Have you guys seen this before? I have been working on putting my front end back together and ran into an issue with a new upper ball joint. The castle nut on the upper ball joint, when torqued to 36 lbs, goes so far down the bolt of the ball joint that it makes the cotter pin hole useless. I have to put a spacer between castle nut and the bottom of the bolt. Thanks
Original Post
I bought a full set of suspension ball joints and bushes for the wishbones from one of the Maseratisource Ebay auctions, everything was around $225,

Every part fitted perfectly, they still have an eBay shop.

I personally wouldn't fit spacers where they were not designed to go. Will the vendor not change them or offer a refund?
Originally posted by Peter Fenlon:....
from Maseratisource

Every part fitted perfectly.

glad to hear that as I bought all my suspension parts from him.

Unless the threaded stud is just longer than original, something with the tapper fit is concerning

I'd compare the length of the threaded portion of the ball joint to your original.

If it's longer.....I'd drill out the hole in a new lower location....the excess threaded portion hanging in space isn't doing anything

If the threaded portions are the same length then I'd check the diameter of the taper at the top and bottom to ensure it's like your original and not allowing it to pull through as far as it is

If that's the same then your steering knuckle has got to be really worn
Shashi, If the problem stems from being an aftermarket part, IMHO a part that far out of spec should not be used. Can't be sure the metallurgy is correct or the taper is right. People do odd things in an attempt to make repairs like ream the knuckle taper. Do you have the old ball joint to compare the new one with?

Is this problem only on one side or both sides? If you can determine the taper is correct and is fully seated top to bottom then you can probably get away with a spacer. Tapers are very specific. Ask any knowledgeable machinist.

Where did the new ball joint come from? If not from a reputable vendor, I suggest buying a new one from reliable vendor to compare.

Personally, I would not leave it that way without further investigation.

Some say to not use a spacer between the nut and tapered stud. The reason is, this repositions the front suspension relative to the chassis (actually, it changes the Instant Roll Center), altering the handling. Special ball joints with longer (or shorter) tapers are available to do exactly this, at extra cost. They are routinely used in dirt track racing. The upper rear ball joint Instant Roll Center usually does not affect handling that much.  The effect is more noticable on both ends as cornering speed increases. I say, try it- depending on how you drive, you may actually prefer the geometry this way, or not notice it at all. A decade or two ago I adapted 67-89 Chrysler-type upper ball joints to our Pantera  (same taper) and had to do what to me was minor machining on the tapers to adjust all six to my liking. They're still on our car. Good luck.

Add Reply

Likes (0)