So I was thinking about ball joints, and I've come to the conclusion that I DONT LIKE THEM.

The thought of how much stress the lower ball joint is subjected to (in the direction of pulling the ball out, with no secondary retention system) in a jump or even just everyday riding is mindboggling. Sure, it works, and "you shouldnt fix it if it aint broke", but I'm still not satisfied. And, I've had plenty of ball joints let go, and we all know that's not fun.

The thing that really opposes me to them is something that happened to my 230 a few months back....

Pre-ride I performed my usual inspection, and the ball joints checked out PERFECT.

The whole day, we were hitting big jumps, and even had a few front heavy landings, no problem.

Then, towards the end of the day, my friend is turning around slowly in first gear, when the left lower ball joint lets go, WTF???

That un-predictability factor may be a fluke, but I sure as hell dont like it.

So, I think I've found the solution, the Laegers Pro-Trax Front End.

It's pure genious. The ball is loaded in a much stronger way, i.e. the ball is just being seated harder with the force applied, as opposed to being yanked out.

No, I'm not buying a $2000 front end for a 23 year old 230.

However, it doesnt look that hard to duplicate. The spindles already have holes in the right places, plus heims and clevises are cheap from mcmaster-carr.

Now, for my application, I think I would switch the locations of the heims and clevises, because the hole in the spindle for the lower ball joint is half-blind (I have no place to put a nut). I would then just weld the clevises in permanently and weld shut the pinch clearance slots.

And best of all, even if a ball came un-seated, there is a secondary retention system, the bolt itself! Thats the main reason why I'm not really too concerned about my a-arm bearings.

So, whats everyones thoughts?

 

I thought you used hiems when you made new a-arms?

 

I thought you used hiems when you made new a-arms?

 

well, thats going to be for the end that actually mounts to the frame.

i was thinking about the end by the spindles, and what i could do to improve that.