bottom ball joints on 83 gtl (1128)

[John M]

Having read "Frederick's" bottom ball joint replacement guide I decided to replace mine. There was no problem in removing the old ball joint and indeed I was fortunate to notice I could down load a pdf parts list. Great. I ordered the ball joints and tried to fit them. Oh no they didn't fit. I re read Fredrick's guide and noticed I am not the only one to get the wrong parts. I need ball joints with a measurement from body to end of taper of about 30 mm and the ones I ordered were 38mm. Not to worry I carefully checked and ordered again. Disaster! they came and were the wrong size again!

Has anyone come across this same problem? Do I risk ordering again? I have phoned parts suppliers and of course they just go on the numbers and whereas at one time it was easy to nip into the parts department and take a quick measurement nowadays that is not an option.

Has anyone got a part numbers for a LH and RH bottom ball joints with a measurement of body to end of taper of about 30mm?

Your help is much appreciated.

 

[jonigel]

There should only be one size for your car delphi TC 332 r/hand and TC333 l/hand also moog do them but i dont have their part number to hand.They should be relatively easy to find,have you tried mister auto?

 

[John M]

I have some Delphi 332 and 333 and they are too long at 38mm. I need 30mm. I have sent for some from Mister Auto and will wait and see. Failing that I will have to modify the Delphi ones. Not an easy job! Fortunately I have a small lathe and milling machine. I probably will not get it done for Sunday's classic car show in York but will give it a go.

 

[John M]

I have modified a ball joint to get one the correct size. It's less fraught than waiting for the post and finding yet another ball joint the wrong size.

First mount the new ball joint in the lathe and cut a thread. I went for 1.25mm pitch ISO metric form.

I did calculate the strength just to be on the safe side and it worked out better than 9600kg.
Next find a suitable piece of metal for the new flange and cut the corresponding female thread.

Screw the two parts together with a spot of permanent thread lock and drill the bolt holes.

Cut off the spare material and hey presto.

Ah the joys of serving an old fashioned mechanical engineering apprenticeship for 5 years and then quite a few (46) years experience.


I am just pleased I had the time and inclination to do it. All in all it took a couple of days in between tea breaks so I am glad I didn't have to pay for it.

 

[jonigel]

Is this not going to foul the upright especially with the bolts in as there is very little room between the lower arm and upright?

 

[John M]

All fitted and tested but I am still looking for a couple of replacements. The dust seals on the old ball joints were not fitted with the usual O ring into a groove but were bonded onto a thin plate that was crimped in two places onto the body. See the photo below.

 

[John M]

I have now found a replacement part (on the right) which might also fit a Renault 4-5-6 fourgon. You can see in the photo below the difference in the length of the taper. Part number QSJ 888s on the right and the supposed equivalent part on the left. I know the picture shows one left hand and one right hand ball joint but it is the length that is important here.

My guess is that when my car was put together in 1983 there would have been some parts shared with other models and I just happened to get the bits from either a van or an R5. Thankfully the problem is now solved and since the original ones lasted 80,000 miles I am unlikely to have to replace them again.

 

[mr-reno-139]

If you could buy quality parts as good as the original no doubt 80k miles would be possible
Have fitted swivels that have lasted 18 months in the past