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looking to get a little extra travel out of my 1990 front end. anyone have any recommendations for a taller upper ball joint? been looking around but i am unsure what will work. does anyone know if GM used a standard size ball joint or what the dimensions are of the c4 ball joint?
sorry let me explain a little further, I changed my shocks out to QA1 and these have a longer travel than the stock shocks. currently the upper a arm is hitting the top for the frame rail and top of the shock. i would like the move the A arm up a little using a taller ball joint so i can utilize the full travel of the shock, also with taller ball joints i can maintain the geometry better with the longer stroke. you are correct though a ball joint its self will not extend the travel.
this is for a drag car only so everything is getting modified lol.
Okay, sorry but I'm not aware of any extended-stud ball joints for this application. You might want to look at SPC's control arm options. Some of those might clear better and probably don't have any tabs to hit any stops.
SPC 97190 adjustable upper control arms have a ball joint 1/2" longer than stock. I think the purpose is to help with negative camber. You can view them on their website, but you order them through places like Summit, etc.
Saw these at Summit. SPC Performance Extended Length Ball Joints 94019. They also have SPC Performance Control Arm Hardware 94304. These are spacers that lower the ball joint up to 3/4", which has the same effect as a longer ball joint.
Last edited by bse53; Dec 19, 2023 at 04:05 PM.
Reason: add information
I will check out the 94019 ball joints, i really dont want to use spacers since if you space the ball joint up it does not seat fully in the spindle. this could lead to breaking.
AFCO has some low friction ball joints which are half
inch taller and bolt right in. Make sure you have wheel clearance… and it will change the camber curve, roll center, perhaps model it in some simple software to see the implications. Not sure about wheel travel, but there can be other options for limiting droop, such as with shock upper attachment changes, upper and lower control arm inboard pivot location change, limiter straps, clearancing frame… if you’re trying to limit droop travel to avoid interference at the frame/UCA.
i will check that out as well, I should not have any wheel clearance issue as i am running drag skinnies. i am trying to get more extension out of the front end to help launching. with the longer shocks i now hit the frame with the upper A-arm. so i am thinking with a taller ball joint i may be able to more the a-arm up some and get my extra extension.
I figured i would need to recheck all my aliment after installing a taller joint, just par for the course with racing lol.
I wasn't talking about alignment, but I don't think geometry would even matter, as long as you minimize camber gain in jounce I guess, and a longer upper BJ might just do that.
If you have some space to move the spindle outboard, After Dark Speed has some Delrin offset LCA bushings, and then you can use longer spacers for the UCA.
Extended length upper ball joints
