S-14 balljoint tapers?

[racepar1]

I'm planning to make my own roll center adjustable front and rear LCA's using my stock LCA's and a bunch of chevy parts from coleman racing. There are two options for the taper of the balljoint shanks from them, 7* and 10*. I was wondering what the taper is on the stock s-14 balljoints, front and rear, so I can pick the closest match.

[Def]

I think my front stock S13s were 9 degrees, but that was quite a while ago that I measured it.

It's pretty easy if you have an S14 balljoint to measure it yourself.

That or you could just ream the hole out and use a bolt. Will work fine.

[veilside180sx]

Neither of the Chevy taper stuff will work. You can either ream it out to match the taper, or have soem custom ones made.

I'm not a fan of a bolt for a lower ball joint personally.

[SoSideways]

Thanks racepar for making this thread.

I was gonna whenever I got around to this site again from yesterday, after speaking with Richard for a bit about that.

So far, mmmb and Def have one school of thought for how to make an adjustable roll center LCA with a spherical bearing and a bolt through it, and Richard has the school of thought with kinda like how Mike Kojima did his on his Sentra.

DING DING DING

Round 1... FIGHT!!

[racepar1]

Neither of the Chevy taper stuff will work. You can either ream it out to match the taper, or have soem custom ones made.

I'm not a fan of a bolt for a lower ball joint personally.

Coleman sells the reamer too so reaming the taper is not a problem. I know I will have to ream the knuckles. I agree with you on the bolt thing too. I could use a bolt for a tie rod end, but no way would I use one for a balljoint.

[Def]

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you ream it well, but I agree, if you machine it incorrect a bolt will not be good. But at that point, I'd sure hope you're good with a tapered reamer too because they tend to chatter more than a straight reamer when the angle isn't the same.

I'd personally go with the lower angle balljoint if it were me. It'll be easier to open up the top of the taper than to ream a whole lot more material and open up the bottom(assuming the Nissan taper is in between, which it probably is since 10* is a lot).

[racepar1]

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you ream it well, but I agree, if you machine it incorrect a bolt will not be good. But at that point, I'd sure hope you're good with a tapered reamer too because they tend to chatter more than a straight reamer when the angle isn't the same.

I'd personally go with the lower angle balljoint if it were me. It'll be easier to open up the top of the taper than to ream a whole lot more material and open up the bottom(assuming the Nissan taper is in between, which it probably is since 10* is a lot).

I'm actually leaning towards the 10* taper. I am worried that going with a narrower taper will cause the shank to go too deep and I may need to put a spacer between the nut and the spindle on top because I may run out of threads.

[veilside180sx]

I personally...side with the custom route made to fit the stock taper.=)

I have 10 degree Chevy taper ones on my work bench, when I was going to put them on the Sentra.

[racepar1]

I personally...side with the custom route made to fit the stock taper.=)

I have 10 degree Chevy taper ones on my work bench, when I was going to put them on the Sentra.

I would much prefer to use the stock taper, but I don't know of anyone who will sell the shanks.

[Def]

I'm actually leaning towards the 10* taper. I am worried that going with a narrower taper will cause the shank to go too deep and I may need to put a spacer between the nut and the spindle on top because I may run out of threads.

What's the major and minor diameters of the spindle's taper? That'll tell you real quick if you'll run out of threads or not after changing the taper.

[racepar1]

What's the major and minor diameters of the spindle's taper? That'll tell you real quick if you'll run out of threads or not after changing the taper.

Looking at the pics the top of the taper is about the same diameter as the threads. That's why I am worried about that.

[mmdb]

Thanks racepar for making this thread.

I was gonna whenever I got around to this site again from yesterday, after speaking with Richard for a bit about that.

So far, mmmb and Def have one school of thought for how to make an adjustable roll center LCA with a spherical bearing and a bolt through it, and Richard has the school of thought with kinda like how Mike Kojima did his on his Sentra.

DING DING DING

Round 1... FIGHT!!

If racepar1 can get some gnarly parts made that'd be a good option rather than spending a grip on custom parts. Racepar1, just be sure to make a bunch of these as people such as myself will need them.

[racepar1]

If racepar1 can get some gnarly parts made that'd be a good option rather than spending a grip on custom parts. Racepar1, just be sure to make a bunch of these as people such as myself will need them.

Custom parts? I'm planning on using all off the shelf stuff from coleman racing. The only thing that will be custom is the modification to the stock control arms and knuckles to work with the off the shelf parts.

[Matt93SE]

From what research I've done, most aftermarket adjustable ball joints/control arms use a 5/8" rod end.

Why not machine a tapered bushing similar to the Z32 rear ball joint that has a straight 5/8" bore through the center and the "nissan taper" on the outside?
Then you can use a high strength/aircraft 5/8" bolt through the parts to hold it all together.
(see attached quickie drawing)

Those would be cheap to machine and to repair/replace when things wear out.
I would expect the tapered spacers to cost just a couple of bucks for machining, and wouldn't really wear out. The only wear items would be the rod ends and possibly the bolts. Everything else is a non-moving part so they should in theory last 'forever'.

Just some late night ramblings......

[cazman]

From what research I've done, most aftermarket adjustable ball joints/control arms use a 5/8" rod end.

Why not machine a tapered bushing similar to the Z32 rear ball joint that has a straight 5/8" bore through the center and the "nissan taper" on the outside?
Then you can use a high strength/aircraft 5/8" bolt through the parts to hold it all together.
(see attached quickie drawing)

Those would be cheap to machine and to repair/replace when things wear out.
I would expect the tapered spacers to cost just a couple of bucks for machining, and wouldn't really wear out. The only wear items would be the rod ends and possibly the bolts. Everything else is a non-moving part so they should in theory last 'forever'.

Just some late night ramblings......

I thought about this too, but unless you redrill the original hole its not so good.
Even with a redrilled 5/8 hole and a thicker bolt in I was still a bit worried.
My main problem was making the part a "bolt on item"
There is no way I could sell this item and tell customers to drill out their uprights....

Here is a post I made months ago

http://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2082340&postcount=1