Unusual problem

Rick_L said:

"Anyone ever heard of this before? I don't believe that I am doing anything wrong. But never say never"

It's very easy to machine the tapered seat too deep. I would think that's much more likely than the ball joint pin being too small. Especially given what you said. Try the ball joints they are sending you but I'll bet you have to have them exchange the spindles for some that are machined correctly.

Are both sides that way?

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Thanks for the advice Rick L. Take a look at this shot. The two spindles are right up against one another. There is almost an 1/8 of an inch difference in how deep the ball joint goes into the drop spindle as it does in the stock spindle. Can you see the difference?

What you need is that the transition from threads to solid pin does not show. Your new spindle/ball joint seems to have threads only showing, which is correct. But it is partially hidden by the old spindle in the photo.

If you can torque the nut and have everything pull up tight, and "feel" good as you torque, you are good to go.

It looks to me like the ball joint's distance from the taper to the ball is what is different. But it's hard to tell from the photo.

I think you are ok if it torques up ok.

Are both of the ball joints your new ones?

Is the thickness of the spindle where the ball joint goes through the same on your new ones vs. the stock ones?

I can't tell everything from the photo.

bryant weldon said:

Thanks for quick responce RickL. My camera battery has died. I'll recharge and take a better shot. These are the old ball joints in the picture. The new ones are suppose to be here Wednesday. When I was tightening up the upper ball joint, it never seemed to get tight. Then I realized that it was going to deep into the boss. When I took the nut back off, the ball joint seem to come out of the boss easily. This is what bothered me and I called CPP tech and they stated that they had never seen this problem and would get back with me. They could not determine if there was a problem and I opted to just replace the upper ball joints with theirs and asked that they made sure they fit their spindles before sending them. They stated that they did try them in another set and that they did fit ok. :confused0006: I'll check the items you mentioned and get back with you tomorrow. Thanks again, Bryant

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-------The area where the ball joint goes into the spindle is the same thickness. The ball joint goes 1/16" of an inch deeper into the hole than the old spindle.The picture is still hard to see the difference -

I have seen some folks use the taper in the spindle (increasing the depth) to change the geometry (roll center) of the front end (bad idea - should always select a different length ball joint for this). If the new ball joints don't fit - it may be that someone tried this, screwed it up by using a ream with the wrong pitch taper (just running the right pitch too deep would still allow the taper press fit to be made) and returned the spindles - which were then shipped to you with the supplier not knowing (especially if they stock in sets or have only one set at a time). A machine shop can measure very accurately (or closely by grabbing and comparing with differring taper reams) both the base diameter and pitch of the holes between old and new. If the taper pitch is not exactly the same in the ball joint and the hole - it will not tighten up! If I recall these are supposed to be .1250 per inch (don't hold me to that it's been 16 years!) - and even a small shop like ours had trouble with a few oddballs (.1250/.1750 - compound ream for example) laying around. Grab the wrong one and its a mess!

I think problem may be solved!!

I received the new ball joints today. After church tonight I took them to the garage and set one in the new spindle. It does not go into the spindle very deep and I think this will work. Check out the latest picture. To all of you who answered my thread - THANKS for giving me your opinions and helpful tips. :shakehands: