Ball Joints revisited.

[regis101]

Greetings.

If I'm beatin' a dead horse, let me know.

Has the ball joint quality issue been resolved? There was some talk awhile back about them being too tight. I almost was entertaining that the oversized ( +.030 ? ) ones were somehow being sent out as standard size.

I'm thinking of doing Bus Boys torsion arm exchange program. I e-mailed them to ask about boot quality. Forgot to ask about ball joint quality. Duh. They list that the torsion arm seals are NLA. Gonna have to find a source for those.

Although I don't really have front end issues, I noticed a ripped boot and one of the joints was loose when installing dropped spindles. Could be considered an issue but it'll last a long while. I'm sure these are OE and piece of mind makes me want them changed.
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Peace, Regis

[regis101]

I read the couple of lengthy threads using the search.

German Supply seems to have it going on. probably at least get the joints from him. Gonna have to check on seals and clips. Bus boys may still have the hand on the boot issue. waiting for their reply e-mail.

Thanks
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Peace, Regis

[Desertbusman]

Yea, the .030 interference fit was entertaining.
Quality is getting to be a bigger problem all the time. The exchange deal with a good quality above board house might be the ticket. You need a good quality joint, good non-bent arms. and quality press work. In addition to the cost of joints, the press work cost me $120. Plus extra running around. So it did save some money. However I wouldn't have wanted to get rid of the old arms. When reinstalled and the eccentric adjusters were closely centered by the mark, the camber turned out dead nuts according to the computer alignment. An exchange arm might turn out different if it was from a wreck. Good shop practices with the press work could be a factor either way whether locally or exchange. We've heard of loose press fits supposidly from a worn out bore. And once the old joints are out it seems possible that burrs or crud could cause the new joints to be overly tight. Evidently they do tighten up somewhat when they are pressed in. At least mine were tighter afterwards than before. Couldn't possibly move them by hand. But after a few miles the steering seems good. They were old Italian manufacture. So the recent tight joint problems might be from poor joints or poor installation workmanship. So either way you might end up good or bad. But with the exchange at least there is someone to fall back on. Yes, hope we all make good decisions on the boots also. Sadly, only time will tell on our boot decisions. Walter at Bus Boys sounds like he has his act together regarding his knowledge and experience. Havn't delt with Scott at G S but surely he and others can do us good. But it doesn't seem like we will ever get parts as good as the originals. And there is some real crap out there.
Hope it works out great for you. Keep us informed on what you run into.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[regis101]

Cool. Thanks for the reply.

Bus Boys answered my e-mails. They said they don't have a problem with the ball joint boots. And although a little off topic, They have a heavy CV boot for the rear.

I guess the next question to Bus Boys is where they get their products and/or name brand.
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Peace, Regis