MYBAD79
Moderator
Not the Vette but this could be a problem for GM spindles just like the Ford spindle I had a problem with...
I've had a clunking noise coming from the front suspension on my '95 Fox body Mustang. I've looked at the lower ball joints a few months ago and I knew they were shot... no biggie I thought...
Now, some time in the past one of the previous owners swapped V8 (GT) spindles (and rear axle) with 5 lugs onto this '93 4 cyl car....
The lower A-arm is still from a '93 but I think the spindles, axle and rims came off a '95 or newer model....
I bought the ball joints yesterday and rented the ball joint press and internal spring compressor, today I started disassembly. Here's what I found:
The GT spindle is not as tall (or thick) as the old spindle, the castle nut that holds the ball joint was bottomed out on the threads, leaving a .030" gap between the nut and the spindle surface. This allowed the spindle to move "up" .030" everytime I hit a pothole or other road imperfection.... beating up the conical hole in the spindle and the conical surface on the ball joint stud....
The ball joint's boot was long gone, I pulled quiet a bit of metal debris from around the socket, I am amazed the ball did not pop out of the socket...
I installed the pass side ball joint today with a thick shim under the castle nut, now the nut can actually be tightened against the spindle surface....tomorrow I'll fix the driver side....
Easy fix to simply add a shim (washer) - apparently it's a good idea to have a close look when swapping spindles or installing aftermarket (drop) spindles ....
I've had a clunking noise coming from the front suspension on my '95 Fox body Mustang. I've looked at the lower ball joints a few months ago and I knew they were shot... no biggie I thought...
Now, some time in the past one of the previous owners swapped V8 (GT) spindles (and rear axle) with 5 lugs onto this '93 4 cyl car....
The lower A-arm is still from a '93 but I think the spindles, axle and rims came off a '95 or newer model....
I bought the ball joints yesterday and rented the ball joint press and internal spring compressor, today I started disassembly. Here's what I found:
The GT spindle is not as tall (or thick) as the old spindle, the castle nut that holds the ball joint was bottomed out on the threads, leaving a .030" gap between the nut and the spindle surface. This allowed the spindle to move "up" .030" everytime I hit a pothole or other road imperfection.... beating up the conical hole in the spindle and the conical surface on the ball joint stud....
The ball joint's boot was long gone, I pulled quiet a bit of metal debris from around the socket, I am amazed the ball did not pop out of the socket...
I installed the pass side ball joint today with a thick shim under the castle nut, now the nut can actually be tightened against the spindle surface....tomorrow I'll fix the driver side....
Easy fix to simply add a shim (washer) - apparently it's a good idea to have a close look when swapping spindles or installing aftermarket (drop) spindles ....
