L400 upper ball joint spacer

[kurtiswilk]

Hey Guys,


Looking for some advice. I'm installing a 2" lift into my L400. The rear went really well. So of course the front will be tricky.

I've done a fare bit of research into removing the upper ball joints. Couple questions left that I hope you can provide some insight on.
Can the ball joint be removed and then reinstalled? They are relatively new as they were replaced when the van was purchased. I believe it was about 30K ago.

Is a ball joint fork the best way to accomplish this? or would a separator be better? or is it just personal preference?

Thanks in advance

Kurtis

[Big-Bird]

There is one thing to note with the L400.

You must support the vehicle at the frame....not the lower control arm or engine cross member.

the suspension must be allowed to drop all the way to take torsion bar tension off the front suspension. Allow the upper control arm to rest fully on the bump stop....then you can safely work with the ball joint spacer. you will need a jack to lift\lower the spindle\lower control arm assembly...too heavy to lift by hand.

the ball joint spacer actually fits between the ball joint and the upper control arm and is held with 4 bolts so you don't need to remove the ball joint from the spindle....you need to undo the 4 bal joint bolts....and make sure you have longer bolts due to the spacer. make sure you have a proper bolt grade for strength/safety.

if the ball joint is floppy and needs changing the pickle fork is the last resort...usually a solid hit on the knuckle at the ball joint stem is enough to release these parts.
Look up Stacey David GRZ, Ball Joint Tips on You-Tube. He gives a quick how to in under 5mins.

[thelazygreenfox]

Guys
Actually there's 3 upper ball joint bolts on each side.
You do need longer bolts or buy a piece of metric threaded rod M 10 x 1.25 grade 10.9 threaded rod and nuts. Try Industrial fasteners for all metric nuts, bolts or rod. Lube the threads before installing the new bolts.

Delica front suspensions are tricky sometimes and aren't meant to be taken lightly. They're complicated to adjust. Every adjustment affects all the rest of the angles of the front suspension alignment.

Undo the torsion bar tensioner nuts, it's easier to lift the upper A arm. You'll need to reset your TB's after to the body height you require (probably the height of the rear or?). Check the camber angle of each wheel after you allow the TB's to settle. 2-3 deg positive is good. Mine rode better with the front end 1/2 inch lower.

If the camber is negative, have it adjusted or severe tire wear will result. Often the camber can't be adjusted to a 2" block and the max ends up being 1 1/2 inches. Ask Butch and mardy for their opinion first.

Don't cut your bump stops. They prevent over angle ball joint damage and keep your tire from hitting your upper A arm. These are two of the dangers of installing ball joint spacers. With a block installed the A arm may rest on the stops preventing the TB's from lifting.

The ends of the upper A arms can be trimmed if tire spacing is critical. You may need longer shocks and longer brake lines. Watch your brake and ABS lines don't contact the tires in the outer reaches of tire travel.

Get an alignment after you're finished.
Take pictures of the job and post on site.

Pm me if you need more info.
Have fun
TLGF (It's white now)

[Big-Bird]

Yeah 3 bolts not 4...I was thinking lower ball joint which has 4.

[kurtiswilk]

Thanks for the info guys,

Definitely planning on getting an alignment done afterwards. I got some metric bolts from quest, industrial.

I was planning to set the height to that of the rear.

Why would you cut the bump stops? That just seems like a bad idea to me as they have a specific purpose. I'm guess it's to get a little more travel out of the system?

[thelazygreenfox]

KW
When you install the block and crank the TB's the upper A arm moves down and may make contact with the bump stops. Do a search on bump stops. When contact is made that's the end of raising the van unless you cut the bumps stops and gain another 1/2 inch.

Did you try just cranking the TB's without the block? Some delicas don't need the block.....

Have fun cutting the block to fit the A arm cup.
TLGF