I've been told that there is an 'early' and 'late' style design for ball joints, but how can you tell?

I have these pictured below, so they are early because of the half circled notch, correct?

Click to view attachment

THAT IS EARLY one 70-the late 72 model year. The late ones have a V notch (rather than the rounded one as pictured) for the tapered roll pin

Doc , rephrase your description of the pin , may confuse with what some call a spring pin . It's a wedge pin with a threaded section for securing tthe balljoint stud to the strut housing.
I replaced the aarms on a 94 Ford Probe , they used the bolt / clamp style on the strut bottoms , such as the 72 and earlier 914 , which seems to be what is pictured here. Half moon cut on stud =72 and eariler , V notch on stud = 73 and later .This setup is also used on 911's , providing the use of 911 struts on 914 a arms , just got to match up balljoint studs with the correct strut.

Jack / Jaxdream

The switch from the "pinch bolt" design to the "wedge pin" design occurred with the '73
after VIN 919032. There were wear issues, even as early as 3 years old, with strut wear due to the slot in the strut which allowed the pinch bolt to function. The wedge pin struts don't have the slot, and are much stronger. It's difficult to find an early strut that isn't junk.

The Cap'n

Check this thread. Post #11 has a diagram with a picture of the late wedge bolt.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=94096&

Here are some detailed pics....
























- Admin Edit

Seriously Dave, that was disgusting, go back to the sandbox you're not helping.

simple...early ball joints SUCK
later ones actually work.

Swapped mine out....struts, calipers, rotors etc...all of it.

Rich

Besides the ware factor, is there any other reason that the later joints are better? Like performance wise?