Replacing upper ball joint advice

[Pex]

I’m planning to fix the front “suspension” this winter since i found lots of play in both upper and lower ball joints and need some advice regarding the upper wishbone ball joint.
The upper ones are supposed to be renovated but either the firm did a bad job with the shims or the “ball joint housing” is worn down. I can dissemble them to see how worn they are before ordering anything of course, maybe a repair kit is enough but modern sealed ones are definitely tempting.

I found the uprated wishbones with sealed ball joints but are they better than original except for the sealing? If for some reason the sealed ones are damaged, is it possible to replace them?
I haven’t seen any replacement ball joints, only complete uprated wishbones at the suppliers.
Is there any other option or should I just go for the uprated ones, despite the cost.
//Peter

[angelw]

Peter Wrote:

I’m planning to fix the front “suspension” this winter since i found lots of play in both upper and lower ball joints and need some advice regarding the upper wishbone ball joint.
The upper ones are supposed to be renovated but either the firm did a bad job with the shims or the “ball joint housing” is worn down. I can dissemble them to see how worn they are before ordering anything of course, maybe a repair kit is enough but modern sealed ones are definitely tempting.

I found the uprated wishbones with sealed ball joints but are they better than original except for the sealing? If for some reason the sealed ones are damaged, is it possible to replace them?
I haven’t seen any replacement ball joints, only complete uprated wishbones at the suppliers.
Is there any other option or should I just go for the uprated ones, despite the cost.

Hello Peter,
No amount of shimming will rectify the Top Ball joint system if the spherical pocket is severely worn (often the case). SNG Barratt (and I suspect others) supply an upgraded Top Wishbone that utilizes a Nylon Bearing sabot and a larger diameter Ball Pin. There are firms that will machine your original Wishbones to accept the Nylon Bearing system and supply them back to you with the new system fitted. I provide this service, but I'm quite a long way from you. The attached pictures shows the general layout of the Ball Joint/Sabot arrangement and a CNC Toolpath model of the machining required.







This system is good with regards being able to quickly and easily refurbish the system further down the track when the system requires replacing. Before, this system became available, I used to reclaim severely worn Upper Wishbone Ball Sockets by building the surface up with weld, re-machining the area and re-heat treating. Much care was employed, in that the welding rod material matched the substrate and the same induction heat-treatment of the surface was carried out. Not many would be equipped to do this correctly, as a custom heating module for the Induction Heat-treatment is required. Another method I used, was to machine the Ball Socket area to accept a Threaded MGF sealed ball joint unit.

Regards,

Bill

[abowie]

Another method I used, was to machine the Ball Socket area to accept a Threaded MGF sealed ball joint unit.

Regards,

Bill

How did this work out? I have a number of worn wishbones and I have been giving some thought as to how to reuse them.

[Pex]

Thanks for the very informative answer.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of any firm here in Sweden that will machine the original Wishbones and fit new ball joints. Is there any firms in Europe who provide this kind of service, anyone know of any?

It is probably cheaper to send them to a firm to get this done than buying new ones and it's better for the environment to reuse instead of just buying new

[angelw]

Andrew Wrote:

How did this work out? I have a number of worn wishbones and I have been giving some thought as to how to reuse them.

Hello Andrew,
Its quite a reasonable solution, but the Tapered Pin is smaller and also needs to be sleeved. I think the best solution is the use of the Nylon Sabot and new Ball Pin. The end result is one where, externally, you can't pick the modified unit from the original when assembled.

I'm well set up to do the modification if you don't want, or can't machine the wishbones yourself.

Regards,

Bill

[abowie]

How much per wishbone?

[angelw]

Hello Andrew,
AUD90.00 per each. 10% discount for quantities 4 and above.

Regards,

Bill

[abowie]

Where do I source the replacement ball and sabot and what do they cost?