Hi all, does anyone know if there is a small low friction upper ball joint available for the earlier A bodies ? There seems to be plenty of the large low friction ball joints around but didn't really want to go to the trouble of using different control arms and stubs.
Low Friction Upper Ball Joints
- Thread starter Warhorse
- Start date
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I guess i'm going to have to do some homework, and research.
What the heck is a "low friction" upper ball joint?
I never heard of such a term before.
What advantage does one of them have over a "standard" ball joint?
What the heck is a "low friction" upper ball joint?
I never heard of such a term before.
What advantage does one of them have over a "standard" ball joint?
Lord Sparky
Well-Known Member
I believe the “low friction” ball joints have been regularly greased.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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The aftermarket seems to be flooded with crappy BJs that are hi-friction when you first install them. What these do is make you think ; "oh goody no more sloppy joints". But the proof is in the results; the steering system no longer centers itself, and so the car wanders a bit, and you have to constantly saw on the steering wheel, to correct this.
If you put up with that BS, a couple of hundred miles go by, and the darn things loosen up and are practically falling out.
I think it was Moog who first introduced Teflon(IIRC)-coated BJ guts, back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, which are Low-friction. and at that time, were still hi- quality. I installed a set of those in my 68 Barracuda, in 1999. They are still in there, and have well over 125,000 miles on them, but I have not inspected them in several years.
Yeah, they were a lil pricey, but in the long run they have outlasted many non-Moog crappy BJs, so, in the end, were well worth the buy-in.
Another good brand from that era was TRW.
At that time, nothing else was worth buying.
If you put up with that BS, a couple of hundred miles go by, and the darn things loosen up and are practically falling out.
I think it was Moog who first introduced Teflon(IIRC)-coated BJ guts, back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, which are Low-friction. and at that time, were still hi- quality. I installed a set of those in my 68 Barracuda, in 1999. They are still in there, and have well over 125,000 miles on them, but I have not inspected them in several years.
Yeah, they were a lil pricey, but in the long run they have outlasted many non-Moog crappy BJs, so, in the end, were well worth the buy-in.
Another good brand from that era was TRW.
At that time, nothing else was worth buying.
I have a set of upper ball joints from Howe racing, you can actually adjust the tension on them. But yeah, not cheap and AFAIK they're only available in the large ball joint size...
jos51700
Green Bearing thread connoisseur
Asking about low friction ball joints reminds of the time I thought I needed the 5.0:1 ratio band apply lever for the 904 in my slant 6 Dart. Mopar Performance offered it, so I figured I needed it. Didn't know what it did, didn't know how it would help anything, wasn't having a problem that needed solving, but there it is and it fits my car so yeah, I needs it.
I think AJ covered it pretty well. The quality of a lot of the “regular” ball joints has suffered lately. Some of the Moog junk I’ve gotten recently was either so tight the ball joints wouldn’t move at all by hand or loose and floppy with noticeable end play right out of the box.
The marketing may be “low friction”, but the reality is more like a higher quality ball joint that has its tolerance set correctly from the get go.
Does my car need ball joints that I can adjust the tension on and rebuild as necessary? No, not really. But if that’s what it takes do get good quality parts, then that’s what I do.
Thanks all. As most of you have said the quality of ball joints leaves a lot to be desired. I was hoping a high quality low friction small upper bj was available, it looks as though I might have to convert to the large ball joint setup.
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