Fliping ball joints....is ist safe?
noridetoolow
+1y
So...has anyone ever had their flipped ball joints break? Just want to make sure its a SAFE mod...from time to time any one of my 3 young children might ride with me in my truck.
twisted minis
+1y
It is safe. Just make sure you use Metric 10.8 Grade bolts. I prefer to replace the stock ones.
If your ball joints are not threaded, run a standard F911 nut and bolt, or both Grade 8.
If your ball joints are not threaded, run a standard F911 nut and bolt, or both Grade 8.
noridetoolow
+1y
ok....so apparantly do not know how to spell "fliping" lol ...
noridetoolow
+1y
Sounds good...much as I was gonna wait and bag the Mazda...I am not sure how long it will be before my Yota sells and I have the money...I figured I would go ahead and static drop it this weekend and flipping the ball joints makes a ton of sense...espcially if it helps with the alignment a bit...which I am assuming it does. So are all these grade 10 bolts available at most hardware stores? Home Depot, Lowes??
twisted minis
+1y
Flipping the balljoints doesn't do a lot for alignment, it just lowers the truck a little bit without moving the lower control arm. Which means less cranking of the torsions, which means a better ride.
And you will not find a M10 bolt at HD or Lowes. Its more of a specialty bolt. You can get them at some specialty stores, like Fastenal, and some tractor supply stores or bearing houses. Generally I just get them from Mazda or Toyota. They aren't that expensive, and are generally on the shelf.
You don't NEED to replace the bolts, but I prefer to. When it comes to safety I am overkill. They are technically stretch bolts, but since they are a high grade they can be re-used 1 to 2 times. But the thing that gets me, is you don't know how many times the have been loosened and tightened in their life thus far. Its really your call on that one. Don't let me scare you and make you spend money you didn't want to, because its not likely they will fail. But there is more stress on them when they are on top of the arm, rather than on the bottom.
And you will not find a M10 bolt at HD or Lowes. Its more of a specialty bolt. You can get them at some specialty stores, like Fastenal, and some tractor supply stores or bearing houses. Generally I just get them from Mazda or Toyota. They aren't that expensive, and are generally on the shelf.
You don't NEED to replace the bolts, but I prefer to. When it comes to safety I am overkill. They are technically stretch bolts, but since they are a high grade they can be re-used 1 to 2 times. But the thing that gets me, is you don't know how many times the have been loosened and tightened in their life thus far. Its really your call on that one. Don't let me scare you and make you spend money you didn't want to, because its not likely they will fail. But there is more stress on them when they are on top of the arm, rather than on the bottom.
noridetoolow
+1y
We have a Fastenal here in town so I will go visit them....like I said above...safety is very important to me with the young children, twin minitruckers that are 5 and a 9 year old daughter.....I can be careful all I want to but the front end falling apart on me....I will take a few extra steps to avoid.
toddluck
+1y
werd