<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>It's hard to believe that this is still happening. It started
when Rick at Sunbeam Specialties changed suppliers way back in the
mid-eighties. The OEM suppliers had always used castle nuts and
cotter keys, but this new supplier went with the Nylock nut
design. which Rick initially accepted. My daughter had this
"accident" happen in her Rotary powered Alpine, back in the 80's,
a couple of blocks from home, exactly as you were, having the
lower A-arm fall on the ground, and again luckily at low speed.</p>
<p>Rick arranged a meeting with reps for this supplier shortly after
it happened. Rick and I sat down with them and they insisted this
this had never happened before and it must have been <u>My fault</u>.
Rick and I talked at length and they told us that they were not
going to modify their product. Rick however changed his receiveal
methods so that the Nylok nut was tossed and a castle nut and
drilled hole were installed in his lower ball joint stock from
that time until the current time. This supplier made an
acceptable ball joint but they also deleted the copper plating of
the genuine OEM supplier. What happened is that during storage
after manufacturing, moisture got into the joint and started the
rust process. With only the Nylock nut, it was only a matter of
time before the friction in the joint started to turn the Nylock
nut and unscrew it from the taper cone. <br>
</p>
<p>Conversely, the upper ball joints have also had this Nylock nut
but I've never heard of anyone loosing one to this friction
un-screw mechanism. Different loading's, different results.<br>
</p>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:001601db9120$df9f4660$9eddd320$@bluefrog.com">
<div class="WordSection1">
<div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">On Sat, Mar
8, 2025 at 2:19 PM Joe Brown <<a
href="mailto:jbbrown1980@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">jbbrown1980@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">So, I took
my Tiger out yesterday for a short drive
and as I was just about home (maybe a
hundred yards from my driveway) the right
front suspension dropped to the ground and
I skidded several yards before stopping.
All I could think of was the old stories
about exploding ball joints. <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I walked to
my house and threw a floor jack and some
jack stands in my truck and drove back
to the Tiger. I managed to get the
front end jacked up and discovered that
the nut on the lower ball joint was gone
and the lower A arm had dropped to the
road. My suspension pieces are at least
30 years old and the ball joints
were held on with nylock nuts. I managed
to wrap a ratchet strap around the upper
and lower A arms and I was able to
slowly drive the car into my garage. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">I am very
lucky that: <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">1. I was
going pretty slow at the time<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">2. The front
end landed in some loose gravel on the
side of the road<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">3. None of
the body work was damaged<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">4. And
nothing else in the suspension looks to
be damaged; just scraped up<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">If this had
happened 5 minutes earlier I would have
been doing 60 on a winding road and I
would have wound up in a ditch.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">So I'm
ordering a new set of ball joints and I
will drill them out for castle nuts so I
don't have to worry about a nut working
its way loose again. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Joe Brown<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt">_______________________________________________<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">tigers@autox.team.net</a><br>
<br>
Donate: <a
href="http://www.team.net/donate.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://www.team.net/donate.html</a><br>
Archive: <a
href="http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers</a>
<a href="http://autox.team.net/archive"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://autox.team.net/archive</a><br>
<br>
Unsubscribe: <a
href="http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/jay.laifman@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/jay.laifman@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div
id="m_899710309926904DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2">
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1"
cellpadding="0"
style="border:none;border-top:solid #D3D4DE 1.0pt">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="55"
style="width:41.25pt;border:none;padding:9.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none"><img
border="0" width="46" height="29"
style="width:.4791in;height:.302in"
id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:part1.UQotHuLv.QitiyDwe@comcast.net"
alt="Image removed by sender."
class=""></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td width="470"
style="width:352.5pt;border:none;padding:9.0pt .75pt .75pt .75pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:13.5pt"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#41424E">Virus-free.<a
href="http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#4453EA">www.avg.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">_______________________________________________<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">tigers@autox.team.net</a><br>
<br>
Donate: <a href="http://www.team.net/donate.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://www.team.net/donate.html</a><br>
Archive: <a href="http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers</a>
<a href="http://autox.team.net/archive" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://autox.team.net/archive</a><br>
<br>
Unsubscribe: <a
href="http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/christopherson2023@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/christopherson2023@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="" class="moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net">tigers@autox.team.net</a>
Donate: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.team.net/donate.html">http://www.team.net/donate.html</a>
Archive: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers">http://www.team.net/pipermail/tigers</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://autox.team.net/archive">http://autox.team.net/archive</a>
Unsubscribe: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/modtiger@comcast.net">http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/modtiger@comcast.net</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p><br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
5712 San Luis Court
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925)462-3876
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:modtiger@comcast.net">modtiger@comcast.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tigerengineering.net/">http://tigerengineering.net/</a> </pre>
</body>
</html>