Lower ball joint

[northeast dmc]

I had an issue with my lower ball joint, not being aware of the issue with the nut backing off. I was fortunate enough that a guy had a spare one, and I ordered two in the meantime before being made aware of the castle nut repair. Any way I received the new ball joints from DMC midwest, only to find that they dont have grease fittings, and also the bottom flange by eye appears slightly thinner. And have read an older posting regarding concerns about these ball joints possibly failing. Does any one have any information regarding this? Thanks in advance for any help.

[David T]

The ball joints don't come with grease fittings but you can drill and tap them and put them in. If you have any questions or issues with parts you buy from a vendor, you should give them a call first. They know what they are selling intimately and can walk you through any problems you have. The vendors have a reputation to maintain and they all take it very seriously. Rare that a problem doesn't get resolved amicably. New stock will not look exactly like the OEM parts but should fit and function as well or better. Sometimes slight modification is necessary for some parts. The vendor will know.

[Elvis]

What happened to the china junk that DMCH was selling ?

It took them 6 years to find out/confirm what I found after 1 year of using them.

Bought NOS afterwards - and they ars still in there for ~15 years now.

[Chris 16409]

The Ball Joints from DeLorean Go are the best. Everyone was selling them, but the profit margins just aren't there, so it seems to be back to generics for most. Amsteer is the manufacturer for DeLorean Go.

[MikeWard]

As Chris said, the Amsteer joints are the only ones to use. It really isn't worth taking a risk on such a safety critical part by using the cheaper alternatives. The Amsteer joints are tried and tested.

[Mark D]

Wow, that is unfortunate that some of the vendors swapped back to an inferior ball joint. At least a few years ago I thought everyone was selling the DMC club UK joints (manufactured by Amsteer apparently). For the 50 bucks extra or whatever it comes out to be I don't know why you'd want to cheap out on a safety critical part.

Here's the old thread where the reproduction DMCH ball joints were being discussed. Whoever was making those at the time was overheating the joint during machining and taking the heat treatment out of the steel. There was a couple year period where those were the only available option unless you could find someone with NOS joints. That, or hervey's VW crossover parts with a dangerously thin snap ring groove added after the fact.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?2408-Ball-Joint-Discussion-Revisited

[CyberBill]

Here's the two that are posted on DeloreanGo:

https://www.deloreango.com/us/lower-ball-joint.html

https://www.deloreango.com/us/lower-ball-joint-delorean-europe.html

I assume the first ones, which are roughly 50% more expensive, are the ones from Amsteer?

Castle nuts & pins are available separately here:

https://www.deloreango.com/us/castle-nuts-and-split-pins-pair-set.html

[CFI]

For the 50 bucks extra or whatever it comes out to be I don't know why you'd want to cheap out on a safety critical part.

People are strange. Recently someone told me that they never purchase new tires, only used ones. Folks, no matter how many safety devices are on your car (anti lock brakes, traction control, AWD, vehicle dynamics, etc) only one part of your car touches the road: your tires. That’s it. All the safety devices in the world won’t save you from bad tires. There are plenty of parts you can be frugal when purchasing but tires should never be one of them.

[mr_maxime]

As Chris said, the Amsteer joints are the only ones to use. It really isn't worth taking a risk on such a safety critical part by using the cheaper alternatives. The Amsteer joints are tried and tested.

Because there is no clear distinction between the 2 other than price and country of manufacture. That alone doesn't give me enough info to justify the additional cost. Until now I just figured they were a premium option like ss brake hoses VS standard ones.

[Chris 16409]

The more expensive ones are made in England by a well renown suspension firm. The less expensive ones are made in China (most likely).

[Mark D]

Here's the two that are posted on DeloreanGo:

https://www.deloreango.com/us/lower-ball-joint.html

https://www.deloreango.com/us/lower-ball-joint-delorean-europe.html

I assume the first ones, which are roughly 50% more expensive, are the ones from Amsteer?

Castle nuts & pins are available separately here:

https://www.deloreango.com/us/castle-nuts-and-split-pins-pair-set.html

The first link you posted are the ones to get. Thanks again to the guys at DeLorean Club UK who worked with the supplier to have these manufactured to the factory original specs.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=64092&d=1596030655