When routinely restoring front suspension, would you remove the front stub axles from the uprights? I haven’t measured the wear on mine yet, but are the new replacements any good? They’re not that cheap…
If they are in good condition then I would leave them be. They take a press and heat to remove and when they let go, they LET GO!
I was not too impressed with the new ones that I received but they were better than the ones on my ‘S’ so have used them but had to used some locktite ‘shaft fit’ on the inner bearings as I felt the clearance was greater than it should be <>.0015”
I have a 12-ton hydraulic and heat, but that was lazy of me, really - I should have taken a micrometer to them before asking.
Thanks!
I had to replace one because it was wrecked by a bad bearing.
I got a used one out of a saloon, which has been fine ever since.
Just cast a glance over the LHS one and the outer bearing has clearly spun. Out with the torch, then…
When redoing the lower balljoint, does the machined ring press out of the upright too? The upper cup for the ball seems to be part of the carrier casting. Mine’s a bit worn but don’t see there’s any way to change it.
If you are referring to the Spigot K, yes it is more often stuck in the lower cap, and is not used with the new modern replacement Socket L.
All the load and wear takes place between the Ball Pin I and the Socket L, so any wear in the Stub Axle Carrier E is unusual and can be ignored if minimal, or if severe you may want to look for a replacement or repair by an expert machinist. In which case do not get one from a saloon as the swivel angle is different. And there are left and right; notice the flats which are used for alignment.
Great help, thanks Rob. Yes, ‘K’ is the part I was referring to. I hadn’t realised that replacement modern balljoints don’t require this part so will keep a look out for that. I presume, therefore, that I’ll need to press this out if the replacements don’t need it.
I think the carrier ‘E’ is fine for re-use but also hadn’t realised this was handed. I guess if I check for part numbers that will show whether or not they were previously assembled correctly - still wondering about the large number of shims that were at the top BJ on disassembly.
Rob can the modern sealed for life ball joints from the xj40 be used on XK’s?
No, the bolt pattern is different for the 50s era (rectangular) vs the 60s, 70s and newer (trapezoidal) ball caps.
A large number of shims at the top BJ for caster adjustment is characteristic; e.g. you can transfer them from ahead to behind the BJ.
On dismantling, my car had approx 10 shims to the rear of the top bj. No idea why - the car is straight with no damage.
We’ve had this problem with wear on the stub axle carrier (where it bears on the top of the lower balljoint) on Isos, which use the Mk I Jag front suspension. These can be machined to take a pressed-in insert which looks rather like a valve seat, but with the bearing surface ground to the correct concave profile. Not cheap, but the only way to save a worn casting.