Ball joints

Next up are the front upper and lower ball joints for the hub carrier. The uppers I am replacing with sealed units that are 'greased for life' - no need to fiddle with them. Lowers I am building up from parts kit - it's all pretty self explanatory from the kit plus Haynes manual. Don't be surprised by the total inconsistency between the number of shims required from one to another. One side only needed a couple - the other I think I ended up with 10 different thicknesses.

Firstly the spigot ring thing (forgotten the techical term for it) needs to be inserted and seated down. The castings are not consistent in their depth so one looks better positioned than the other. Apparently this is common.

 

Seated it has a groove machine in as a grease channel. Not all have these in again - depends on manufacturing batch. I love the consistency.

 

 

You just have to keep trying the fit with different shims until the right amount of torque / pressure to move the joint is achieved. I tried to measure the end float to calculate this but inthe end the trial and error method is just as good - and I feel I know much more about the joint as a result.

These bolts have not been torqued down to final value yet. I will make a nail varnish reference mark on bolt and carrier for simple visual 'has it been done' and 'has it moved' test in the future.