Ball Joint

General General Lotus Talk
1

Stupid Question,

I installed new ball joints in the front. The new ones came from eliseparts, not Lotus. They do not seem to have any flat parts on the shaft to keep the joint from spinning when you tighten the nut. What am I doing wrong??

Thanks

Roy

2

Help please

Roy

3

Roy

When you say “ball joint” do you mean track rod end ( steering rack) or the ball joint that sits in the wishbone ?

I dont recall a flat on the ball joints - you just have to apply pressure to the otherside of the hub ( a jack) to seat home the taper and then you can tighten them up no probs.

If you mean the track rod end I’m stuck becuase every track rod i’ve has some flats - note that there are spacers on the original track rod ends, new ones ( original ) do away with the spacer and are thus longer in the body - still have flats though.

HTH - if not let me know …

Andrew

4

Andy,

Thanks, I am talking about the ball joints in the upper and lower “A” arms. As I tighten the nut, the joint just spins??

Thanks

Roy

5

Roy

Check that the taper on the ball joint does indeed fit the steering arm and swival joint correct - In other words remove the dust cap on the ball joint and fit it into the steering arm and make sure there is plenty of length left - just incase the taper is too small on the ball joint - very unlikely but you never know !

Assuming its correct you have to press the steering arm ( and swival joint ) into the ball joint taper and hold it tight - a clamp of some kind pushing on the back of the ball joint and the underside of the steering arm helps to compress the tapers together ( or a jack under the bottom ball joint and then raise it to exert pressure - but be carefull you dont lift the front end ! )

If your still having problems there are two other “cheats”

  1. Use a standard nut rather than the nyloc to tighten up first and then replace the nyloc for final torquing up

  2. Sometimes you can get away with very fast turns of the nut, so instead of an easy turn be real quick with the spanner ( easier with a socket )

HTH

Andrew

6

Thanks Andrew, I’ll give that a try

Roy

7

Way I do it is to give it a smack with a rubber mallet into the taper, this is usually enough just to hold it in place.

Simon (S)

8

I got it thanks!!

Roy

ps. Two corners down, a trans and 2 corners to go:)