Hi guys
I’m currently assembling my hubs to convert my drum brakes to discs, and am assembling the top and bottom ball joints. the top one fits fine and can be shimmed to the proper resistance however when the spring is added to the bottom one it cannot be tightened to meet the shims without binding up. when tight the ball joint will sit about a mm off the hub and will still bind up
I’m not sure whether i should put a spacer in before the shims or whether to torque the ball joint down in case the spring compresses permanently. I will attach some photos but if anyone has any insight with this that would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Peter

Here is a how to. viewtopic.php?t=77858

You leave the bottom spring out when shimming. New ball joints need lapping in as well.

yeah these steps were all followed and i correctly shimmed the ball joints before adding the spring, but it seems when i add the spring the spring offers a whole lot of resistence too soon up the thread to the point where it cant be tightened. im not sure whether this is from the spring being too big or the housing not being machined out enough. any attempt to tighten it binds up the ball joint from the resistance on the spring.
I hope that makes sense

When the spring is added it tightens the lower joint up alot. Just trust in that you have shimmed it correctly and dont stress too much about the feel after the spring is added.

Okay perfect. thanks very much for the help. that was my main worry but i guess that is the point of a spring and i really should be more worried if it wasn't doing that.
Thanks again. ill torque it up

Check that the spring is not too long
Some ball joint kits had springs that were too long and coil bound when tightened up

Just checked the free length of that spring in NOS Unipart ball joint kit- is 0.512inch (13.0mm).

That's my interpretation of what petermk1 is saying.

Peter - do you have the old spring to compare, or can someone else measure the correct spring length?

I've posted the pic below previously that shows the factory specification of 1-7 lb ft lateral to move the ball pin.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
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