Upper ball joint woes

[andrewh (andrew honychurch)]

I am having the devils own job compressing the spring and shims in order to replace the Circlip. The shims keep getting caught in the circlip groove and my various tools for compression are not very effective. I would welcome any tips to get this somewhat simple task completed. Currently the upper wishbone is off the vehicle .

[davidxk (David Langley)]

Try this great tip with a caucking gun:

Replacing Upper Wishbone Ball Joint

Bill, I am placing the ball pin in the wishbone, as well as the stub axle carrier, and attaching the washer and nut. I tighten the nut and then load the parts into the wishbone socket on top of the ball. At that point I attempt to compress the cover and spring, and the pin socket, enough to attach the circlip. Of course, before attempting to compress the parts I have experimented to see how many shims I need. Are you saying, I should attach the ball joint to the wishbone by itself before at…

[andrewh (andrew honychurch)]

Thanks for the reply. I have actually tried that as I picked up that trick on YouTube but my caulk gun slips. Maybe a try another. The issue really seems to be the shims are just too wide diameter .

[angelw (Bill Angel)]

@andrewh

The issue really seems to be the shims are just too wide diameter

It’s easy enough to find out if the Shims are too large in diameter, simply offer them up to the bore of the Ball Joint Bore of the Upper Wishbone, with the Spring and Cup omitted. If they drop into the bore, then you simply need to find a better method of assembly than your current method. Use Grease to centralize and stick them to the underside of the Top Plate. The Top Plate is a close running fit in the bore and therefore, should keep the outer circumference of the shims clear of the bore in the Upper Wishbone if they have an OD smaller than the bore of the Wishbone.

Regards,

Bill

[BillJag (Bill Bilotti 1966 S1 OTS (in boxes))]

valve spring compressor.

However, the ball joint I got simply would not go into the wishbone. I had to send it back

[angelw (Bill Angel)]

@BillJag

However, the ball joint I got simply would not go into the wishbone. I had to send it back

It’s rather unbelievable that manufacturers of this type of part can get it wrong. The Ball Pin and Hemispherical Cup, are two of the easiest type of parts one could get to run on a CNC lathe. When setting such parts up, its typical to run the first parts with a Tool Offset such that will cut the Ball Pin oversize and the internal detail of the Cup undersize. This is so that you can dial the Tool Offset in to have even the first completed part off the machine in tolerance.

Tool Wear on this type of part is very predictable and the operator would have ample time to measure the OD of the Ball of the just machined part before the finishing tool operation of the part currently being machined and to adjust the Tool Wear Offset if required. On such a part, I’d expect 100% of the parts to be in tolerance. Yet, they can’t get it right. Either they haven’t a clue, or don’t give a stuff about Quality Control.

Regards,

Bill

[Wiggles (Paul Wigton)]

@angelw

Either they haven’t a clue, or don’t give a stuff about Quality Control.

Not within a bull’s roar of QC…

[angelw (Bill Angel)]

@Wiggles

Not within a bull’s roar of QC…

Hello Paul,
I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Regards,

Bill

[Les_Halls (Les Halls 1968 S1.5 2+2 Atlanta)]

Perhaps a case of wrong part in the correct bag?

[angelw (Bill Angel)]

Hello Les,
If so, then they do it often. It’s the same part for all E Type Jaguars, therefore, it’s not a case of mixing up the Series parts and other Jaguar parts for this area are quite different. No, I think its a case poor manufacturing standards.

Regards,

Bill

[andrewh (andrew honychurch)]

Thanks very much for the replies. I got the job done by using the original shims which are just a bit smaller in diameter and using my side valve spring compressor !