how much stress on ball joints

[lynchy wa]

G'day guys, how much stress on your ball joints would a 1.25"/0.75" spacer lift put? Is that small a lift going to be noticable? and how would the higher centre of gavity affect highway driving? Comments, opinions and being laughed at appreciated.

 

[Ronin8002]

I have heard from a few people that 1.5"-1.75" is a good compromise between getting measurable lift (should put you at about 2") and minimizing ball joint stress. In fact, I am getting ready to install a set of 1.75 front / 1.5 rear BTF spacers, as well as some new Moog ball joints so I'll let you know how it all turns out.

 

[lynchy wa]

Cheers mate, I'm a little wary about going any bigger and look forward to seeing pics of your new lift. I'm also hoping that this size wont require a moog ball transplant.

 

[n.gardner]

I have a 2.25 x 1.75 BTF, my joints are stressed slightly more but they are not going to just tear from thew angle. My mechanic said i prob wont get 50K miles outta them but it should be just under that.

 

[lynchy wa]

50k is pretty good. Can someone tell me if its only the upper's that get replaced? What part no. should I look for if I decided to go this route? My X has 75k on the clock so its probably worth looking into regardless of whether I lift her or not.

 

[Jager]

Haha @ the title of the thread. Made me laugh hard.

If your gunna buy MOOG, part # is K80008

I have 2.25 lift only in front and it's pretty extreme. I haven't out in the moogs I bought, but this weekend I'm going over to BTF's shop to get my limit straps and balls installed. The limit straps are good so the prevent your lower arm from goin to full droop, putting less of an angle on your ball joints.

But with a 1.25 you should be fine without any extra changes.

 

[lynchy wa]

Cool Cool, cheers for that.

 

[Ronin8002]

Haha @ the title of the thread. Made me laugh hard.

If your gunna buy MOOG, part # is K80008

I have 2.25 lift only in front and it's pretty extreme. I haven't out in the moogs I bought, but this weekend I'm going over to BTF's shop to get my limit straps and balls installed. The limit straps are good so the prevent your lower arm from goin to full droop, putting less of an angle on your ball joints.

But with a 1.25 you should be fine without any extra changes.

Jager, can you post some detailed pics of your limit strap install when it gets done? I think this will help out a lot of the guys running bigger spacers.

 

[waskly]

normally i just have a little slap on my balls.... oh wait wrong subject carry on....

 

[lounge lizard]

normally i just have a little slap on my balls.... oh wait wrong subject carry on....

did you mean "slop" ??

I have torsion bars so this is interesting to me.

can't wait to do my SAS!

 

[lynchy wa]

You could have a big slap if you had moog balls...

 

[waskly]

did you mean "slop" ??

I have torsion bars so this is interesting to me.

can't wait to do my SAS!

oh no no no no.... i was going with the subject line in a totally rated x mentality......

 

[lynchy wa]

I haven't slipped, slopped, swapped or slapped a solid axle in awhile

 

[Jager]

Yea, I'll post pics when I get them on. Most likely Sunday.

 

[Ronin8002]

a 1.25"/0.75" spacer lift

Hey I was just thinking about this...you might have issues trying to bolt those up seeing as a 1.5" spacer requires trimming about 1/4" off the studs on the top of the strut. The front might work but you would have to cut about 0.5" off the studs. Not sure if a .75" would work in the back...you would basically be passing the studs on the top of the strut thru the spacer and trying to bolt it down using those...studs might be too short. You might be better off with a 1.5" front /1.25" rear

 

[lynchy wa]

Thanks for that info. I'll keep that in mind, wasn't something I had considered to tell you the truth. I posted a question on Brandons vendor thread, but it didnt look like he'd been on for a while. So lift spacers are like wheel spacers, big ones have there own bolts for attaching but small ones use the existing hardware?

 

[Ronin8002]

So lift spacers are like wheel spacers, big ones have there own bolts for attaching but small ones use the existing hardware?

Well all the ones I've seen have been big enough to need their own bolts. It would have to be a really small spacer to use the stock hardware...maybe 8mm thick at most

 

[lynchy wa]

O.k. thanks, great info mate. I appreciate it.

 

[Jager]

BTW, I didn't realize this until today when I went to get an alignment, you will need a camber kit after you get a lift. Our explorer's camber are not adjustable after a certain point, and the lift changes the degree +/- 1.

From what I've found, these kits run around $120 for the from at Autozone/Kragen/Pep Boys.

My camber is off by almost 1.25 degrees, after my toe was adjusted. Before adjustment, right after the lift installation, it was off by almost 2 degrees (which is ALOT).

So, before you decide to get spacers, consider other costs. So far, I've had to, or am forced to spend the following:

Replacement Ball Joints - $105
Alignment - $120
Camber Kit (1.25 +/- kit) - $120
Limit Straps w/o Labor - $50

Can't forget the labor for the ball joints, and the actual time you spend putting in all this stuff...

I don't regret getting the lift, but I wish I knew of all these costs so I could of had the money now. I was forced to get an alignment before installing the ball joints because I have brand new tires, and would rather not have them go to **** so soon (every 10 miles you drive w/o alignment = 100 off the lift of the tire)

Nonetheless, going to BTF's shop this weekend to get everything sorted out. I haven't been offroading in weeks and am having withdrawals lol.

Well, theres the end of my "rant". Just wanted to let you guys know all the info. If you need any help or have questions, shoot me a PM.

 

[lynchy wa]

Thats some serious extra moolah and worth knowing before taking the plunge, gracias amigo.