Upper Ball Joint Question.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,343
Likes: 4
From: Anderson SC
Upper Ball Joint Question.
Continuing on with my front end, It's time to install my upper ball joints today. Since I have two questions, we'll take the second one first. 
2. What's the torgue value for the 3 bolts that hold it on?
The car came with rivets, and the ball joint came with no instructions.
1. Do I "capture" the rubber boot? It appears to me that the boot has a lip. I could install the boot into the hole first and then push the ball joint into the boot. This would create a sandwich with the rubber lip in the middle and "capture" the top of the boot in place. Is this correct or do I just install the ball joint first and then the boot??
-W
2. What's the torgue value for the 3 bolts that hold it on?
The car came with rivets, and the ball joint came with no instructions.
1. Do I "capture" the rubber boot? It appears to me that the boot has a lip. I could install the boot into the hole first and then push the ball joint into the boot. This would create a sandwich with the rubber lip in the middle and "capture" the top of the boot in place. Is this correct or do I just install the ball joint first and then the boot??
-W
Cruising
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
According to "?How to Rebuild Corvette Rolling Chassis" the torque is 20 ft-lbs. The ball joint goes through the A-arm and the boot underneath. The steering knuckle presses the boot up against the A-arm and seals it. If you did it the other way, you couldn't get a real torque value because of the flexibility of the rubber between the two metal parts. I seem to remember my kit saying that the nuts go on top of the A-arm (push bolts up through from the bottom). Not sure why, seems like there is clearance for either way. Hope this helps...
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 76,656
Likes: 1,853
From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Clams-
The only thing I question is the torque of the three bolts. We usually torque the bolts to around 50 ft. lbs. I'm not sure if this is overkill or not but we then distort the threads so the nut can not back off.
The bolts hold the joint in place but honestly that's about all they are there to do. The tension of the lower and upper arm being pushed outward by the spring keeps the joint very tight.
Willcox
The only thing I question is the torque of the three bolts. We usually torque the bolts to around 50 ft. lbs. I'm not sure if this is overkill or not but we then distort the threads so the nut can not back off.
The bolts hold the joint in place but honestly that's about all they are there to do. The tension of the lower and upper arm being pushed outward by the spring keeps the joint very tight.
Willcox
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
The torque applied to the nut/bolt is determined by the size, threads per inch, and grade of that nut/bolt. If you apply too much torque, the bolt will be stretched and will no longer resist as much tensile stress as it would have without being overtorqued. Bolt torque specifications are easily found on internet sites. Torquing bolts "a little more, for good measure" is not a good way to go.
