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> Spindle onto Ball Joint issues..., Any tips?
aggiezig
post Aug 15 2018, 10:59 PM
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We started putting together the front end tonight. Other than a few curve balls, most of the reassembly has gone off without a hitch. We got stuck with the drivers spindle and called it a night. The ball joint shaft does not want to slide into the spindle no matter how much we beat on it to persuade it.

I made sure that there was no powdercoat in the hole where the ball joint slides in. I can only get it to go about 1/8" in and that's using a sledge and wood block to beat up on the control / a-arm while holding down on the spindle / strut. The passenger side slid in with minimal effort, so not sure what's going on here. It's acting like the ball joint shaft OD is slightly too big. It's a brand new Lemfoerder BJ.

Am I missing something here? Is it possible I got a "bad" ball joint? I'll measure and post the OD with my calipers tonight. I'm not sure how to get out of this predicament other than trying another new joint.

Any feedback appreciated.
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bdstone914
post Aug 15 2018, 11:17 PM
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What year car? Ball joints are different. is the top of the strut mounted to the body? If so it is harder to keep the ball joint shaft from wanting to go in crooked. Smooth out the inside of the strut hole with some 320 grit sand paper. You may have buggered it with too much force.
Installing the ball joint to strut before mounting to the car it goes easier.
Grease them up. You should not have to use much force to assemble them.
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SirAndy
post Aug 15 2018, 11:21 PM
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QUOTE(aggiezig @ Aug 15 2018, 09:59 PM) *
Is it possible I got a "bad" ball joint?

It is possible you got the wrong year ball joint ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)
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aggiezig
post Aug 15 2018, 11:22 PM
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QUOTE(bdstone914 @ Aug 16 2018, 12:17 AM) *

What year car? Ball joints are different. is the top of the strut mounted to the body? If so it is harder to keep the ball joint shaft from wanting to go in crooked. Smooth out the inside of the strut hole with some 320 grit sand paper. You may have buggered it with too much force.
Installing the ball joint to strut before mounting to the car it goes easier.
Grease them up. You should not have to use much force to assemble them.


Thanks, Bruce

My car is a 75 and I am using 91134104901. Should be the right part from what I can tell. The top of the strut is loose, not mounted to the car yet which allows for more room to line up the two. I will try the sand paper idea and apply more grease.

FWIW, I just measured the OD of the BJ at 15.95MM and the ID of the spindle at 15.70MM - 15.85MM (out of round). That interference seems a little tight to me but I am not machinist and also just working with $20 calipers.
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aggiezig
post Aug 15 2018, 11:23 PM
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QUOTE(SirAndy @ Aug 16 2018, 12:21 AM) *

QUOTE(aggiezig @ Aug 15 2018, 09:59 PM) *
Is it possible I got a "bad" ball joint?

It is possible you got the wrong year ball joint ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)


I thought that at first, too - but the passenger side went in easy with the same part #
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mepstein
post Aug 16 2018, 06:19 AM
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I’m pretty sure the ball joint shafts are all the same diameter. It’s the radius where either the pin or bolt secures them is different.

But it should be a slip fit, no pounding needed to assemble.
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falcor75
post Aug 16 2018, 06:52 AM
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Are these all new parts to you or have you just changed out the balljoints for new ones? If nothing else take the strut out of the car and put it in a vice and mount the balljoint where you can easily see and check the fit. Then mount the strut with balljoint back on the car.
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914_teener
post Aug 16 2018, 07:08 AM
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QUOTE(aggiezig @ Aug 15 2018, 10:22 PM) *

QUOTE(bdstone914 @ Aug 16 2018, 12:17 AM) *

What year car? Ball joints are different. is the top of the strut mounted to the body? If so it is harder to keep the ball joint shaft from wanting to go in crooked. Smooth out the inside of the strut hole with some 320 grit sand paper. You may have buggered it with too much force.
Installing the ball joint to strut before mounting to the car it goes easier.
Grease them up. You should not have to use much force to assemble them.


Thanks, Bruce

My car is a 75 and I am using 91134104901. Should be the right part from what I can tell. The top of the strut is loose, not mounted to the car yet which allows for more room to line up the two. I will try the sand paper idea and apply more grease.

FWIW, I just measured the OD of the BJ at 15.95MM and the ID of the spindle at 15.70MM - 15.85MM (out of round). That interference seems a little tight to me but I am not machinist and also just working with $20 calipers.





If these measurements are right you will not be able to get the ball joint in the spindle with a sledge hammer. Slip fits to press fits are on the order of of thousandsants not tenths. You'll need a press the size of a garage. Something is wrong. I used a C clamp for ball joints
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914Sixer
post Aug 16 2018, 07:20 AM
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Did you clean the powder coat out of the hole? Shaft should be slide in with about a 1/2" gap before you start to tighten up nut.
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tygaboy
post Aug 16 2018, 07:31 AM
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I had the same issue and it ended up that the opening had somehow gotten tweaked out of round enough that things wouldn't slide together. I had to do a bit of "massaging" at the edge of the opening and that did it. YMMV.
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rgalla9146
post Aug 16 2018, 07:32 AM
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QUOTE(falcor75 @ Aug 16 2018, 08:52 AM) *

Are these all new parts to you or have you just changed out the balljoints for new ones? If nothing else take the strut out of the car and put it in a vice and mount the balljoint where you can easily see and check the fit. Then mount the strut with balljoint back on the car.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
When you can see the issue properly you will be able to remedy it.
Removing the strut is not too difficult and can be done without bleeding the brakes.
To do so will require cutting a slot in the bracket on the strut.....with the line still
attached.
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aggiezig
post Aug 16 2018, 08:16 AM
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Thanks for all of the tips.

The spindle / strut was already out of the car and I went ahead and pulled the ball joint out of the A-Arm just now. All brand new parts. It definitely will not slip up into the spindle more than 1/16 - 1/8" of an inch. So, something is wrong here.

For those that massaged their spindle holes - what tool did you use to do this?
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914_teener
post Aug 16 2018, 12:46 PM
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Use a ream tool the same diameter as then ball joint stud.
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tygaboy
post Aug 16 2018, 02:04 PM
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(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Or, if you're reamerless, you can VERY CAREFULLY use a small sanding drum to clean up the area that's interfering.

Note that if the hole is deformed, even using a reamer won't "re-round" things perfectly.
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mepstein
post Aug 16 2018, 02:43 PM
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What about a drill bit the same size as the ball joint spindle?
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914Sixer
post Aug 16 2018, 02:49 PM
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I would say there is something not right with the ball joint. What you are saying is your just barley getting the top of the thread in?
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aggiezig
post Aug 16 2018, 04:34 PM
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Thanks everybody for the feedback

I took both pieces to a local shop today and had them take a look. I know the owner has had a few AC 911's in his shop before so figured he would recognize the parts. Apparently there was some slag / metal shavings up in the hole preventing it from sliding. They cleaned it out (not sure how) and now the ball joint slips in.

Back to reassembly, thanks for all of the tips. This forum rocks!
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