Does anybody know anything about stock or aftermarket ball joints for the 'dales?
Mine have been shot for a while now and i'm needing to do something before a catastrophic failure. My dealer said they are $89 but was unsure if that was an each price or set of 2. This wear seems kinda premature but i've got 200+ hours on her, and just figured out i need to shoot grease under the boots a couple months ago. my tie rod ends have a bit of play, but seem OK.
I see a ringclip on the ball joint but wonder if they will need to be pressed out?
do aftermarket Aarms come with ball joints?
Thanks

 

TTT

 

Alaska has been doing some research on this, he's gonna be a good contact for ya. I've been going nuts over the tie rod ends, my ball joints seem okay still.

You'll get new ball joints but not tie rod ends with a aftermarket A-Arm purchase. I would recommend going with a adjustable camber style A-Arm. Just playing around with the toe-in of my tie rods has produced some interesting findings with the handling of the Dale. I'd love to be able to adjust the camber.

 

Someone on here was saying something about using Polaris ball joint boots to help prevent premature wear. I guess they just fit over top of the ball joint. It's worth a try to keep out the mud and water.

 

that was the tie-rod ends. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

<< Just playing around with the toe-in of my tie rods has produced some interesting findings with the handling of the Dale. I'd love to be able to adjust the camber. >>


Jim,

Don't leave us hanging. What adjustments did you make and what were the results?

 

Thanks Jcv, [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

When I first got my speed and my old fx the front wheels were towed in.I adjusted them to zero tow and that mad them both way more stable at high speeds.You can do this by adjusting your tie rods.
Hope that helps ya NUT.

 

Susp. Adjustment depends on the riding. I have gone to 1/2 inch total toe-in on my Blaze with great results. Turn in is fantastic, it is slightly unsatble at the top end, but well worth it at lower speeds.

 

I've settled in on 3/4 of an inch. This gives me the best overall steering. With zero toe-in, it didn't like to stay straight in the rough stuff and it handled the corners weird. Gabe(atc86) said he's at 3/4 of an inch on his 400ex and his Cannondale is set right around an inch. The Cannondale was set that way from the factory, and he hasn't played around with it yet.

This is with the stock offset wheels and 22&quot; Holeshots. I'm getting 21&quot; Razors and mounting them on 400ex front rims this weekend. I'm hoping this will improve the cornering even more in the tight and twisty woods. I'm going back to a &quot;naked rim&quot;. I can feel the extra unsprung weight with the larger dia. Holeshots and the OMF rings welded on my stock wheels. I plan on going to Hypers all the way around for next season, this is more of an &quot;experimental year&quot; for me.

Since I've started racing hare scrambles and doing more fast riding in the woods, I've become very picky with the front end. I didn't even pay attention to this with my 400ex, so I owe everything I'm learning to Gabe. He's been ALOT of help this last year. I'm also planning on adding a steering stablizer and having the shocks re-valved. I've played around with the pre-load, but the stock Ohlins are valved with too much rebound for my likings.