axle rebuild / spindles/ball joints

R

Richard

Member
77 SSII, 345 2bbl., 727 tf, with d44's front and back.

Question:
I am swapping both of my axles with ones I had worked on by a good shop in paramount , CA. My question is about the front axle. Are the ball joints supposed to be tight, tight? ( I can move each side (turning piece) side to side or back and forth, but with a little bit of effort). Is this because of the new parts, or are the castle nuts maybe too tight? Or do they need to break in? Is there a way to tell? Would sure love to know. Thanks.
 
When you say move them, are you talking about just the ball joint of the whole knuckle when the everything is installed?

When you just have the ball joints pressed into the knuckle you should be able to move the threaded part around with some effort.

When the whole knuckle is intsalled and everything is torqued to spec - there should be little movement in the whole knuckle - but it will move some.
 
I guess what I was asking was: with the knuckles all cinched up and the link connecting both sides installed, how hard should it be to move the whole assembly from side to side without the steering hooked up yet? Should it be a real effort to move them? Or is it just the tightness of the entire assembly?

Thanks<
 
Regarding the particular version of the 40* steering (open knuckle) spicer/Dana 44 axle that was spec'd for the Scout II, the upper ball joints are "pre-loaded" through the inclusion of the threaded inserts that require the use of the spanner socket tool. That means that when done correctly, there is considerable "drag" on the knuckle with new ball joints installed when tested before connecting the tie rod ends. That is done to check for any binding of the knuckle/ball joints as it goes through full articulation left and right against the steering stops.

So...there is drag on the assembly when new parts have just been installed, but there must be no binding or tightness as the knuckle moves through it's arc. Once the various greaseable components are lubed, and the weight of the vehicle is placed on the suspension and then driven several miles, the entire system will tend to free up just a bit. That is what we want!

This preload is extremely important for long-term durability and for maintaining proper steering component alignment.
 
richard said:
I guess what I was asking was: with the knuckles all cinched up and the link connecting both sides installed, how hard should it be to move the whole assembly from side to side without the steering hooked up yet? Should it be a real effort to move them? Or is it just the tightness of the entire assembly?

Thanks<
Click to expand...

Ok - I think I get it. When it is all assembled with new parts and the tie rod is connected it should be hard to move. If you install tires it will give you more leverage to push the steering side to side - but with just the knuckles it will be hard. Now if you hook up the drag link and use the steering wheel it should move back and forth with some effort....


I thought you were talking about actual 'slop' and wobble in the knuckels when assembled....
 
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