Ball Joint Discussion Revisited

[Mark D]

Back in the .com days there was a lot of discussion on the different options available for replacement ball joints, and the shortcomings/failures of brand A vs brand B.

I didn't find any of that information here yet (and I'm looking at ball joint replacement in the near future) so I figure it's worth rehashing.

What is the current state of the market, and are there any recommendations for both upper and lower ball joints?

Pricing is as follows:
DMCH Upper: 54.95 ea
DMC Lower: 19.95 ea

SpecialTAuto Upper: 44.95
SpeaclTAuto Lower: 49.90 (Claims "More heavy duty than others" includes required 29.95 retaining ring)

Any other vendors offering alternatives?

[DMC3165]

My suggestion would be to call PJ Grady. To the best of my knowledge he still has some OEM ball joints or at the very least he can get reliable replacements. Whatever he uses I have over 40K miles on mine with no issues.

[Mark D]

Cool, thanks for the info. I sent an email to [email protected] asking for more info on the ball joints they have. On the website they list the uppers as OEM, but no lowers are listed.

It was the lower ball joints that seemed to have failure issues back a few years ago, correct? I'll definitely go with the OEM ones if they're available somewhere, but if that's not an option I want the best quality lower ones that I can find.

Anyone else know if what Grady sells for the lower ball joints are the same reproduction parts as DMCH?

[DMC3165]

I find it best to call them (631) 589 6224. Rob can tell you right over the phone what he has in stock and if anything else is coming in. Plus he's more of a phone guy anyway.

I don't know much about Hervey's units but through the grapevine I heard there may have been an issue with the DMCH units at some point. Don't know if this has been corrected or not.

[stevedmc]

For what it's worth, Steve Wynne made a YouTube video a while back explaining the problem with the DMCH lower ball joints. I couldn't find the video this afternoon. Perhaps the issue has been corrected.

[Chris 16409]

Check out what the EuroTec guys have come out with. They're having them made in England and are better than NOS.

http://www.deloreaneurotec.co.uk/for...hp?f=66&t=2282

[Mark D]

Cool, thanks for the link. I poked around that forum some more and found a bunch of good info here as well:

http://www.deloreaneurotec.co.uk/for...hp?f=13&t=2198

Makes me pretty nervous about the DMCH ball joints, unless they've made changes since this was all posted.


Interesting to read the shortcomings of the SpecialTAuto balljoints also... apparently they are machined VW ball joints and he quality of the machined groove for the snap ring is hit or miss

[Mark D]

DeLorean EuroTech for the win!

I just read that whole thread I posted above (24 pages). The guys there tracked the lower ball joints back to the original designers. The correct collar and shaft are being assembled to meet OEM design dimensions. To anyone else looking at replacing lower ball joints in the future it is a must read.

I am definitely going with these:
http://www.deloreanclub.co.uk/parts/suspension.htm

A side note on why they are better quality of the originals (and DMCH repros)... the EuroTech ball joints have a thicker bottom plate at the grease fitting. The originals were thinner and over time the metal would stretch downward and create slop between the mating components.

The DMCH reproductions also apparently have a higher failure rate because during machining of the snap ring groove the metal tends to overheat and anneal (soften) the metal. Some are so overheated they appear blueish in color.

The SpecialTAuto ball joints are also not the best choice either since the modified body of the VW cross reference part doesn't always have an accurately machined snap ring groove. The size and length of the taper on the shaft is also too long and has less contact area inside the spindle taper hole.

[Bitsyncmaster]

This is all very interesting. I have a set of the special-T ball joints and planned to machine my own rings to make the clip hold tight. So it looks like the ring (spacer) goes on the bottom side (not the clip side). I tried to ask that question to John and never got the answer.

I did not want to get the spacers since I was not sure if they would be the same with my SS LCAs. Besides I think the price was too high.

[dmc4087]

Dont buy the DMCH lower joints.

The Eurotec joints are probably the best, although I have Special T's heavy duty balljoints and I am happy enough with them (Eurotec's werent made at the time)