Upper Control Arm Ball-joint Extension?
Hello All,
This is my first post here on thenewx and i have been lurking for a bit over a month now just reading and researching and ready and researching. i come from the car world so this is my first expedition into the lifting a car world. i have a general question that i look to some of the more engineering minded suspension guys for an answer on.
Obviously because of the design that Nissan gave us, coil bucket contact is a major concern and hurdle with this vehicle. the solution appears to be replacement upper control arms that are thinner and have different angles on them to provide more clearance for the coil bucket. i am curious however, why hasnt anybody made a product that extends the length of the ball joint thread? I'm sure their is a perfectly good reason and i am not discovering something new here, but it has been nagging me for weeks now.
Please note, the pictures below are not mine, but taken from the internet (and some users here)
in the below picture (actually a titan) you can see a closeup of the ball joint and the threaded section with nut on the bottom. why doesn't anybody make a reinforced joint with a longer threaded section? it would seem to me that this would actually keep the UCA in its more natural position, putting less stress on the joint itself. is it a concern that the threaded portion would not be strong enough?
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As we can see in this next picture, at full droop the UCA is tilted down at a very harsh angle, and even with 2-3" of lift this angle is still much harsh then the stock UCA natural position.
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More of a curiosity question i suppose, but is there a product out there like this that i am missing? i feel (in my very small, uneducated world :iconbiggrin
that not only would this be a far less expensive option than replacement UCA's but it would also keep the stock parts at their natural angles and positions which generally makes things happy.
Look forward to what you all have to say, and love the forum!ccasion5:
This is my first post here on thenewx and i have been lurking for a bit over a month now just reading and researching and ready and researching. i come from the car world so this is my first expedition into the lifting a car world. i have a general question that i look to some of the more engineering minded suspension guys for an answer on.
Obviously because of the design that Nissan gave us, coil bucket contact is a major concern and hurdle with this vehicle. the solution appears to be replacement upper control arms that are thinner and have different angles on them to provide more clearance for the coil bucket. i am curious however, why hasnt anybody made a product that extends the length of the ball joint thread? I'm sure their is a perfectly good reason and i am not discovering something new here, but it has been nagging me for weeks now.
Please note, the pictures below are not mine, but taken from the internet (and some users here)
in the below picture (actually a titan) you can see a closeup of the ball joint and the threaded section with nut on the bottom. why doesn't anybody make a reinforced joint with a longer threaded section? it would seem to me that this would actually keep the UCA in its more natural position, putting less stress on the joint itself. is it a concern that the threaded portion would not be strong enough?
As we can see in this next picture, at full droop the UCA is tilted down at a very harsh angle, and even with 2-3" of lift this angle is still much harsh then the stock UCA natural position.
More of a curiosity question i suppose, but is there a product out there like this that i am missing? i feel (in my very small, uneducated world :iconbiggrin
that not only would this be a far less expensive option than replacement UCA's but it would also keep the stock parts at their natural angles and positions which generally makes things happy. Look forward to what you all have to say, and love the forum!
ccasion5:
2
21 - 26 of 26 Posts
Since I hadn't updated this in awhile...
I bought extended upper ball joints with a part number of 083-UBJ-NN01 from an ebay vendor called Autobizzer. They fit, the snap rings that were included are the wrong ones, used the OE snap rings, and the grease zerks were missing so I had to source my own. 46.2mm on the D40 Frontier.
This is the new ball joints, V8 Pathfinder coils, Bilstein 5100s set to first lifted position, and 12.6" V8 Pathfinder brakes:
![137838]()
This is with around 1-5/8" lift up front, 1-3/4" lift in back but with the heavy fiberglass canopy:
![137839]()
I bought extended upper ball joints with a part number of 083-UBJ-NN01 from an ebay vendor called Autobizzer. They fit, the snap rings that were included are the wrong ones, used the OE snap rings, and the grease zerks were missing so I had to source my own. 46.2mm on the D40 Frontier.
This is the new ball joints, V8 Pathfinder coils, Bilstein 5100s set to first lifted position, and 12.6" V8 Pathfinder brakes:
This is with around 1-5/8" lift up front, 1-3/4" lift in back but with the heavy fiberglass canopy:
21 - 26 of 26 Posts
