Putting one of mynew balljoints on now, i have measured the gap and then minussed the .035thou washer etc..greased it up, done it up.

Its damn tight though
Not too hard to move it with one finger pulling, but fairly STIFF. Certainly a lotstiffer than the ones itook off (of course).

How should i gauge if it is too much? Also what exactly counts for freeplay?

Thankyou

The nature and the design of the ball joint means that even when it is tight it can still do its job on the road. It should be tight, barely able to be moved with your fingers BUT not locked solid.

As Doc pointed out - be careful to use a new lock washer and correctly torque down the ball joint cover. It is nasty if one comes apart on the road.

I usually set them up so that they require a bit of a thump wth the palm of my hand to move them... I figure they'll loosen up to the right clearance pretty quickly once greased and on the road

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Tight is good. So long as they are not dead siezed

_________________
Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Remember , being new they're likely to get a little looser after a week or so as well so tight now is good .

_________________

alright thanks for the help
tightness is the order of the day!
alldone now.. one was such a pain in the arse, spent half an hour switching shims and trying again.

as for the lockwasher thingydont worry, i bought them all new :)

phew

The bottom ones have a spring inside. It's a bastard trying to set them right with the spring in there... but you are not supposed to do them that way.
Correct method as per the book is set the balljoint up and torque it without the spring. When you are happy ie, can just move it by hand when torqued to 74 lb/ft, undo it, fit spring and reassemble.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

This is a little off topic, but im hoping to draw enough attention here rather than start a new thread.

One of the 'problems' for my roadworthy, was the braided brake hose to front hubs was in a slight twist (Very slight). They want them to be straight.. Is there a trick to where you wind the thread on so i know that it will turn out to be straight??

At the moment ive been screwing it in, finding out its not quite straight, unscrewing it etc........

Undo the big nut on the hose above the subframe, loosen the brake pipe too if it's attached to the hose. Then you can screw the hose into caliper or wheel cylinder until tight. Finally, line the hose up how you want, and tighten that big nut.....
Turn the steering, and make real sure that Bling braid does NOT rub on the tiebars.... or it will not be braided for long.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

what size socketdoes that big nut require?? Slightly less than 1 inch it seems. Is there any other way of fixing the hose alignment with the engine in. blah

Im waiting for my mate to finish work so i can borrow his sockets.
hopefully it will undo, then i can align the hose, put the driveshaft in, put the hub on, fix the tierods and then bleed.

*waiting*
:)

Pretty sure the nut is 15/16", a 24mm also would fit.
You can get to the drivers side one from above with extensions, and for the LH one there's a cutout in the inner guard.
I made a cutout in the RH one too, making it much easier.
Hey this ain't no trailer queen- I needed the access to keep swapping new brake light switches until I got a good `un...

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.