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Upper Ball Joints
The Doc - 10/7/07 at 05:35 PM

Setting up my camber angle I find that one ball joint needs to be 'wound out' by about 5mm more than the other to achieve symmetry. I am sure all the wishbones etc are true as these were carefully jigged and checked when built.

Is this normal? Do I have a slightly bent upright (Cortina) and if so is it necessarily a problem. There are no obvious discrepancies.

Will 'the man' be OK with this?

britishtrident - 10/7/07 at 05:44 PM

Is the chassis (and floor level) ?

The Doc - 10/7/07 at 05:54 PM

I have referenced the angles to the top of the chassis directly above the wheels. The datum line is true to the chassis, with a straight edge (checked for true) clamped across and parallel, so my thinking was that the variable of the floor etc would be removed.

ernie - 10/7/07 at 06:49 PM

Yes I have the same thing with my ST chassis, it was set up at Procomp, both sides with correct camber, toe in etc , but still one top ball joint wound out further than other

britishtrident - 11/7/07 at 05:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by The Doc
I have referenced the angles to the top of the chassis directly above the wheels. The datum line is true to the chassis, with a straight edge (checked for true) clamped across and parallel, so my thinking was that the variable of the floor etc would be removed.


Not really, if the floor isn't level it gets complex.

You need the steering hooked up the toe roughly set and the steering set straight ahead.

Remove the springs/damper units and lower the car on to wooden blocks (setup blocks) the are the correct size to represent the cars ride height.

Now use a precision level (ie an electronic spirit level )across the chassis to angle it is "off" by. This your correction angle

Measure both camber angles using a precision spirit level --- adding or subtracting the correction angle as appropriate

[Edited on 11/7/07 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 11/7/07 by britishtrident]

saigonij - 11/7/07 at 06:52 PM

take a good look at the two top ball joints - i brought two yesterday with identical part numbers from qh, one had a longer thread, and the other had a collar near the ball joint..... same thread pitch etc....

like i said, same part numbers!