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Replacement ball joint boots

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
I brought back an old thread on ball joint boots yesterday without realizing that it was on the Tiger section, which I assume is not seen as often. So, at the risk of being redundant, I am starting a new section here.

I need to replace the boots on a set of otherwise excellent upper and lower ball joints and hate the thought of buying completely new joints just for the boots. Does anyone here have a source of just the boots?

The old thread (see: http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/forum/showthread.php?p=165728#post165728) references VW and Toyota boots that fit, but did not come from someone who has actually used them. Has anyone ever tried these?

Thanks.
 

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
I also am needing some of the covers....

Jim, I was jsut yesterday looking at a few perfectly good tie rod ends and ball joints that could use "replacement" rubber covers.

Talk about timely actions.... your POST was surely timely;)

I sent the originator a PM asking for confirmation on the serviceability of any He might have used....

DanR
 

john.hemsath

Diamond Level Sponsor
Disparity of price for lower ball joint sets

I recently lubed the lower ball joints in my SV and discovered a pin hole in one of them so this posting is timely for me.

I'm wondering however, why not replace the entire ball joint if the suspension has to be dismantled to replace the boot? Since I don't know the history of my suspension, I can only wonder if the ball joints aren't 49 years young and well worn.

I see VB sells a pair for $30, SS sells a pair for $90 and CS sells a pair for $125. Very curious to hear if anyone has an idea why the $ varies so much between these 3 vendors.
 

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
John , replacing the boots are a much simpler task than replacing the entire joint, especially the uppers, which require removing the upper A-Frame and pressing out the old and pressing in the new ones. So if the joints are OK, then just replace the boots if you can. Decades ago (1986) I actually made my own upper boots by making a 3 part plaster cast around an old boot and then filling that casting with clear silicone seal (RTV) . They lasted almost 20 years and were still OK when I rebuilt my suspension in 2004!

Tom
 

skywords

Donation Time
As I recall the p/n is Lockheed 60232 I am going to order some myself very soon. Rick at SS should stock them I haven't asked yet but will tomorrow.
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
Thanks David for those sites.... Now I need to do some measuring !

I just did some measuring and here is what I come up with:

Upper
Pin: 0.76
Base: 1.44
Height: 0.50

Lower
Pin: 0.74
Base: 1.73
Height: 0.50​

It looks like part 191819 might work for the lowers, although it is probably a little tight on the pin:

Pin: 0.644
Base: 1.653
Height: 0.468

But, unless I am missing something, I am not finding a match for the uppers. At least, not yet.
 

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
I just did some measuring also.... The Lower Ball Joint for one of my SV's is:

9.79 Pin
16.45 Base
6.73 Height

Please note this is a lower Ball Joint out of the Alpine.

AND the measurements are in mm
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
I just did some measuring also.... The Lower Ball Joint for one of my SV's is:

.979 Pin
16.45 Base
6.73 Height

Please note this is a lower Ball Joint out of the Alpine.

I think maybe your base and height decimal points are off, or else you have big ass ball joints!

But, that said, the pin measurements are the ones that are the most subject to measurement variation. I measured mine at the point where the old boots would have sat, which was not the widest point. Where did you take your measurement?
 

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
Jim, I just had time to go for additional measurements: ?

The first were in mm (I edited the first post).

These are for the same Lower Ball Joint from a SV:

BASE: .650 (using the groove)
PIN: .379
Length: .332 (Is where I think the boot will be when fastened in place on the Pin).

Why the difference in our measurements I can't really decide.

Note: These measurements are in inches.
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
Here's an update from my end. I found a 2014 post on the CAT forum (http://catmbr.org/VB_forum/showthread.php?t=3094) that suggested the following universal joints from Energy Suspension might work. They are widely available from Summit and other suppliers are are only a couple of bucks apiece:

Upper Ball Joints 9-13105R
Lower BallJoints 9-13119R

("R" stand for "Red" and each is also available in Black by just substituting a "B" at the end.)
However, the posting came from someone who hadn't tried them yet, so I wrote him to see if he knew more. Unfortunately, Rocco and I needed boots for our Tiger and couldn't wait for the response, so we gambled and ordered them. I heard back with an update, at about the same time as the order arrived. First, I do not recommend ordering the ones above. They work, but not nearly as well as I would like. The original Tiger poster then gave me the following update:

The part numbers embossed on the side of each one is for upper and lower ball joint is 13007

For tie rod. 13003

Mine a red and round. They make black ones, and some that are more octagonal in shape.

I called energy suspension, and then ordered them from Summit. Still looking for original receipt. With summit part numbers.

I'm also running energy suspension bump stops. I just got the 1 inch cone shaped stops. They fit the factory holes fines, and gave me back some travel. My car sits lower than stock.

Lower ball joints and tie rods are perfect fit

Upper ball joint works but does not stay perfectly attached to base of ball joint at high misalignment angles, max droop or if you have added anti dive to your front end for better performance.

Unfortunately, I am not finding a match for those numbers, so all I can say for certain at this point is that the numbers originally posted on the CAT forum work but are not a great match.
 

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
Rubber Boot covers?

Many Thanks for your continuation to find something that will be fully suitable for the Alpine....

I definitely would like to replace some of mine soon,

DanR
 
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