there, take a good look at your
rubber A-Arm bushings. The rubber replacement bushings available for the
last 10 to 15 years have had a very poor record. Rick now has Urethane
bushings available that we hope will solve this long standing problem. As
far as fulcrum pins are concerned, the only OEM design copies available are
made by Doug Jennings of Tiger Auto of Dayton Ohio. I use these on my own
car in place of pins of unknown service history and recommend them to
others. Better a known chrome moly alloy with zero cycle history than a
OEM pin with possibly 100,000 or maybe 100 cycles from a fatigue
failure. You never know until you hear it break.
All of this is IMHO.
Tom Hall
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