Upper control arm

[alanlindafla]

I have every thing back together on the front suspension except the “Upper Ball Jointâ€, like the rear spring question posed before me, my Ball Joint will not go all the way down. I have tried to lightly file down the sleeve as well as the Ball Joint, but it does have small inter locking grooves (I assume for alignment of the wheels), am I the only one to give up and file it down almost smooth, is this common since the NOS is not exactly meant for the wide range of years that the manufactures claim. “ Fits Series 4 5 & Tiger†Not exactly true. I feel like I need a bigger HAMMER, It is like fitting a square peg into a round hole.

 

[mikephillips]

I've always had those pressed in. The grooves are to ensure that the slot in the joint is 90 degrees to the car's body so that as the arm moves up and down the pin will swivel correctly. I would not remove them, that would allow the entire unit to move and probably lead to it breaking or tearing out of the arm. Also, the retaining ring on the arm is only held in place by a coulpe of tack welds, it is better if the ring is welded further, if not the whole way around. And don't forget to install the retaining ring once the ball joint is in the arm.

 

[alanlindafla]

Thank you for the advice, now i need to figure out how to maintain the hold with out the grooves. I am bringing it to a machine shop today. I took my calipers and the measurement was definitely off on the ball joint to the sleeve. over a centimeter. That is how I knoked the sleeve off, pressing it in.