Fellas, I plan to replace the standard TCI Mustang II Moog ball joints to Howe brand. Not only do they have high tensile strength, they also look cool. The upper ball joint was a direct swap however, the lower one is posing an issue. It's about 0.070" bigger on the OD and it doesn't fit into the tapered hole. I read about using a ball joint reamer, which I already ordered. My question is, how deep do I seat the ball joint tapered shaft into the tapered hole? I was planning on duplicating the same length dimension as the original Moog type but wanted to make sure I didn't go too far in. Thanks.
Be very careful... You can very easily ream the spindle too deep. My rule of thumb.. after finding out the hard way ! Is to ream it just deep enough so the cotter pin hole in the B/J is just barely showing in the slot of the castle nut ( finger tight! ) When you draw the B/J in tight with a wrench it will move up as it locks on the taper.. Good luck.. Pm or call if you have more questions.. 831 -262-7294 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yes, I just read about that. Hopefully it all mat he's up. Just need to remove a little bit of material. Sent from my SM-G925V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You bring up a good point. I noticed that too on other people's set ups. I realized that the Howe lower ball joints are a bit thicker and thus stronger. So, that's another option of running similar ball joints all around Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
I may do this on a customer's truck that I need to go through. It has a MII setup, with hydraulics. Not feeling overly confident with the "balljoints of unknown foreign origin".
That's the thing...I'm running hydraulics too! I've already busted a couple of ball joints by own doing. I over extended them. One of the hydraulic guru's advised me that Howe's are built tough. Sent from my SM-G925V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just because another ball joint is built tough, does that mean it has more range? Are you going to over extend it as well? Over extend means stretching past the built in stop, and I'd think a ball joint couldn't take that too many times.
They won't. You can break a ball joint with one errant cycle. The system needs to be built with stops and straps to prevent over-extension.
According to the specs on the Orielly page for Volare ball joints the Od on the uppers is 1.9 while the od on the lowers is 2.12 Spending some time on the Howe site I don't find a straight replacement for a K719 Ball joint which would be a standard Volarie Lower. Studying it a bit one really has to know what he is after to be able to order from the as the descriptions are a bit vague in some respects reflecting the concept that their regular customers have it figured out and don't need a lot of explaination. The lowers you have look to have extended studs on the that are longer than the stock studs. Have you called and asked them about it? It may be nothing more than you assumed the part would fit and it actually isn't for that application.
Yep, cylinders that are too long for the application coupled with pumps that put out extreme pressure and no stops or straps to retain the extension could pull the ball joints apart.
If the ball joint doesn't fit as designed I wouldn't be reaming the stub out to later find out that it wasn't necessary. Check the other ball joint you have in the same hole to be sure and measure it against the problem one in line with what Gimpy has stated.
My experience with tapered reamers is you want a positive stop on the depth so as to not allow the reamer to suck into the material and go too deep. One oops and it is too late...
I'd do it in a mill if you can. Clamp down the spindle. Bring your spindle up to speed, introduce some coolant and bring her down easy. Check periodically for fit. Pat reminds us of a good point; reamers are sharp and love to bite and get out of hand real quick. I'd be more concerned about why you're breaking ball joints/design of your system.
The Howe joints are probably for made for stock cars, they more than likely sell a reamer to fit them.
Thanks for the reply. I looked it up and they do indeed sell their reamer Sent from my SM-G925V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
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