what do you do if you need new ball joints

[joenardo]

if you need to replace ball joints and since the ball joint is part of the control arm what do you do?

[svobud]

well ... reckon there's about 3 (maybe four) options.

1. find some good/used ones
2. have your stock ones re-done/rebuilt (some company is offering this service - do a search - it's mentioned somewhere in this forum)
3. switch over to SN95 stuff
4. wait for D&D replacements to happen

[Ralphcobra]

sn-95

well........everyone says that it is apiece of cake to make the swap so I am going to make a shadetree attempt at changing my 86 jalapeno to sn-95 stuff and use bullitt wheels. Was able to find a package deal in Atlanta from a 95 GT that has good struts as well and I talked the owner out of a set of cobra brakes.

Spent the past week taking my k-member out and cleaning for a repaint job. Found out that must of my front end was pretty worn out, a lot of loose play.... I sure hope that all of the guys that told me that this was a easy swap knew what they were talking about. It looks pretty easy but that is where I usually have trouble when something looks easy, but no fear, if I blow it I can always haul it to B'ham and leave it with the real svo guys. Ralph

[GAboySVO]

Replacement Ball Joints

There is a company in No California that rebuilds your A-arms with a press fit ball joint for only $130. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.jcperformance.com/

Look under the "what's new" page to see a picture. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Has anyone out there tried there service?

[GAboySVO]

Replacement Ball Joints 2

Here's a pic.........

[joenardo]

you can use sn-95 will i be able to keep my koni shocks?

[svocudd]

Koni Shocks

You will not be able to use the SVO's Koni's if you upgrade to SN95 front suspension. So I have been told


Cudd

[BigNBlue]

"4. wait for D&D replacements to happen"

Don't hold your breath. I ponied up my $410 last year back in April, sent to Chris Roth who is coordinating the project. Well ten months later to the best of my knowledge none have been shipped. I finally asked Chris for a refund. I really wanted the tubular control arms but after waiting all most a year I said F#$% it and pulled a control arm of of my parts car to at least get it road worthy. By the way after I do some minor work over the next month I will be putting my 2A up for sale and concentrating my efforts on finishing up on my 7B.

[RodneyH]

Re: Replacement Ball Joints

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GAboySVO
There is a company in No California that rebuilds your A-arms with a press fit ball joint for only $130. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.jcperformance.com/

>>>I just called and they are planning on setting up to do a run of ball joints end of August. They have 6 or so waiting to be done.

[NY eric]

Sept

D&D claims thir Arms are due in Sept. As of last week. I will hold my breath because mine are notlong for this world

[sar4497]

Does the 13.75" length of the SN-95 arm make any real difference, considering the SVO arm is 14"?

I'm just talking about arm length here, not weight, options for shocks, brakes, etc...

[roberto2000]

Does anyone know the part # for the replacable ball joint for the control arms I will bore them myself

Rob

[AT6svo]

Here we go again... JC Performance.

Woohoo. Not to open the same can of worms regarding the JC Performance LCA's but do your homework and deduce you own educated guess about them. Do a search (here on svoca) and find the (LENGHTY) thread about their LCA's in which JC Performance actually participated in the conversation.

Roberto2000, pretty sure the BJ specs are in that thread. You'd better have some pretty sweet machines, tooling, and fixturing to be able bore them yourself.

Sar4497, about the LCA differences, the .25" can be compensated by using 96+ SN95 spindles (not 94 or 95 units) which are ~5mm (.196") longer . There is a freaking plethora of info on spindle diffs over at cornercarvers.com Do a search over there on spindles and see for yourself. The thread is about 4-5 pages long with CP86SVO as the author. Even if the latter units are used, you won't know the difference and the alignment specs can compensate for it.

edit - grammer correction.

[roberto2000]

I remember reading the posts and the conversation about the LCA modification I just want to find the price, availability and the size of the LBJ,s to see the changes required for myself and to see the remaining material left on the arm.

My car has yet to pass a certification and ball joints are one of the checks, if I need them, I want to know my options

As for having the tools to do the job I am a Tool and Die maker for Ford and have a nice tool room at my disposal so that part is the easiest

I want to measure the lca ball joint area and compare it with the ball joint size and see what kind of material I will have left

Rob

[RodneyH]

I'm not an experienced machinist, but couldn't material be added by turning a new C shaped collar and welding it around the existing socket? It looks like there is room to add a gusset to the area between the socket and control arm too, essentially boxing in the original socket area.